a. Commissioned to mark the return to Eastern Orthodoxy in the Hagia Sophia, bringing an end of 57 years of Roman Catholic usage. It shows the central figure of Christ flanked by the Virgin Mary (left) and John the Baptist (right). The Deësis (in…
The lip band features fifteen enamel plaques, however this configuration is not original. Christ and John the Baptist would have been placed together, opposite the Virgin Mary who is flanked by angels. The spaces between them would have been filled…
Literally “Golden Pall” or “Golden Cloth”, the Pala d’Oro is the retable of the high alter at the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. It measures 3 meters wide by 2 meters tall and features a total of 187 enamel plaques along with numerous precious and…
Although technically an incense burner, this container was used from at least 1283 to hold the relic of the Holy Blood, which had been sent to Venice from Constantinople. Although the later addition of the crosses to the domes give the reliquary the…
This plate was found in Siberia. The central scene shows the Ascension of Alexander the Great, surrounded by decorative imagery and motifs. This story was popular in Byzantine and Romanesque art, as well as in Islamic Art in Asia Minor.
Shows the emperor on horseback, wearing armor and holding a scepter, the inscription reads: Βαλδουῖνος [δεσπότης πορφυρογέννητος Φλάν]τρας? (Baldwin of Flanders, despotes and Porphyrogennetos)
Shows the emperor seated on a backless throne, wearing the loros and a crown and holding a labarum and a globus cruciger, the inscription encircling him reads: Balduinus Dei gratia imp(er)at[or] Ro[maniae] se[mp(er) au]gu(stus)? (Baldwin, by the…
Shows the emperor on horseback, wearing armor and holding a sword and shield, inscription reads: Henric(us) D(e)i gratia inp(er)ator Ro(man)ie (Henry, by the Grace of God, emperor of the Roman realm)