The Magdenburg Ivories

By Crusader1307

Named for Magdeburg Cathedral (of which they were kept for Centuries), Germany – these Ivory Carvings depicting scenes from The Life of Jesus Christ, date to the 9th Century AD. They are some of the oldest surviving (and intact) of their kind.A gift to The Archbishop of Magdeburg (968 AD), their Sculpture is unknown (lost to History). The carvings are heavily influenced by the then popular ''Ottoman'' Art style (as known as ''Oriental'', then). They were displayed to Dignitaries and Lay Persons until the 16th Century.

The (20) component pieces are solid ivory. Each ranges from 1 to 2-feet in height and 1.5-feet in width. They were originally designed to be part of a Reliquary, but proof of this cannot be found. The pieces are currently in Museums located in The US, Germany and France.