Ivory Plaque with the Martyrdom of the Sister of St. Vincent of Saragossa in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2009

Ivory Plaque with the Martyrdom of the Sister of St. Vincent of Saragossa
Spanish, from the Church of Our Lady, Las Nievas, Mogarraz
Carved about 1100

Accession # 17.190.142

This ivory plaque depicts the martyrdom of a woman crushed to death by four executioners. She is either Sabina or Cristeta, sisters of Saint Vincent of Saragossa, the most celebrated of Spanish martyrs, who died at Avila in the early 300s. This panel must have come from a reliquary decorated with scenes from the saint's life. It is closely related to ivories produced for the nearby Monastery of San Millan de la Cogolla in La Rioja.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.