MetCollects from The Metropolitan Museum of Art - episode 12 / 2017

Every month, MetCollects introduces one work of art recently acquired by the Met.
We invite you to have a first look with us.

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In early 2017, our miniature boxwood carvings were set to be featured at The Met Cloisters in Small Wonders, an exhibition jointly organized with the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Rijksmuseum. Our pieces, acquired a century ago, rank with the finest in quality and complexity. Yet the rarest boxwood carvings—the tiny initials—remained hopelessly beyond our acquisitive grasp. Only two were known, an "M" and an "F", both created for royal owners. Those were acquired by the Louvre in the 1800s and are kept today at the Musée d'Ecouen. Then, serendipitously, we caught a glimpse of this startling tiny treasure in a corner display of a Paris dealer: a Letter P to hold in the hand, opened by means of mini hinges, intricately carved inside and out.

The exterior, with monstrous but somehow unthreatening sea creatures and dragons, only hints at the richness within. The crucifixion scene seems, at first, straightforward. But what are the others, especially the roundel featuring a pagan idol and a dragon? The clue lies in the initial P, with the small H and S sheltered in its loop. Together, they denote Philippus. Therefore the name of the original owner must have been Philip, and the roundels must illustrate the story of the apostle Philip, who, like Jesus, was crucified. The saint's legend, little known today, celebrates his refusal to worship an idol. Philip's defiance so enraged the pagan god that it caused a dragon to appear, with breath so foul that all would have expired, but for the saint's healing presence.

Our best guess is that this extraordinary carving was made for Philip the Handsome. Patron of art and music, he ruled over the Netherlands from the age of three until his early death in 1506. Such an early date for this piece challenges prevailing ideas about when these carvings were created, and, alas, no list of Philip's possessions exists to confirm the hypothesis. It may be that tracing the chain of ownership backwards will offer new evidence. For the moment, the Letter P still retains some of its secrets. Meanwhile, we proudly displayed it alongside its counterparts from France in Small Wonders (see the final slide in the presentation) and showcase it now at The Met Cloisters.