Copies, transfers, reuse: journey of a 10th century Byzantine ivory diptych (Museum August Kestner in Hannover and Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden)
Abstract
In 1899, Hans Graeven published an article in which he analyzed two ivory reliefs that were part of a 10th-century Byzantine diptych: the left panel, depicting the Crucifixion and the Deposition, is currently exhibited in the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum in Hanover, while the right panel, with the Meeting in the Garden and the Anastasis, is kept in the Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden. Subsequent studies in the 20th century have confirmed the validity of Graeven's thesis, although the lack of more recent monographic contributions leaves some questions unanswered. This article revisits the proposals regarding the arrival of the two panels in the West, provides an analysis of the iconographies and identifies a group of specimens that can be considered forgeries and/or copies of the diptych.
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