Sul dittico eburneo dei santi Teodoro e Acacio del Museo Civico di Cremona
Marco Flamine
The Museo Civico Ala Ponzone in Cremona hosts an ivory diptych depicting the Saints Theodore and Acacius. Since the eighteenth century, scholars have been proposing different attributions and datings (from the fifth up to the twelfth century). Through close stylistic and iconographic comparisons and the paleographic analysis carried out on an inscription incised on the reverse of one of the two leaves, it is possible to date the object between the late-fifth and the sixth century; furthermore, the article suggests that the diptych was carved in a workshop of Constantinople. The fine marquetry box was created by Giovanni Maffezzoli (1776-1818), when the diptych entered Marquess Giuseppe Sigismondo Ala Ponzone’s (1761-1842) collection.