A CARVED IVORY RELIEF OF THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT

This relief is directly comparable in iconography to one in the British Museum (Tardy, loc. cit.). Although nearly identical in its treatment of the subject, the British Museum plaque is stylistically different to the present one and attributed to a Portugese artist. The appearance of the same composition in many Iberian and colonial works demonstrates the likelihood of a common source. As M.M. Estella points out (op. cit., figs. 315-335), prints were much used among ivory carvers, and it is highly likely that the present ivory also stems from an engraving known in Spain, Portugal and the colonies, thus accounting for the differences in style, but coherence in composition.