Keywords: French - Opening Madonna Triptych - Walters 71152 - Front Open.jpg This rare and unusual Vierge ouvrante opening Madonna takes the form of a triptych which when closed shows the Virgin enthroned and when open displays scenes from the Passion of Christ The statuette unique in the world was carved around 1200 a date supported by recent scientific tests including carbon-14 dating on the age of the ivory Although similar in style to sculpture seen on cathedrals near Paris such as at Sens original ownership of the Vierge ouvrante can only be traced back to the priory of Boubon near Limoges central France at the time of the French Revolution 1789 between 1180 1220 Medieval ivory open cm 43 5 28 1 6 4 accession number 71 152 36652 Wings Priory of the Convent of Boubon Anne Hugonneau Convent of Boubon date and mode of acquisition unknown Jean Hugonneau-Beaufet Saint-Mathieu 1826 by inheritance Pierre Hugonneau-Beaufet Dournazac 1839 by gift Pierre Hugonneau-Beaufet's niece date of acquisition unknown by inheritance Sailly Limoges 1897 by inheritance in 1897 the wings and central panel were joined Jacques Seligmann Paris ca 1900 by purchase Sir Thomas Gibson Carmichael London date and mode of acquisition unknown George Harding London 1902 by purchase Henry Walters city Baltimore Walters Art Museum 1931 by bequest Central panel Priory of the Convent of Boubon Chaperon caretaker of the Convent of Boubon ca 1792 mode of acquisition unknown Chaperon's daughter wife of Duvoisin date of acquisition unknown by inheritance Antonin Duvoisin date of acquisition unknown by inheritance Antonin Duvoisin's sharecropper 1897 by inheritance Lavergne Abjat 1897 by gift in 1897 the wings and central panel were joined Jacques Seligmann Paris ca 1900 by purchase Sir Thomas Gibson Carmichael London date and mode of acquisition unknown George Harding London 1902 by purchase Henry Walters city Baltimore Walters Art Museum Henry Walters Acquired by Henry Walters 1903 Exposition rétrospective de l'art français au Trocadéro Paris 1889 Artful Deception The Craft of the Forger The Walters Art Gallery Baltimore; Edsel Eleanor Ford House Grosse Pointe Shores; Dallas Museum of Art Dallas; Oklahoma City Museum of Art Oklahoma City; Portland Museum of Art Portland; The Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood Nashville; Phoenix Art Museum Phoenix; Columbia Museum of Art Columbia; Elvehjem Museum of Art Madison; Crocker Art Museum Sacramento; Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester Rochester; The Barnum Museum Bridgeport 1987-1992 To Arrest the Ravages of Time Caring for Art at the Walters The Walters Art Gallery Baltimore 1996 Images in Ivory Precious Objects of the Gothic Age The Detroit Institute of Arts Detroit; The Walters Art Gallery Baltimore 1997 Vive la France French Treasures from the Middle Ages to Monet The Walters Art Gallery Baltimore 1999-2000 place of origin Sens France Walters Art Museum license Medieval ivory in the Walters Art Museum Art of France in the Walters Art Museum Media contributed by the Walters Art Museum needs category review Opening Virgin statues Vive la France French Treasures from the Middle Ages to Monet |