The Wernher Triptych is an ivory
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
triptych
A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...
carved in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
between 900 and 1000 AD.
History
The triptych became part of the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
's collection in 1978, in lieu of taxes following the death of Sir
Harold Wernher, son of the financier Sir
Julius Wernher
Sir Julius Charles Wernher, 1st Baronet (9 April 1850 – 21 May 1912) was a German-born Randlord and art collector who became part of the English establishment.
Life history
Born in Darmstadt, Hesse, Wernher was the son of Elisabeth (Weidenbu ...
.
[triptych / religious/ritual equipment]
British Museum Collection, retrieved 10 December 2013
Description
In the central panel stands the Virgin
Hodegetria
A Hodegetria , ; russian: Одиги́трия, Odigítria ; Romanian: Hodighitria, or Virgin Hodegetria, is an iconographic depiction of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) holding the Child Jesus at her side while pointing to him as the source of s ...
; on the side leaves are carved an angel and two saints framed in medallions; on the left
St Nicholas and
St Theodore, on the right
St John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of ...
and
St George.
See also
*
Borradaile Triptych
*
Harbaville Triptych
The Harbaville Triptych is a Byzantine ivory triptych of the middle of the 10th century with a Deesis and other saints, now in the Louvre. Traces of colouring can still be seen on some figures. It is regarded as the finest, and best-preserved, ...
References
Further reading
*
Evans, Helen C. & Wixom, William D.
''The glory of Byzantium: art and culture of the Middle Byzantine era, A.D. 843-1261'' no. 80, 1997, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, {{ISBN, 9780810965072; full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
Triptychs
Byzantine ivory
10th-century sculptures
Medieval European objects in the British Museum
Sculptures of the British Museum