Christ the Door

Southern Italy, circa 1100
Ivory plaque
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Greek letters left and right of Christ's head abbreviate the name Iesuos Christos, "Jesus Christ.". He holds a book open to what appear to be the words εγω ειμι η θύρα, "I am the gate" or "I am the door" (John 10:7), from the passage in which Jesus warns his disciples about those who seek to enter the sheepfold by climbing over the wall instead of entering by the gate.

I am not sure about the rectangle on which the figure stands. Is it a door? Being under his feet, is it the door to Hades that he will destroy in the Anastasis? Or is it an evocation of the suppedaneum on the Cross?

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Photographed at the museum by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.