IVORY CARVINGS 43 



plete condition and is carved on both the inside and outside 

 faces. The central plaque, divided into an upper and a 

 lower field, offers in the upper part the figure of Christ en- 

 throned; on either side of the elaborate throne stand Saint 

 John and the Virgin; on the lower field are standing 

 figures of St. James, St. John, St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. 

 Andrew. The leaves are similarly divided into two fields: 

 that to the left shows in its upper half St. Theodore Tyron 

 and St. Theodore the Stratalate; below stand St. Eustrates 

 and St. Arethas; above these are medallion heads of St. 

 Thomas and St. Mercurius. On the right leaf, similarly 

 disposed, are figures of St. George and St. Eustache, beneath 

 which are those of St. Demetrius and St. Procopius, the inter- 

 mediate medallions representing St. Philip and St. Pantaleon. 

 This constitutes what we may call the outside decoration of 

 this richly carved triptych. On the inside, the central leaf 

 bears a large cross, with the starry sky above and plants and 

 animals on the soil beneath; the reverses of the side leaves 

 present images of St. Basil, St. Gregory, St. Nicholas, St. 

 Severin, St. John Chrysostrom, and St. Clement of Ancyra, 

 and medallions of St. Phocal, St. Blasius, St. Cosmas, and 

 St. Damien. The central leaf is 24.2 cm. high and 14.2 cm. 

 wide; the side leaves measuring 21.7 cm. in height and 7 cm. 

 in width. This work, done in the tenth century, has both 

 the merits and the defects observable in all products of 

 Byzantine art, the unquestionable excellence and dignity 

 of the composition being marred to a certain extent by the 

 stiffness and rigidity of the figures.* 



A tenth-century book cover in the Hofbibliothek in Vienna 

 is adorned with an ivory plaque offering a representation of 

 St. Gregory the Great. The figure, attired in an ancient 

 raiment, falling in stiff folds, is shown seated on a throne 



*Mus6e National du Louvre. Catalogue des Ivoires, par Emile Molinier, Paris [1895- 

 96], pp. 31 sqq. 



