Cleveland Museum of Art

Plaque from a Portable Altar: Zacharias at the Altar

Date

c. 1100–1125

Medium

ivory

Culture

Germany, Rhine Valley, Cologne?, Romanesque period, 12th century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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.

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