People of the early Byzantine world appreciated multicolored jewelry, such as this necklace with pendant crosses. Artisans procured gold and gems from African trade routes, while pearls were likely sourced from the Persian Gulf. The luminous small crosses hanging from the small necklace displayed the owner’s faith and wealth.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Necklace with Pendant Crosses
Date:6th–7th century
Geography:Made in probably Constantinople
Culture:Byzantine
Medium:Gold, pearl sapphire, smokey quartz, quartz
Dimensions:Overall: 17 13/16 in. (45.2 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Gold
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:17.190.1667
[ Maurice Nahman, Cairo (sold 1911)]; J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (1911–1913); Estate of J. Pierpont Morgan(1913–1917)
Archäologische Staatssammlung - Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte. "The World of Byzantium," October 21, 2004–April 3, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Jewelry: The Body Transformed," November 12, 2018–February 24, 2019.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Africa & Byzantium," November 13, 2023–March 3, 2024.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, o.s., 10, no. 6 (June 1915). p. 8.
Zahn, Robert. "Antikenabteilungen zur Sammlung Friedrich L. von Gas." Amtliche Berichte aus den königlichen Kunstsammlungen 38, no. 1 (October 1916). col. 7 n. 2.
Dennison, Walter. Studies in East Christian and Roman Art: Part II, A Gold Treasure of the Late Roman Period. University of Michigan Studies, Humanistic Series, Vol. 12. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1918. no. 10, pp. 97, 142–43, pl. XXX.
Volbach, W. F. "Das christliche Kunstgewerbe der Spätantike und des frühen Mittelalters im Mittelmeergebiet." In Geschichte des Kunstgewerbes aller Zeiten und Völker, edited by Helmuth Theodor Bossert. Vol. 5. Berlin: E. Wasmuth, 1932. p. 69.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mediaeval Jewelry: A Picture Book. New York: Museum Press Limited, 1940. pl. 2.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mediaeval Jewelry: A Picture Book. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. pl. 2.
Wagner de Kertesz, Margarita. Historia Universal de las Joyas. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Centurion, 1947. p. 269.
Rorimer, James J., and William Holmes Forsyth. "The Medieval Galleries." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 12, no. 6 (February 1954). p. 126.
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. pp. 17, 46.
Brown, Katharine R. "The Mosaics of San Vitale: Evidence for the Attribution of Some Early Byzantine Jewelry to Court Workshops." Gesta 18, no. 1 (1979). pp. 58–59, fig. 6.
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. 59, 341, fig. 7.1.
Wamser, Ludwig. Die Welt von Byzanz : Europas östliches Erbe: Glanz, Krisen und Fortleben einer tausendjährigen Kultur. Stuttgart: Archäologische Staatssammlung - Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, 2004. no. 492, p. 297.
Holcomb, Melanie, ed. Jewelry: The Body Transformed. New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018. no. 97, pp. 117–18, 266, pl. 97.
Hope, Deborah. "Pearls Found in Ancient Greek and Roman Contexts in the Mediterranean." Mediterranean Archaeology 32/33 (2019/2020). pp. 45, 80, pl. 10, fig. 2.
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