Altar or traveling chapel. France, 19th century.

Altar or traveling chapel. France, 19th century.
Following medieval models.
In polychrome bone.
A piece of similar characteristics is in the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh.
Exhibits wear consistent with age and use. Chipped on the back.
Measurements: 39 x 10 x 5,5 cm (closed); 31 x 21 x 5,5 cm (open).

This delicate nineteenth-century travel altar or chapel is a refined example of the historicist recovery that characterized much of the European decorative arts of the time. Executed in finely carved and polychromed bone, the ensemble reproduces with remarkable fidelity the aesthetics and iconography of small medieval portable altarpieces, especially those linked to 14th century French Gothic, whose narrative programs and architectural structures were intended to accompany private devotion.

The piece is presented as a tiny sacred architecture, conceived as a tabernacle with pinnacles, canopies and ogival tracery enveloping the central figure of the Virgin enthroned with the Child, polychromed in soft tones that evoke the medieval palette. On both sides, the hinged doors, profusely decorated with scenes in relief from the life of Christ and the Virgin, display a complete narrative cycle that enriches the liturgical character of the whole. The base, also sculpted and polychrome, introduces new passional scenes, thus completing a small iconographic corpus destined to support contemplation and prayer in intimacy.

The upper top, crowned by an openwork structure flanked by round angels, accentuates the verticality of the altar and gives it a solemn air that contrasts with its meticulous scale. Every detail -from the meticulousness of the folds to the delicacy of the estofado- reveals the patient work of a workshop specialized in this type of historicist devotional objects, highly appreciated by 19th century collectors fascinated by the Middle Ages.