The marriage of the two figures on the gold pendant is blessed by Christ who holds wreaths over their heads, a Christian variation of a pagan motif. The hematite pendant with its solar deity was probably attached for its healing qualities.
This work was part of a hoard found at the base of the Capitoline Hill, the center of commercial activity in Rome even after the transfer of the imperial capital to Constantinople. The jewelry was probably hidden during the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 or the Vandals in 455.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Necklace with Gold Marriage Medallion and Hematite Amulet
Date:400–450 (medallion); 100–200 (amulet)
Culture:Byzantine
Medium:Gold, hematite
Dimensions:Length chain: 31in. (78.7cm) Medallion: 2 9/16 x 7/16 in. (6.5 x 1.1 cm) Hermatite: 1 11/16 x 1 3/16 x 1/4 in. (4.3 x 3 x 0.7 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Gold
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1958
Object Number:58.12
Inscription: Inscribed on obverse of amulet: underneath abraxas, on shield in his left hand, and below sheild; on reverse: around Harpocrates
Found in Piazza della Consolazione, Rome during restoration work in 1910; [ Arthur Sambon, Paris] and; [ Hagob and Garbis Kalebdjian, Paris (sold 1911)]; [ Jacob Hirsch, Lucerne (in 1911– sold 1957)]; his sale, Adolph Hess AG( December 7, 1957, no. 109)
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Early Christian and Byzantine art, an exhibition held at the Baltimore Museum of Art," April 25–June 22, 1947.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century," November 19, 1977–February 12, 1978.
Yale University Art Gallery. "I Claudia. Women in Ancient Rome," September 6–December 1, 1996.
New York. The Cloisters Museum & Gardens, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Treasures and Talismans: Rings from the Griffin Collection," May 1–October 18, 2015.
Adolph Hess AG. Bedeutende Kunstwerten aus dem Nachlass Dr Jacob Hirsch. Adolph Hess Ag., Vol. Dec 1957. Luzern, Germany, p. 38, no. 109, tafel 51.
Collection Kalebdjian: Exposition de bijoux antiques. Paris: Les Frères Kalebdjian, 1913. no. 111.
Miner, Dorothy, ed. Early Christian and Byzantine Art: An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 1947. no. 428, p. 93, pl. LXIII.
"Auctions, Auktionen, Ventes." Die Weltkunst 24, no. 15 (December 1957). p. 15.
Hess Adolph, and William H. Schab. Bedeutende Kinstwerke aus dem Nachlass Dr. Jacob Hirsch. Lucerne, December 7, 1957. no. 109, pp. 38, 51.
Forsyth, William H., and Margaret B. Freeman. "'Reports of the Departments,' Eighty-Eighth Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year 1957-1958." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 17, no. 2 (October 1958). pp. 51–52.
Van Kouteren. Art and Auctions: International Art Dealers and Collectors Guide 1, no. 23 (January 15, 1958). no. 109, pp. 664–665.
Ross, Marvin C. Catalogue of Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection. Volume 2: Jewelery, Enamels and Art of the Migration Period. Vol. 2. Washington, D. C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1965. p. 2.
Weitzmann, Kurt, ed. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979. no. 281, pp. 307–308.
Vikan, Gary. "Art and Marriage in Early Byzantium." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 44 (1990). pp. 149, 155–156, fig. 19.
Brown, Katharine R. Migration Art, A.D. 300-800. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995. no. 18, pp. 24–25.
Kleiner, Diana E. E, and Susan B. Matheson, ed. I Clavdia: Women in Ancient Rome. New Haven and Austin: Yale University Art Gallery, 1996. pp. 151–152, ill. p. 151.
Baldini, Isabella. L'oreficeria nell'impero di Constantinopoli : tra IV e VII secolo. Bari: Edipuglia, 1999. pp. 34–35, 132.
Brown, Katharine R., Dafydd Kidd, and Charles T. Little, ed. From Attila to Charlemagne: Arts of the Early Medieval Period in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. p. 61, 358, fig. 7.2, 7.3.
Howells, Daniel Thomas. A Catalogue of the Late Antique Gold Glass in the British Museum, edited by Chris Entwistle, and Liz James. London: British Museum Press, 2015. pp. 126–27, pl. 105.
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