The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 14, 2025

Plaque from a Portable Altar: Zacharias at the Altar

c. 1100–1125
ivory
Overall: 8.6 x 7.7 cm (3 3/8 x 3 1/16 in.)
Gift of John L. Severance in memory of J. H. Wade 1926.212
Location: 106C Medieval Treasury

Description

This delicate ivory plaque may once have decorated a side of a portable altar. It likely depicts the angel of the Lord appearing to the priest Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, at the altar in the temple. Like the identity of the object in Zacharias’s hands, the identity of the couple accompanying the priest remains unclear.
  • Count Pourtales, St. Petersburg; (Durlacher Brothers, New York).
  • Milliken, William. "Mr. Severance's Gifts to the Museum." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 23, no. 2 (February 1936): 17-27 Reproduced: p. 24; Mentioned: p. 25-26 www.jstor.org
  • The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
  • {{cite web|title=Plaque from a Portable Altar: Zacharias at the Altar|url=false|author=|year=c. 1100–1125|access-date=14 March 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1926.212