21/2/23 - Acquisition - Paris, Musée de Cluny - The dismaying exhibition of Dresden masterpieces at the Palais du Luxembourg called into question the very mission of museums by suggesting that they should sort out the art objects: "Can we still exhibit ivory pieces without encouraging the illegal trade?" (see article).
The latest acquisition of the Musée de Cluny offers a brilliant answer to this question, which is as disturbing as it is absurd. Giovanni Pisano’s Christ is a little gem of 13th-century Tuscan sculpture, whose exhibition evokes the influence of French Gothic art on Italian artists (ill. 1 and 2).
This work, recognized as being of major heritage interest, was purchased last January from the English dealer Stuart Lochhead for 2,450,000 euros. The museum used its own funds for this purchase. It also received help from the State, through the Fonds du patrimoine, thus from several patrons [1], and in particular from the Association des amis du Musée de Cluny, which had launched a public fundraising campaign in order to raise 100,000 euros (see the news item of 14/4/22).
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- 1. Giovanni Pisano ( c. 1248 - before 1319)
Christ on the Cross
Ivory - 20.5 x 6.3 cm
Currently being acquired by the Musée de Cluny
Photo: Musée de Cluny - See the image in its page
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- 2. Giovanni Pisano ( c. 1248 - before 1319)
Christ on the Cross
Ivory - 20.5 x 6.3 cm
Currently being acquired by the Musée de Cluny
Photo: Musée de Cluny - See the image in its page
This is the first work by Giovanni Pisano to join the collections of a French museum. Yet he was a major sculptor at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, working in ivory as well as marble and wood. He translates here the human nature of Christ by expressing all the suffering that He endures on the cross: his head falls on his shoulder, his eyes are half-closed and his eyebrows frowned, his half-open mouth reveals his teeth. The fineness of the features and the anatomy testify to the virtuosity with which the artist sculpted the ivory.
Pisano used the theme of Christ on the cross in different scales. Several examples, adopting a posture and expression similar to this one, were visible in the exhibition "Homage to Giovanni Pisano", which the Palazzo Fabroni of Pistoia had organized in 2017 [2], most notably the monumental Christ in wood from the church of San Bartolomeo in Pantano (ill. 3 and 4).
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- 3. Giovanni Pisano ( c. 1248 - before 1319)
Christ on the Cross, c. 1310-1315
Painted wood
Pistoia, church of San Bartolomeo
in Pantano
Photo: Palazzo Fabroni Pistoia - See the image in its page
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- 4. Giovanni Pisano ( c. 1248 - before 1319)
Christ on the Cross (detail), c. 1310-1315
Painted wood
Pistoia, church of San Bartolomeo
in Pantano
Photo: Palazzo Fabroni Pistoia - See the image in its page
As for this small ivory, it is presented in the exhibition "Recent Acquisitions: 2017 - 2022", which the Musée de Cluny is showing until April 2. It will also be the subject of a conference on Thursday, June 15, 2023 at 12:30 pm by Damien Berné, chief curator at the museum, responsible for sculptures, and Juliette Lévy-Hinstin, sculpture restorer.