Traditio Legis Ivory

León, 1060
Ivory
The Louvre, Paris

Seated on a throne before a mandorla, Christ hands two tablets to St. Paul, who holds up a small book. The progress from tablets to book may represent Paul's theology of the replacement of the old law by the new. On the left, St. Peter has received the "keys of the kingdom."

Above the image of Christ is a symbolic representation of him as the Lamb of God. His throne rests on a circle enclosing waves, which may represent the round earth and refer to Isaiah 66:1, "Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool."

Below the circle are four angels, most likely the archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel or Phanuel.

In the corners, four beasts represent the four Evangelists. In the upper left corner St. Matthew is represented by an angel bringing a book that represents the gospel he will write under inspiration. St. John's eagle is in the upper right corner, the lion of St. Mark and ox of St. Luke are at the bottom.

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Photographed at the site by Claire Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.