The Borradaile Triptych is an ivory

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

triptych carved in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

between 900 and 1000 AD. It was bequeathed by Charles Borradaile to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, in 1923, British Museum Collection
/ref> and is one of the "Romanos Group" of ivories that are closely connected with the Imperial Court, along with the Harbaville Triptych and

Wernher Triptych The Wernher Triptych is an ivory Byzantine triptych carved in Constantinople between 900 and 1000 AD. History The triptych became part of the British Museum's collection in 1978, in lieu of taxes following the death of Sir Harold Wernher, son of ...

Description

The central panel of the triptych is carved with the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

, with the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

and St. John to each side and half-length figures of the archangels Michael and Gabriel above. The Greek inscription above their heads reads "Behold thy Son; Behold thy Mother" (John 19.26-7). On the left leaf, from top to bottom are carved

St. Cyrus St Cyrus or Saint Cyrus ( sco, Saunt Ceerus), formerly Ecclesgreig (from gd, Eaglais Chiric) is a village in the far south of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. General information Traditional salmon fishing with nets is still conducted from St Cyrus be ...

;

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

and

Theodore Stratelates Theodore Stratelates ( grc-gre, Ἅγιος Θεόδωρος ὁ Στρατηλάτης (); cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲑⲉⲟⲇⲱⲣⲟⲥ), also known as Theodore of Heraclea ( grc-gre, Θεόδωρος Ἡρακλείας; AD 281–319) ...

, with

St. Menas Menas of Egypt (also Mina, Minas, Mena, Meena; el, Άγιος Μηνάς, ; 285 – c. 309), a martyr and wonder-worker, is one of the most well-known Coptic saints in the East and the West, due to the many miracles that are attributed to his i ...

and St. Procopius below; on the right leaf are carved the figures of St. John, St. Eustathius,

Clement of Ancyra Hieromartyr Clement, Bishop of Ancyra or simply Clement of Ancyra (c. 258–312) (born in Ancyra present-day Turkey) was a bishop who served during the rule of Roman emperor Diocletian. He was arrested by Roman authorities and tried by Diocletian ...

with

St. Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

and St. Kyrion above. On the reverse are two crosses and roundels containing the busts of

St. Joachim Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

and

St. Anna According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come on ...

in the centre, with

St. Basil Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Ca ...

and

St. Barbara Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Accounts place her in t ...

, and John the Persian and St. Thecla in the terminals. Traces of a painted lozenge can be seen in the right-hand leaf.

Original Owner

The choice of saints must reflect the interests of the patron who originally ordered the

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek language, Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) t ...

to be made. It has been speculated that it was made for

Anna Porphyrogenita Anna Porphyrogenita ( grc-x-medieval, Ἄννα Πορφυρογεννήτη, translit=Anna Porphyrogennētē, rus, Анна Византийская, uk, Анна Порфірогенета; 13 March 963 – 1011) was a Grand Princess consort ...

, daughter of the Emperor

Romanos II Romanos II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Ρωμανός, 938 – 15 March 963) was Byzantine Emperor from 959 to 963. He succeeded his father Constantine VII at the age of twenty-one and died suddenly and mysteriously four years later. His son Bas ...

, but this cannot be substantiated.

Description

Original Owner

References

Further reading