WLA metmuseum Corpus of Christ walrus ivory

''The Crucified Christ'' (MA 2005.274) is a sculpture in

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped, flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in ...

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

, probably from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

c 1300, now in

The Cloisters The Cloisters, also known as the Met Cloisters, is a museum in the Washington Heights, Manhattan, Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City. The museum, situated in Fort Tryon Park, specializes in European medieval art ...

, New York. It is lined with traces of paint and

gilding Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...

. Although small in scale, it is structured in a monumental style.Crucified Christ
.

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. Retrieved 25 February 2017 It shows the dead and crucified body of Christ; in the 12th century the dead Christ was widely seen as representing human suffering. This work is noted for its high quality craftsmanship, and the subtle and sensitive rendering of the torso. The stunted legs are a notable and somewhat inexplicable feature. File:Crucified Christ (The Cloisters).jpg, Side view File:The Crucified Christ a.jpg, Head of Christ The sculpture is badly damaged; both arms, which would have been made separately, are missing. It is one of the few surviving northern European ivory statuettes of its kind (about 50 are known), popular in Paris around 1300, and is arguably the finest of its kind. It was likely intended to be hung above an altar, as a visible symbol of the sacrifice of the Son of God; it would have been seen as a testament to his triumph over death. It was in a private collection in Argentina from 1964, before its acquisition by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2005.

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