LOT 0365

Medieval Gilt Bronze Plaque of the True Face of Christ

ITALY, CIRCA 1500 A.D.

4 x 2 5/8 in. (216 grams, 10.1 x 6.6 cm).

With raised rim, nimbate bust of Christ in profile with long beard and shoulder-length hair, folded collar to the mantle; dove above with wings spread between sun and moon, each with a facing mask; inscription I.N.R.I. visible on either side of the portrait; mounted on a velvet-covered stand. [No Reserve]

with Pierre-Richard Royer, 2010.
Ex central London gallery.

Cf. Strong, R., 600 Years of British Painting: the Berger Collection an the Denver Art Museum, Exhibition catalogue, Denver, 1999, for history of the artefact; for a similar icon see a plaque in the Walters Art Museum, accession no.54.68.

The icon represents the profile bust of Christ found on a Byzantine emerald, whence it is known as an 'Emerald Icon'. The emerald was one of the several holy objects sent to Pope Innocent VIII in the 1490's by the Turkish Sultan Bajazet II. The icon was considered one of the Christianity's most precious relics. The letters "I N R I" stand for 'Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum,' i.e.' Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews' This is the inscription that, according to the Evangelist John, Pilate had written on the plaque above Christ's head on the cross. The sun and moon allude to the cosmic significance of his sacrifice.