Plaque from a Portable Altar: Christ and the Apostles

Why it matters

These intricately carved ivory panels once decorated the sides of a portable altar. Three of the plaques, those depicting Christ in Majesty and his apostles, were the first major acquisition of William M. Milliken, the museum's first curator of decorative arts and later director (1930–1958). As Milliken later recalled, the pieces "were immensely intriguing, monumental in scale, even if tiny in size, the Christ in the mandorla could have been enlarged and would have graced the tympanum of a great cathedral."