Lectern Support

Former TitlePulpit Support

CultureItalian

Datelate 12th century

MediumMarble

DimensionsOverall: 28 7/8 × 8 3/8 × 8 3/8 inches (73.34 × 21.27 × 21.27 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number47-35

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

European Art

Terms

Exhibition History

No known exhibition history at this time.

Gallery Label

The sculptor of this image has taken care to illustrate strain and determination on the face of a saint who struggles against the vicious intentions of a serpent. Medieval Christians would have understood this confrontation as a symbol of humankind's eternal struggle against evil, embodied by the serpent that tempted Eve in Eden. Above this pair are all that remains of an eagle, symbol of Saint John the Evangelist, author of his own Gospel and the Book of Revelation. The saint, serpent and eagle originally combined to form a lectern support where a Bible would have been laid for readings by a priest. The sculpture is said to have come from the Abbey of Santa Trinita della Cava near Salerno, south of Naples.

Provenance

With Ettore Sestieri, Rome, by November 18, 1946-1947;

Purchased from Sestieri, through Gabriel Sonnino and Harold Woodbury Parsons, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1947.

Published References

The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, The William Rockhill Nelson Collection, 3^rd ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1949), 108, (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 1, Art of the Occident, 5^th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 63, (repro.).

Marilyn Stokstad, “Romanesque Sculpture in American Collections. XV. Kansas City, Missouri and Lawrence, Kansas,” Gesta/The International Center of Medieval Art 16, no. 1 (1977): 56-57, (repro.).

Walter Cahn, Romanesque Sculpture in American Collections, vol. 2, New York and New Jersey, Middle and South Atlantic States, the Midwest, Western and Pacific States (Turnhout: Brepols, 1999), 220-221, (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 37, (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.