The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 17, 2024

Descent from the Cross

Descent from the Cross

1653
(German, 1610–1661)
Austria
ivory
Overall: 44.8 x 16.5 x 12.1 cm (17 5/8 x 6 1/2 x 4 3/4 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1967.134
Location: 215 French, German, and Dutch

Did You Know?

Carved from a single elephant tusk, the artist took special care to ensure the ivory did not crack or break as he meticulously crafted each figure in this visually exciting sculpture. Look closely to find tools and small objects included near its base.

Description

Carved from a single piece of ivory for Prince Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein of Vienna, this work is a true tour-de-force. It took Lenckhardt seven years to complete; it is his last known sculpture and the pinnacle of his career. The biblical accounts of the descent from the cross found in the gospels are not consistent, which may contribute to the difficulty in precisely identifying the figures. The Virgin Mary, Saint John, Mary Magdalene, and others were said to be present, but undoubtedly there are other disciples here mourning Christ’s death. The intense emotion registers on the faces of the figures in the scrupulous and exquisitely detailed work.
  • Prince Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein, Vienna (1611-1684), 1653 - after 1678
    Robert Napier, England, by 1857 - 1865
    Fazackerley Collection, England
    Sold by Cyril Humphris, Ltd., London, to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967
  • Napier, Robert, and J. C. Robinson. Catalogue of the Works of Art Forming the Collection of Robert Napier. London, United Kingdom: Priv. Print, 1865. Reproduced: no. 1085 (as Algardi)
    Fleischer, Victor. Fürst Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein als Bauherr und Kunstsammler (1611-1684). Vienna, Austria and Leipzig,Germany: C.W. Stern, 1910. Reproduced: p. 36-37, p. 225-226
    Braun-Troppau, E. W. "Der Wiener Elfenbeinbildhauer Adam Lenckhardt." Kunst und Kunsthandwerk XVI (1913): 318-320. Mentioned: p. 318
    Born, Wolfgang. "A Newly Discovered Masterpiece of Adam Lenckhardt." Apollo XXIII, no. 133 (January 1936): 41-45, Mentioned: p. 42
    Schikola, Gertraut. "Wiener Plastik der Renaissance und des Barocks." In Geschichte der Bildenden Kunst in Wien, Verein für Geschichte der Stadt Wien, 85-162. Wien: Der Verein, 1955. Mentioned: vol. 1, p. 99
    Spaeth, Eloise. American Art Museums and Galleries: An Introduction to Looking. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers, 1960. Reproduced: p. 19
    Theuerkauff, Christian. "Der Elfenbeinbildhauer Adam Lenckhardt." Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen X (1965): 27-70. Mentioned: p. 30-31, 56-58, 62, 65, 68, 69, 70; reproduced: p. 59, figure 27.
    Schädler, Alfred. "Der Ulmer Bildhauer und Elfenbein-schnitzer David Heschler (1611-1667)." . In Studien zur Geschichte der europäischen Plastik; Festschrift, Theodor Müller, zum 19, April 1965. Kurt Martin, and Theodor Müller, 293-302. München: Hirmer Verlag, 1965. Mentioned: p. 99
    "Year in Review." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 54, no. 10 (1967): 302-46. Referenced: no. 13, p. 341, Reproduced: p. 311 www.jstor.org
    Hawley, Henry. "An Ivory Deposition." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LV, no. 11 (November, 1968): 290-293. Reproduced: p. 290, p. 292, p. 293
    "La Chronique des Arts." Gazette des Beaux-Arts LXXI, no. 1189 (February 1968): 1-140. Reproduced: p. 61, no. 236
    "Accessions of American and Canadian Museums." Art Quarterly XXXI, no. 2 (Summer 1968): 205-232. Mentioned: p. 214
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 129 archive.org
    Theurerkauff, Christian. "Scultura Barocca in Avorio: Nuove Attribuzioni ad Adam Lenckhardt e a Dominicus Stainhart." Antichità Viva X, no. 2 (February 1971): 33-51. Mentioned: p. 34, 35, 37-38, 46; reproduced: p. 42, figs. 15, 16
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 164 archive.org
    Ditner, David Charles. Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century European Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Dissertation, Cleveland, OH: Cast Western Reserve University, 1986. Reproduced: p. 372
    Baumstark, Reinhold, and Peter Volk. Apoll schindet Marsyas: über das Schreckliche in der Kunst ; Adam Lenckhardts Elfenbeingruppe ; [Katalog zur Ausstellung des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums, München, 15. März bis 18. Juni 1995]. 1995. Reproduced: p. 138
    Theurerkauff, Christian. "Baroque Ivories from the Collection of Anselm Salomon van Rothschild in Vienna." Apollo 157 (February 2003): 15-25. Reproduced: p. 16, no. 492
    Treasures of the Cleveland Museum of Art. London, United Kingdom: Scala Books, 2012. Reproduced: p. 202-203
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 19
  • Art Treasurers of the United Kingdom. Manchester (1857).
    Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967).
  • {{cite web|title=Descent from the Cross|url=false|author=Adam Lenckhardt|year=1653|access-date=17 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1967.134