The Borradaile Triptych is an ivory

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

carved in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

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

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in 1923, 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.

Description

The central panel of the triptych has a height of 270 mm and is carved with the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

, with the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

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. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

and Theodore Stratelates, with St. Menas and St. Procopius below; on the right leaf are carved the figures of St. John, St. Eustathius, Clement of Ancyra with St. Stephen and St. Kyrion above. On the reverse are two crosses and roundels containing the busts of St. Joachim and St. Anna in the centre, with St. Basil and St. Barbara, 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

to be made. It has been speculated that it was made for Anna Porphyrogenita, daughter of the Emperor

Romanos II Romanos II (; 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 wife Theophano helped their sons Basil II ...

, but this cannot be substantiated.

Description

Original owner

References

Further reading