Crosier in ivory

The crosier in ivory of the Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Vannes is only partially conserved. What remains is the curl, the pommel and the beginning of the staff. The pommel is flat. Five threads are wound around the knob. The curl ends in the head of a serpent and wraps around the sculpture in the round of a lion attacking a gazelle. 

This crosier presents certain characteristics of Muslim ivories, most notably in its decorative theme and iconography. The theme of animals in combat is deeply rooted in the ancient traditions of countries conquered by the Muslims, as much in Byzantine as in Sassanid culture. In the fifth century BC, it was already present on the walls of the staircase of apadâna in Persepolis in which a lion is attacking a bull. Islamic art, which is rooted in this cultural lineage, adopted the theme of the lion assailing a gazelle as early as the Umayyad dynasty, an example being the ornamental tiling of a mosaic bathhouse in the castle of Khirbat al-Mafjar. From that time forward, such depictions of affronting felid and caprid animals were employed more and more frequently, as much in architectural relief as in designs on ivory, metal, textiles and ceramics. In the Islamic world, this penchant for affronting animals, whether of felid animals against bovid animals or caprid animals against cervids, was an affirmation of political domination. Yet such animal combats would sometimes take on a cosmic dimension, symbolising the combat between the many constellations, between the forces of Light and Darkness.

The Islamic craft is thus closely related to a Christian object, namely an Episcopal crosier. We have established its origin in Norman Sicily in the second half of the 12th century. Palermo’s royal workshops employed Oriental craftsmen to fashion luxury objects (jewellery, textiles, ivories, intaglio…) for the prestige and glory of the Norman court[1]. A great many pyxis and caskets were the handiwork of Islamic artisans. We can also attribute certain combs and staffs of bishops to Islamic workmanship; although such objects are not always strictly Sicilian in origin. The theme employed for the Crosier of Vannes, like that of the gazelle and falcon used for other crosiers, can be compared to the motifs decorating the ceiling of the Palatine Chapel. This sumptuous wooden ceiling in stalactites or muqarnas, as they are often called, is entirely painted with scenes of drinkers, musicians and dancers, but also with a series of opposed or combating real and fantastic animals—lions attacking birds, a serpent, a gazelle. Similar iconographic representations can be seen on textiles found in the royal tombs of Palermo. The Crosier of Vannes still has traces of gilding and decorative paint, another link with Palermo. Ivory caskets considered to be Sicilian developed motifs and figuration with paint and quill drawings, such as the large casket in the treasury of the Palatine Chapel[2].