Deesis

The triptych is arranged around the representation of the Deesis, a favourite theme in Byzantine iconography, both in monumental painting and in the fabrication of minor objects, because of its important message. The Virgin and St John the Baptist are depicted interceding with Christ Enthroned for the Salvation of humanity. The three figures and two archangels in the medallions are shown in the upper section of the triptych’s central panel. In the lower section of the same panel, five apostles facing the viewer are portrayed on the steps, holding a book or a scroll and joining in the prayer of the two principal figures. Holy martyrs with small crosses and holy soldiers separated by a pair of medallions with busts of saints adorn the two internal sections of the side panels. The reverse of the central panel is sculpted with a Latin cross, whose tips and centre are adorned with rosettes. The upper section of the panel has a starry background, while the lower section contains a stylized garden adorned with birds, rabbits, and lions. The entire composition illustrates the vision of the Garden of Eden. The two inclined cypresses symbolize the Trees of Good and Evil, while the cross symbolizes the Source of Life. The outer panels are adorned with four cupolas of holy bishops, each of whom is holding a book.

The Harbaville triptych belongs to a group of ivories from the imperial workshop known as ‘Romanus’, whose name refers to the plaque in the Cabinet des Médailles in the Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris), on which Christ is portrayed on a pedestal crowning Emperor Romanus II († 963) and Empress Bertha-Eudoxia (reigned 945–949). In the Harbaville triptych, Christ’s face bears a striking resemblance to that of Christ in the ‘Romanus’ ivory. The quality of the work, the rendering of the drapery, and the refined and elegant poses of the figures attest to the similarity between these two works. The ‘Romanus’ ivory and the group attached to it can be dated to the imperial court at Constantinople, in the middle or the beginning of the second half of the tenth century.

The triptych in the Louvre shares many iconographic and stylistic elements with two other triptychs belonging to the ‘Romanus’ group. These two are held in Rome: one is preserved in the Palace of Venice and the other in the Vatican Museum. All three depict the theme of the Deesis in their central section, while the apostles, martyrs, bishops, and holy soldiers are portrayed in a frieze on the lower part of the central section and on the side panels.

It is still not known where the triptych was created. Louis-François Harbaville (1791–1866), member of the Académie d'Arras (in northern France) and president of the Commission des Monuments Historiques du Pas-de-Calais, was the last person who acquired this object when he inherited it from his in-laws, the Beugny de Pommeras family from Arras. It was purchased in 1891 from Messrs Henri and Rémi Trannin, Mr Harbaville’s grandsons and heirs.