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Portable Altar
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The principal decoration of this portable altar is carved of walrus ivory. On the long sides are traditional figures of standing apostles. On the short sides are the seated Virgin with the Magi, and Christ the Judge between the symbols of the Evangelists. The commercial ties between the Rhineland and the Norse peninsula made walrus ivory easily available to the city of Cologne, one of the most important artistic centers in medieval Germany.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit linePortable Altar, c. 1200–1220. Germany, Cologne. Walrus ivory, gilded copper, porphyry, champlevé enamel, wood core; overall: 13.1 x 26.9 x 16.9 cm (5 3/16 x 10 9/16 x 6 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1927.29
