24/11/2024
The Salerno Diocesan Museum’s ivories is the largest
ivories collection of the Mediterranean area. These ivories include twenty figurative panels illustrating scenes from the Old and New Testament, together with four others preserved in other foreigner museums. There has been discussion about the original destination of the ivories, initially attributed to the cathedral of Salerno, but later considered for the abbey of Montecassino. However, historiography has refuted this hypothesis. Antonio Braca, an authoritative art historian of the artistic environment of Salerno, supported the need to distinguish between "Amalfi" and "Salerno" ivories.
The scholar highlights the complexity of the history of the ivories. The ivory chair of
Archbishop Alfano I has been the subject of in-depth studies considering the artistic and cultural influences of the time. It has been assumed that the ivories mav have been commissioned by Alfano, bishop of Salerno, for the new cathedral consecrated in 1084.
Medieval Middle Ages
