S4 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



scenes from the Old and New Testaments, such as the history 

 of Joseph, the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Magi, etc. ; 

 in addition, many figures of saints and also highly ornamen- 

 tal borders combine to render this a most impressive artistic 

 production. The similarity in design and workmanship of 

 this early monument of Christian art to the ivory work 

 executed about this time in Alexandria renders it probable 

 that this seat or throne was executed in Egypt and brought 

 thence to Ravenna.* 



On a leaf of a Roman diptych, preserved in the British 

 Museum, is carved a most striking and impressive figure of 

 an angel. This work, executed in the fourth or fifth cen- 

 tury of our era, represents the combination of classic and 

 Christian art at its very best and is almost unique in ex- 

 cellence in this respect, for while the religious fervour of a 

 later time may not have abated, the artistic ability of the 

 carvers soon showed a sad falling off, which continued until 

 the revival in the Renaissance art of the French and Italian 

 schools of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. 

 This angel, clothed in classic garb of the most graceful style, 

 has the port and bearing of a prince of the angelic hosts, 

 blending classic dignity and religious majesty in an incom- 

 parable way. The technical execution is fully on a par 

 with the artistic conception, and no work of Roman art can 

 be pronounced superior to this. 



That the episcopal chair of Ravenna was not a production 

 of the Alexandrian School, but came from the great Syrian 

 art centre, Antioch, is the contention of the distinguished 

 art critic, Mr. O. M. Dalton. The superior quality of work- 

 manship displayed in some of the panels as compared with 

 others has induced the belief that more than one artist was 



*See Hans Graeven, "Fragment eines friihchristlichen Bischofsstulils im Provinzial 

 Museum zu Trier," Jahrblicher des Vereins von Altertumsfreunden im Rheinlande, Heft 

 105, Bonn, 1900, pp. 147-163. 



