Ivory representing Otto II and Theophano

The binding plaque representing Otto II and Theophano is an interesting example of the contacts that were established between Western Europe and the Byzantine world. Otto II, who had married a Byzantine princess, Theophano, in 972, was proclaimed Roman Emperor of the West (r. 973-989) at the death of Otto I.

The inscriptions on the background have allowed this ivory piece to be dated. In one of them, Otto II bears the title of Emperor of the Romans, Augustus. He attributed this title to himself in spring 982 and died in Rome in December 983. The piece can therefore be dated to  a time between these two dates. However, the date of 937 is engraved on the ivory. This is probably an erroneous later addition, an inversion of 973, the beginning of the reign of Otto II.

This work shows three figures fullface. Christ, his head encircled by a cruciform halo, stands in the centre, blessing the imperial couple. He wears a tunic and a dalmatic. Each of his hands is laid on the crowns worn by the other figures. These richly ornamented crowns with prependoulia (two pendants) were worn by the Byzantine emperors. Otto II and Theophano's garments are also similar to those worn by the members of the imperial family in Constantinople: the first tunic is close fitting, and recognisable by its sleeves, decorated with a band at the wrist. Over this close-fitting garment Otto II wears a more ample tunic whose base is decorated with several rows of squares, as well as rosettes, also visible at the shoulder. His top garment is a chlamys[1], decorated with diamond shapes and tied with a fibula. Unlike Otto, Theophano wears a simplified, square patterned loros[2], with the same square pattern, below a more ample tunic that is decorated with rosettes at shoulder level.

The Emperor, his wife and the Christ figure are standing on stools. Beneath Otto II's stool is a bowing figure wearing a star-decorated cloak hemmed with a row of pearls. This is the donor, designated in the inscription as John. It may be John Philagathos, archbishop of Piacenza, strived to bring the Eastern German Empire and the Byzantine Empire closer together[3]. Above the three figures is a canopy supported by two columns with twisted fluting. Two curtains are attached to the columns, the cortina, emphasising the sacred character of the image, in accordance with classical custom.

This ivory work is reminiscent of the ivory of Romanus II and Eudoxia in the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris. The resemblance is striking, suggesting, initially, that it is the work of a Byzantine artist, or an artist trained and inspired by a Byzantine. The two ivories are similar but not identical. The Christ figure, slightly higher than the imperial couple, is found on both works, as is His gesture of blessing. However, the stools differ: there are three stools on the Cluny ivory, and only one, on a platform, on the ivory of the Cabinet des Médailles. The garments are also different. Only the ivory of Otto II and Theophano depicts a canopy.

In determining the origin of the ivory carving, the quality indicates that the binding plaque may have originated in the workshop known as the workshop of Nicephorus, active in Constantinople in the tenth century. The inscriptions in the background, however, give rise to debate: the intermingling of Latin and Greek and the fact that an unusual church titular for a Byzantine work destined for a Germanic emperor[4] is shown suggest, rather, that the ivory was produced in the west by a lesser artist, a member of Theophano's retinue, inspired by the art of Byzantium, or else in Italy, fatherland of John Philagathos.

[2] Wide shawl worn over the tunic. It was characteristic of Byzantine imperial attire, and so seems logical that the Byzantine princess should wear one, but not the sovereign of the Holy German Empire.

[3] John Philagathos, a Calabrian monk, was a regular visitor to Otto's court in the 980s. In February 997, he was named antipope under the name of John XVI, was formally deposed in May 998 and died in August 1001.

[4] Greek and Latin letters seem to intermingle within single expressions. The titulature of Otto is debatable: is this an abbreviated Latin inscription written from Greek character? Furthermore, Byzantine sovereign, with their preoccupation with hierarchy, were the only ones who could bear the title "Emperor of the Romans", and their other sovereigns were, for the greater part, given the simple title of "king" or "emperor".