Byzantine Pectoral Cross (front and back), Period: Late Byzantine circa: 1200–1400 A.D. , Benaki Museum, Athens. Museum Description: “Gold pectoral in the form of a Resurrection cross with double horizontal arms set with lapis lazuli. The owner’s name, Georgios Varagkopoulos, is inscribed on the back together with his title Sevastos (Augustus), which reflects his high social standing and explains the luxurious quality of the materials and the fine workmanship. “
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.
Reliquary of St. Zacharias, Period: Early Byzantine, 6th Century, Material: Gold and gems. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Earring. Materials: Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire, Gold and gems. Period: Early Byzantine, circa: early 5th century. Found in 1910 during restoration work in Piazza della Consolazione, Rome. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Double-Sided Pendant Icon with the Virgin and Christ Pantokrator, Period: Middle Byzantine, circa: 1100. Made in Constantinople. Materials: Gold, cloisonné enamel. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 300. 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.
Central Part of Triptych: Christ Pantocrator. Period: Late Byzantine; circa: Second half of 13th – early 14th century. Place: Byzantium, Macedon. Technique: tempera on panel. Dimensions: 29,3×21,8×3,2 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.
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.
Pair of Kolti with Sirens, Period: Middle Byzantine Period, ca. 843-1204 AD. Late 11th-12th Century. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Saint John the Evangelist Dictating, Manuscript, Period: Late Byzantine; circa: 1200 to 1225. Place: Nicomedia (Modern Izmit, Turkey) Materials: Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment. Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.) 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.
Circular Pendant with Double Solidus of Constantine I, Period: Early Byzantine, Materials: gold. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Cameo; red glass; quadrangular; Period: 13thC, Late Byzantine. Figure of St John the Baptist in relief with inscription. Made in: Venice. British Museum is closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January, but is open every other day of the year.
Gold Earrings, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 6th century A.D. Made in: Constantinople, Materials: Gold. In the Istanbul Archaeological Museum collections, there are rich and very important works of art belonging to various civilizations from the regions from Africa to Balkans , from Anatolia and Mesopotamia to Arab Peninsula and Afghanistan that were in the borders of the Ottoman Empire.
Busts of Two Emperors, Period: Roman, Circa: Late 3rd-early 4th century, Material: Chalcedony on gold. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Fragment of a Necklace Consisting of Eight Coins, Period: Early Byzantine. circa: Between 637 and 646. Found: Pereshchepina Complex. near Poltava, the Village of Malaya Pereshchepina. Material: gold. 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.
Marriage Belt, Period: Early Byzantine, circa Late 6th-to-early 7th century A.D. Material: Gold. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Pendant; Material: gold. Period: Late Roman; Early Byzantine; (5thc.) Found: Medinet el-Faiyum, Egypt. Open-work; composed of central setting with a stone (now missing), around which are eight small medallions, with a pearl in the middle of each. British Museum is closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January, but is open every other day of the year.
Pendant; material: gold; hollow box building; in the form of a bent leaf; obverse chased and convex marked, butt-soldered to a simple opposite; suspension loophole of triple-ribbed strip, the angle in between the loophole and the obverse masked by a brief length of the very same strip. Height: 32.2 millimetres Width: 15.5 millimetres. Period: Early Byzantine. 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).
Bracelet with Jewelled Clasp, Period: Early Byzantine, Date: -circa-Second half 4th Century (possibly 360-80). Materials: gold and gems. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Button, Early Byzantine circa: 500s. Materials: Rock crystal with a garnet mounted in a gold granulated star. 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.
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.
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).
Gold Goblet with Personifications of Cyprus, Rome, Constantinople, and Alexandria, Period: Middle Byzantine, circa: 700s. Culture: Avar or Byzantine, Materials: Gold. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 301.
Museum description :“This goblet is decorated with female personifications of four major ecclesiastical centers in the Byzantine world. The awkwardly written identifications suggest that this goblet was an Avar attempt to imitate a Byzantine chalice.” 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.


