The Red Cross with Triptych egg, also known as Red Cross Triptych egg or Red Cross Egg with Resurrection Triptych,
is an enameled
Easter egg
Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...
made under the supervision of the Russian jeweler
Peter Carl Fabergé
Peter Carl Gustavovich Fabergé (; – 24 September 1920; also known as Charles Fabergé) was a Russian goldsmith and jeweller. He is best known for creating Fabergé eggs made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and ...
in 1915, for
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...
. Nicholas II presented the
Fabergé egg
A Fabergé egg () is a jewelled egg first created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 Czarist Russia Era eggs were created, of which 61 are currently known to have survived. Virtually all of the ...
to his wife Empress
Alexandra Fyodorovna on Easter 1915.
Craftsmanship
The egg was created by Fabergé's workmaster,
Henrik Wigström
Henrik Immanuel Wigström (2 October 1862 – 14 March 1923) a Finnish silver & goldsmith, was one of the most important Fabergé workmasters along with Michael Perchin. Perchin was the head workmaster from 1886 until his death in 1903, when he ...
(Finnish, 1860–1923)
is made of silver, gold, opalescent white and translucent red enamel, watercolor on gold and glass. The white enamel on this gold-mounted egg is decorated with a translucent red enamel cross on either side. The egg measures . The center of each cross is set with a painted miniature of respectively
Grand Duchess Olga and
Grand Duchess Tatiana in their Red Cross uniforms. The front cross with the portrait of Tatiana serves as a clasp, securing the double opening doors. The front of the egg divides into two quarters when opened, reveals a
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 ...
within.
[
The central scene is the ]Harrowing of Hell
In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell (; Greek language, Greek: – "the descent of Christ into Christian views on Hell, Hell" or Christian views on Hades, Hades) is the period of time between the Crucifixion of Jesus and his Resurre ...
, the Orthodox representation of the Resurrection. Saint Olga
Olga (; ; – 11 July 969) was a regent of Kievan Rus' for her son Sviatoslav from 945 until 957. Following her baptism, Olga took the name Elenа. She is known for her subjugation of the Drevlians, a tribe that had killed her husband Igor. E ...
, the founder of Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
in Russia is represented on the left wing of the triptych. The martyr Saint Tatiana
Saint Tatiana was a Christian martyr in 3rd-century Rome during the reign of Emperor Severus Alexander.
Biography
According to legend, she was the daughter of a Roman civil servant who was secretly Christian, and raised his daughter in the fai ...
on the right. The interior miniatures are executed by Adrian Prachow, who specialized in icons. The remaining two panels of the doors are inscribed with the crown monogram of the tsarina, and the other one with the year "1915". The two miniature portraits of the two Grand Duchesses are probably by the court painter Vasilii Zuiev, who painted the miniatures for the companion Red Cross with Imperial Portraits Egg. This is one of the few Tsar Imperial Easter Eggs that opens vertically. The 1913 Winter Egg is another.[
]
Ownership
In 1930, the Red Cross with Triptych Egg was sold by the Antikvariat Antikvariat () was a Russian department of the Ministry of Trade set up by Lenin in 1921 following the Russian Revolution to handle the sale and export of art pieces acquired by the revolutionary government from Russian museums such as the Hermitag ...
in Moscow to an unknown buyer. Purchased in 1943 by India Early Minshall, widow of the founder of Pocahontas Oil Company, T. Ellis Minshall, at " A La Vieille Russie" in New York. India Early Minshall wrote "The Story of My Russian Cabinet", and noted "Fabergé was called the Cellini of the North, but I do not think any jeweler can ever be compared to him." In 1965, India Early Minshall bequeathed her collection to the Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Located in the Wade Park District of University Circle, the museum is internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian art, Asian and Art of anc ...
, Ohio, United States.[
]
References
Further reading
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External links
Cleveland Museum of Art: Highlights
Cleveland Museum of Art
{{coord, 41.5089, N, 81.6117, W, source:wikidata, display=title
1915 works
Imperial Fabergé eggs
Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art