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ID: 700008651
Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008651
Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1
Plaque (plaque (flat object); unknown Byzantine; ca. 500/550; British Museum (London, Greater London, England, United King...; 1904,0702.1)
Note: Plaque; ivory; carved with the Adoration of the Magi: the Virgin is seated frontally holding the Christ child in her lap; behind her on the left is an angel carrying a cross-staff, while the three Magi dressed in trousers, chlamyses and Phrygian caps present their offerings with veiled hands; below this, the Nativity: the Virgin lies on a mattress at left; at the right is the child lying in a manger flanked by the ox and ass and with the star of Bethlehem above; in front of the manger Salome extends her withered hand to the child. On the back nine lines of a prayer in Greek. Found/Acquired: Thessaly, MLA register: "From a monastery in Thessaly, where it was framed as an ikon". (Europe,Greece,Thessaly)
Titles:
Plaque (preferred,C,U,RP,English-P,U,N)
Ivory plaque with the Adoration of the Magi (C,U,DE,English,U,U)
Catalog Level: item
Work Types:
plaque (flat object) [300010262] (preferred)
..... (Objects Facet, Object Genres (hierarchy name), object genres (object classifications), <object genres by form>)

Classifications:
sculptures (preferred)

Creation Date: ca. 500/550

Creator Display:
unknown Byzantine [preferred,VP]
carver unknown Byzantine (Byzantine cultural designation) [500125223]
Locations:
Current: British Museum (London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom) [500125180] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)
Repository Numbers: 1904,0702.1
Address Note: On display: G41/dc13
Other: Discovery: ThessalĂ­a [7223901] KardhĂ­tsa regional division (regional division), Thessaly (region (administrative division)), Greece (nation), Europe (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)
Display Materials: carved elephant ivory
ivory (material) [300011857]
.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by composition>, combination inorganic/organic material, combination inorganic/organic animal material, <bone and bone components materials>, bone (material), <bone by form as material>, <tooth and tooth components as materials>, <tooth components as material>, dentin (material))
Elephantidae (family) [300250160]
.......(Agents Facet, Living Organisms (hierarchy name), living organisms (entities), Eukaryota (domain), Animalia (kingdom), Chordata (phylum), Vertebrata (subphylum), Mammalia (class), Proboscidea (order))
carving (processes) [300053149]
.......(Activities Facet, Processes and Techniques (hierarchy name), <processes and techniques by specific type>, <subtractive processes and techniques>, <carving and carving techniques>)

Dimensions: height: 217 millimetres; width: 123 millimetres; depth: 15 millimetres
Cultures:
Byzantine (preferred)

Style/Period/Group/Movement:
Early Byzantine [300106792] (preferred,period)
.....(Styles and Periods Facet, Styles and Periods (hierarchy name), <styles| periods| and cultures by region>, European, <Early Christian-Byzantine styles| cultures| periods>, Byzantine (culture and style))

General Subject:
religion and mythology (preferred)

Specific Subjects:
Adoration of the Magi [901000083]
.....((Legend of the Nativity of Christ, Life of Jesus Christ, New Testament narratives, Christian iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)
Madonna and Child [901000052]
.....((Themes surrounding the Virgin Mary, Christian allegory, symbolism, theme, Christian iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)
Magi [901001061]
.....((Christian characters, Christian iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)
Legend of the Midwives [901001339]
.....((Legend of the Nativity of Christ, Life of Jesus Christ, New Testament narratives, Christian iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)

Provenance: Acquisition date 1904
Inscriptions: On the reverse: [nine lines of a prayer in written in 12th-century Greek hand]
List/Hierarchical Position:
..... Movable Works
.......... Movable Works by class: carvings and sculptures
Sources and Contributors:
Plaque........ [VP]
........ British Museum [online] (1999-)
Ivory plaque with the Adoration of the Magi........ [VP]
........ British Museum [online] (1999-)
Subject: ....... [VP]
Note:
English ..... [VP]
..... British Museum [online] (1999-)
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