AVOGADRO DELLA MOTTA, EMILIANO. — Writer and political figure, born in Vercelli on 8 Oct. 1798, died on 9 Feb. 1865. A doctor of law, reformer of schools, promoter of historical, philosophical, and juridical studies—especially among young people—he turned in 1848 to political action and Catholic journalism, following the directives of J. de Maistre. Collaborator of *L’Armonia* and *L’Unità Cattolica*, he published a *Rivista retrospektiva* (Vercelli 1848) to rouse Catholics against liberalism, and the *Saggio intorno al socialismo* (Turin 1851), highly praised by Fr. Taparelli, which went through many editions. Connected with this is the essay *Sul valore scientifico e le pratiche conseguenze del sistema filosofico dell’abate Rosmini* (4th ed., Napoleoni 1877), in which the author sees a new form of Pelagianism. Deputy to Parliament (1853–60), he was aligned with Solaro della Margherita. Against divorce and civil marriage he drafted a vigorous *Teoria sulla istituzione del matrimonio* (Turin 1859). Posthumous studies on religious and social themes were published under the title *Gesù Cristo al sec. XIX* (Modena 1873).
AVORIO (ART). — Ivory artifacts are common in early Christian funerary furnishings; small plaques, discs, or cubes for games, articulated dolls, plaques, small caskets, combs, and so on were often placed in catacomb loculi as identifying markers or decorative elements. Later, ivory was used to adorn cathedrae (v.), caskets, reliquaries (v.), caskets (v.), diptychs (v.), book-covers, pyxes (v.), pastoral staffs (v.), and the like, with scenes drawn from the Old or New Testament or other iconographic themes.
Artisans specializing in this medium belonged especially to the Hellenistic schools of Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople, and the ivory cathedra of Bishop Maximian of Ravenna (545–56) stands as their most distinguished product in terms of the number of scenes depicted.
Ivory — Harbeville Triptych (10th c.) — Paris, Musée du Louvre.
In the East, during the Iconoclastic controversy, religious subjects disappear from ivory carving, and in the production of secular objects—especially caskets (v.)—an iconographic repertoire drawn essentially from classical antiquity and Eastern art appears. Meanwhile in the West, under the Carolingians, ivory carvings emerge in which a lively plastic sensibility asserts itself (e.g., the “Pax of Duke Orso,” late 8th c.).
Between the 10th and 11th centuries, and then in the 12th, while in the East the Byzantine style re-emerges in religious ivory carvings in all its noble grandeur (e.g., the Louvre’s Harbeville Triptych), this genre of plastic work also flourishes in Germany. To this Ottonian flowering is linked a group of ivories, perhaps Lombard, the most famous of which is the bucket of Bishop Gottfried (974–98) in Milan cathedral.
During the Romanesque period, ivory work reflecting new stylistic currents was executed in Germany (with Cologne as a center), Spain, and also in Italy—especially in the south (the Salerno Pallotto) and in Sicily, where Eastern artistic influences were strongest.
Gothic taste brought ivory carving into high favor in France, and works of the highest quality were produced. From this point onward, the stylistic character of ivory sculpture no longer differs from that of other sculpture, as had been the case for various reasons during the early Middle Ages. Thus in the Madonna of Pisa cathedral by Giovanni Pisano (1299). And not only in Italy, but also in France, bone (v. EMBRIARCHI) often replaced ivory.
Masterpieces of Italian Renaissance ivory carving include the reliefs of Graz cathedral, translating designs by Mantegna. By now ivory work was reserved for specialized craftsmen who translated or copied models from major sculpture, and it is futile to seek illustrious names for technically perfect works lacking original conception. Outstanding examples of ivory from the Renaissance and Baroque periods are found in Florence at the National Museum and the Museo degli Argenti, in Munich at the National Museum, and in Vienna at the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
— See Plates XXXV–XXXVI.