Gli avori bizantini del Bode Museum e le vicende collezionistiche dei secoli XIX e XX: prime indagini

The Bode Museum in Berlin, originally the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, houses a significant collection of Late Antique and Byzantine artifacts, including 38 ivory carvings. This article investigates the circumstances surrounding their acquisition, intertwining them with key figures in the museum’s development. The study is divided into two sections: the first traces the formation of the collection, highlighting the debates between scholars from the Royal University in Berlin and the museum’s representatives; the second presents archival research findings from the Central Archive of the Berlin State Museums, focusing on selected cases. The collection’s origins date back to the Kunstkammer of the Berlin Castle, later integrated into public museums. Under Wilhelm von Bode’s directorship (1872-1929), the collection expanded significantly, benefiting from scholars such as Theodor Wiegand, Oskar Wulff, and Josef Strzygowski. The systematic acquisition of ivories responded to the availability of artifacts on the antiquities market and contemporary scholarly interests in tracing artistic evolution. The study categorizes the ivories into three main acquisition phases and reassesses their provenance. The findings contribute to understanding the role of museum collections in shaping art historical research and reflect the intellectual and political shifts of the 19th and 20th centuries.