Small icon of St Nicholas. Period: Late Byzantine; circa: First half of 13th century. Materials: bronze. The Benaki Museum of Greek Culture is housed in one of the most beautiful neoclassical-style buildings in Athens, near the National Garden and the Hellenic Parliament. It was converted into a museum in order to shelter the collections of Antonis Benakis and was donated to the Greek nation by himself and his three sisters, Alexandra, Penelope and Argine. Following its most recent refurbishment (1989–2000), the building houses a unique exhibition on Greek culture arranged diachronically from prehistory to the 20th century.
Benediction Cross, Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 1200s-1400s. Materials: black schist, gold, silver. The Cleveland Art Museum Hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. Closed Mondays.
Icon of St George, Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 13th century. Material: soapstone. Dimensions: 6,6 x 7,4 cm. The collection of the State Hermitage includes over 3 million works of art and world culture artefacts. It contains paintings, graphic works, sculptures, works of applied art, archaeological artefacts and numismatic objects. The Hermitage is considered to have been founded in 1764, when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of works from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. The museum celebrates the anniversary of its founding each year on 7 December, St. Catherine’s Day. Opening Hours: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday: 10.30-18.00 Wednesday, Friday: 10.30-21.00 Closed: Monday.
Small steatite icon of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple , in high relief. Period: Late Byzantine; circa: 14th c. Dimensions: 0.11×0.09 m.
The Entry into Jerusalem, Period: Late Byzantince circa: 13 th century. Place (created): Nicaea (Modern Iznik, Turkey, Anatolia). Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.). Materials: Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
Constantine Xeros, Sebastos. Period: Late Byzantine, 12th.c. second half. Translation: May you, all-holy Virgin, be the keeper and seal of the correspondence of the sebastos Constantine Xeros. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Head of a Female Saint, Fresco transferred to panel, Period: Late Byzantine circa: 12th-14th centuries. The MFA is open 7 days a week. Monday and Tuesday 10 am–5 pm, Wednesday–Friday 10 am–10 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am–5 pm.
The Descent into Limbo, Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 13th century. Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.) Place: Nicaea, Modern Turkey (Place created).
Museum Description: “After his Crucifixion and before his Resurrection, Christ freed worthy Bible figures from limbo (an event known as the Anastasis in Greek). Here Christ pulls Adam by the wrist out of the tomb and toward the Kingdom of Heaven, while Abel, Eve, John the Baptist, King Solomon, and King David await their salvation. The two kings are dressed in the jeweled crowns and embroidered cloaks of Byzantine emperors.”
The collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum comprises Greek, Roman, and Etruscan art from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity; European art—including illuminated manuscripts, paintings, drawings, sculpture, and decorative arts—from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century; and international photography from its inception to the present day.
The Annunciation, Manuscript. Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 13th century. Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.). Place: Nicaea, Medium: Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment. (Modern Iznik, Turkey). The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
Saint Luke, Byzantine Manuscript, cutting from a Greek Bible. Period: Late Byzantine circa: 1200–25. The MFA is open 7 days a week. Monday and Tuesday 10 am–5 pm, Wednesday–Friday 10 am–10 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am–5 pm.
Cameo; opaque red; Period: Late Byzantine circa: 13 thc. Materials: glass. Made in: Venice. The Crucifixion with St John and St Mary and inscription, in relief. British Museum is closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January, but is open every other day of the year. Fast facts about the British Museum: Founded: 1753, Collection size: 8 million objects, Oldest object in the collection: Stone chopping tool (nearly 2 million years old).
Steelyard Weight with a Bust of a Byzantine Empress and a Hook. This Byzantine steelyard weight dates from the first half of the 5th century. The bronze hook would permit it to be suspended from and moved along a ruled steelyard to determine the weight of an item hung from the opposite end. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) is one of the world’s largest and finest art museums. Its collection includes more than two million works of art spanning five thousand years of world culture, from prehistory to the present and from every part of the globe. Public Hours: 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Open seven days a week.
Virgin and Child, Medium: tempera and gold on wood, Type of art work: Painting, Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 1400s. Framed: 63.5 x 50.8 x 10.1 cm (25 x 20 x 4 in.); Unframed: 38.5 x 29.3 cm (15 1/8 x 11 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Art Museum Hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. Closed Mondays.
Lamp, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 6th-7th c. Materials: Bronze. Found: Edfu, great church (Upper Egypt,Edfu) British Museum is closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January, but is open every other day of the year. Fast facts about the British Museum: Founded: 1753, Collection size: 8 million objects, Oldest object in the collection: Stone chopping tool (nearly 2 million years old).
Virgin Mary (right) and Emperor Justinian (left), holding between them a model of the church of Hagia Sophia. Period: Middle Byzantine, 12th. century.
The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Counterpoise weight, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 6th c. Material: Bronze. British Museum is closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January, but is open every other day of the year. Fast facts about the British Museum: Founded: 1753, Collection size: 8 million objects, Oldest object in the collection: Stone chopping tool (nearly 2 million years old).
Rooster Lamp, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 5th-6th century. Purchased from Fouad Alouf (dealer), Beirut, by Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C., 1964. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Seal, John Tarchaneiotes, Period: Late Byzantine, 13 th. century. (second half). St. John the Baptist standing, holding a staff cross over his left shoulder. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Reliquary Cross with the Crucifixion, Period: Late Byzantine, circa: Late 12th-early 13th century. Materials: enamel on gold. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Christ Pantocrator with Donators, Period: Late Byzantine, circa: Circa 1363. Technique: tempera on panel. Dimensions: 106 x 79 x 2,8 cm. The collection of the State Hermitage includes over 3 million works of art and world culture artefacts. It contains paintings, graphic works, sculptures, works of applied art, archaeological artefacts and numismatic objects. The Hermitage is considered to have been founded in 1764, when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of works from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. The museum celebrates the anniversary of its founding each year on 7 December, St. Catherine’s Day. Opening Hours: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday: 10.30-18.00 Wednesday, Friday: 10.30-21.00 Closed: Monday.
Gold Signet Ring, Period: Late Byzantine circa: 14thc. Made in: Constantinople. Diameter: 28 millimetres Weight: 375 grains. British Museum is closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January, but is open every other day of the year. Fast facts about the British Museum: Founded: 1753, Collection size: 8 million objects, Oldest object in the collection: Stone chopping tool (nearly 2 million years old).