The Stavelot Triptych is a medieval

Medieval art

The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of art history in Europe, and at times the Middle East and North Africa...

 reliquary

Reliquary

A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures...

 and portable altar

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...

 in gold and enamel

Vitreous enamel

Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...

 intended to protect, honor and display pieces of the True Cross

True Cross

The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...

. Created by Mosan art

Mosan art

Mosan art is a regional style of art from the valley of the Meuse in present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Although the term applies to art from this region from all periods, it generally refers to Romanesque art, with Mosan Romanesque architecture, stone carving, metalwork, enamelling...

ists—"Mosan" signifies the valley of the Meuse river—around 1156 at Stavelot Abbey in present-day Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. The work is a masterpiece of Romanesque

Romanesque art

Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...

 goldsmith's work

Goldsmith

A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...

 and is today in The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

Description

The Stavelot Triptych is a three-part winged shrine; with the wings open its dimensions are 19 in (48.3 cm) in height by 26 in (66 cm) in width. In such a triptych

Triptych

A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...

, the outer wings protect (when swung shut) the middle section, which contains two smaller triptychs, each containing pieces of the True Cross. The black velvet background is modern, originally it was a golden field inlaid with semi-precious stones — see for example the Cross of Lothair

Cross of Lothair

The Cross of Lothair or Lothair Cross is a crux gemmata processional cross dating from about 1000 AD, though its base dates from the 14th century. It was made in Germany, probably at Cologne...

. The two inner triptychs are cloisonné

Cloisonné

Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects, in recent centuries using vitreous enamel, and in older periods also inlays of cut gemstones, glass, and other materials. The resulting objects can also be called cloisonné...

enamel

Vitreous enamel

Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...

, a technique typical of Byzantine work; the six larger medallions (three on each outer wing) are in the champlevé

Champlevé

Champlevé is an enamelling technique in the decorative arts, or an object made by that process, in which troughs or cells are carved or cast into the surface of a metal object, and filled with vitreous enamel. The piece is then fired until the enamel melts, and when cooled the surface of the object...

technique which had by then largely replaced cloisonné in the West, and in which "Mosan" metalworkers were the leading artists in Europe.

The outer triptych is of Mosan origin, built to house the two inner triptychs of Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 origin, which predate the outer triptych by some decades. It is unknown who the artist(s) were who made it, although other works have been suggested as coming from the same workshop. We do not know with certainty who ordered it, or who paid for it. The Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

 monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 of Stavelot ruled the Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy

Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy

The Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Princely power was exercised by the Benedictine abbot of the imperial double monastery of Stavelot and Malmedy, founded in 651. At , it was the second-smallest territory in the Empire, after the Duchy of Bouillon at...

, a small statelet in the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

, and in this period commissioned a number of magnificent pieces of religious metalwork, as well as apparently running a scriptorium

Scriptorium

Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes...

 which produced some significant illuminated manuscript

Illuminated manuscript

An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...

s, most notably the Stavelot Bible

Stavelot Bible

The Stavelot Bible is a Romanesque illuminated manuscript bible in two volumes datable to 1093-1097. It was produced for, but not necessarily in, the Benedictine monastery of Stavelot, in the Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy of modern Belgium, and required four years to complete...

 of 1093–97. We know that Prince-Abbot

Prince-abbot

A Prince-Abbot is a title for a cleric who is a Prince of the Church , in the sense of an ex officio temporal lord of a feudal entity, notably a State of the Holy Roman Empire. The secular territory ruled by the head of an abbey is known as Prince-Abbacy or Abbey-principality...

 Wibald

Wibald

Wibald was a 12th century Abbot of Stavelot and Malmedy, both in present-day Belgium, and of Corvey in Germany.-Biography:...

 (1098–1158), was sent on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1154. It is theorized Wibald received the two smaller triptychs as diplomatic gifts from the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus, and after his return commissioned Mosan artists to create the larger outer triptych. The Triptych was certainly in the Abbey when it was suppressed in 1792, after the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

. The last prince-abbot, Célestin Thys, carried the triptych to Germany during the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, where it remained until 1910, when purchased by a London dealer who sold it to J. P. Morgan

J. P. Morgan

John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...

.

Of the inner triptychs, both mostly in gold and enamel, the lower larger one has two slivers of wood of the True Cross forming a cross. Around this on the central panel are enamel standing figures of Constantine

Constantine I

Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...

 on the left and Saint Helena (Constantine's mother who originally found the True Cross) on the right, below busts of archangel

Archangel

An archangel is an angel of high rank. Archangels are found in a number of religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism and by most Christians. Michael is the only archangel specifically named in the Protestant Bible...

s. An X-shaped fixture, with pearl

Pearl

A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...

s at each of the four ends, holds the cross together. The insides of the wings contain four military saint

Military saint

The military saints or warrior saints of the Early Christian Church are prominent in the history of Christianity...

s: George

Saint George

Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...

 and Procopius

Procopius of Scythopolis

Procopius of Scythopolis is venerated as an early martyr and saint. Eusebius of Caesarea writes of his martyrdom, which occurred during the persecution of Diocletian, and states that “he was born at Jerusalem, but had gone to live in Scythopolis, where he held three ecclesiastical offices...

 on the left, Theodore

Theodore

-The name:*Includes the etymology of the name and a longer list of people whose full name includes some version of the name Theodore.-Ancient people:*Theodorus of Samos, inventor and architect*Theodorus of Cyrene, mathematician...

and Demetrius on the right. The outsides of the wings have figures of the Four Evangelists

Four Evangelists

In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...

.

The upper smaller triptych held relics of the True Cross, Holy Sepulchre, and the robe of the Virgin Mary

Mary (mother of Jesus)

Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...

. The central panel has a Crucifixion

Crucifixion

Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...

with the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist

John the Evangelist

Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...

 standing beside the cross, with the sun and the moon above the cross. The insides of the wings have geometric decoration, while the outsides have an Annunciation to Mary

Annunciation

The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...

.

The outer wings of the main triptych contain enamel medallions with narrative scenes from the legends of the True Cross, stories well known in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

. Over the top of the two top medallions is inscribed:

Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee you hostile powers

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah

Tribe of Judah

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Judah was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....

, the Root of David

David

David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...

 has conquered

The three medallions on the left wing tell the story of Constantine's conversion to Christianity. Starting with the bottom medallion on the left wing, it pictures the highy medieval version of the legend of Constantine having a dream the night before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, where he dreams an angel appears, points to the Cross, and tells him he will conquer under that sign

In hoc signo vinces

In hoc signo vinces is a Latin rendering of the Greek phrase "" en touto nika, and means "in this sign you will conquer"....

. The middle medallion shows Constantine's victory at the Milvian bridge, with a cross standard. The upper medallion shows Constantine being baptized

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

 just before his death, by Pope Sylvester I, below an approving Hand of God

Hand of God (art)

The Hand of God, or Manus Dei in Latin, also known as Dextera domini/dei, the "right hand of the Lord/God", is a motif in Jewish and Christian art, especially of the Late Antique and Early Medieval periods, when depiction of Jehovah or God the Father as a full human figure was considered...

.

The three medallions on the right wing tell the story of Saint Helena's discovery of the True Cross. Starting with the bottom medallion on the right wing, Helena questions Jewish

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

 leaders (wearing Jewish hats) about the location of the Cross. In the middle medallion, Helena watches as servants dig up the Cross on Mount Calvary

Calvary

Calvary or Golgotha was the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem’s early first century walls, at which the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have occurred. Calvary and Golgotha are the English names for the site used in Western Christianity...

, below a pointing Hand of God

Hand of God (art)

The Hand of God, or Manus Dei in Latin, also known as Dextera domini/dei, the "right hand of the Lord/God", is a motif in Jewish and Christian art, especially of the Late Antique and Early Medieval periods, when depiction of Jehovah or God the Father as a full human figure was considered...

; the two thieves crosses have already been excavated. In the upper medallion, Helena is testing the three crosses on a sick man to find the one True Cross that has the healing powers.

As well as the masterful goldsmith's work and beauty of the Stavelot Triptych, it remains instructive as a demonstration of the diverging Eastern and Western Christian artistic traditions in the Romanesque period

Romanesque art

Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...

. Not only are the enamel techniques different between the outer triptych and the smaller inner triptychs, but the way images and ideas are expressed are very different. Eastern Byzantine artists use static, hierarchal figures frozen in place, silently adoring Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

 and the cross. In contrast, the Western artists use narrative

Narrative

A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...

storytelling with animated figures acting out dramatic visions, battles and miracles.