[Illustration: G. ROSSI PHOTO.] [TRIVULZIO COLLECTION, MILAN 19. CHRIST ENTHRONED Byzantine, eleventh century] There are many other interesting ivories in this fine collection, which even contains one of the lost plaques from the Throne of Maximian. Among them is a noble figure of _Christ Teaching_ which might well correspond to the _John Baptist_ at Liverpool, one of the gems of the Mayer Collection. John bears a roll with the text commencing, “Behold the Lamb of God,” which would refer to the Christ on the opposite leaf of a diptych. The Liverpool Museum also possesses a fine triptych, with Christ on the Cross, the Virgin and St. John. This is a type which seized the imagination of the German people, who constantly repeated it, losing, perhaps, in technique, but gaining in vigour and expression, as will be seen on referring to Fig. 24. The plaque in the Cabinet des Médailles of the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris (Fig. 20), is a fitting end to an account of the ivories of the Byzantine Renaissance. It represents the _Emperor Romanus IV. and the Empress Eudoxia being crowned by Christ_. It is doubly interesting, as through its certain date (the Emperor’s reign only lasting four years 1067-1071), we can compare it with earlier work, as the Cortona Reliquary or the Harbaville triptych (Fig. 17), and see that after more than a hundred years the art had not changed for better or worse. This plaque is also interesting from its artistic value, which is very high, the figure of Christ being one of the finest in the whole range of Byzantine ivory carving. We can see that the artist was perfectly capable of rendering drapery in a soft and pliant manner, yet the tyranny of the court etiquette compelled him to envelope the Basileus and Basilissa in the stiffest of sheaths, covered with a regular mosaic of jewels; and to pay honour to the Saviour he was obliged to place under His feet that triple platform of hideous device. [Illustration: A. GIRAUDON PHOTO.] [CABINET DES MÉDAILLES, BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE, PARIS 20. ROMANUS IV. AND EUDOXIA CROWNED BY CHRIST Byzantine, eleventh century] “The composition of the figures is not the invention of the painters, but the law of tradition of the Catholic Church.” These are the words of a decree of the Nicene Council in the eighth century, and it is not surprising that these compositions, settled on theological grounds were inclined to be unvarying and hieratic, the wonder is that they have so many artistic qualities. Another bond for the unfortunate artist was a certain work called “A Guide to Painting,” in which minute regulations are laid down for every detail of form and colouring. It does not appear to have been in force till after this period of renaissance, but a strict adherence to these formulæ is, without doubt, the reason why it is practically impossible to tell a nineteenth from a twelfth century mosaic by reference alone to style.