Calyx (Chalice), Period: Middle Byzantine, 900s-1000s. Blood jasper (heliotrope) with gilt-copper mounts. 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.
Triptych Showing the Forty Martyrs, Period: Middle Byzantine; circa: Late 11th – early 12th century. Materials: ivory and silver (frame). Technique: carved and painted. Dimensions: 18,5×24,2 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.
Gold coin; Ruler: Manuel I Comnenus, Byzantine emperor; circa: 1143-1180; Minted in: Constantinople. Weight: 4.484 grammes. 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).
Ring of Leontios, Period: Middle Byzantine, circa: 1000, Materials: Gold, niello, Inscribed: “Lord help Leontius, Patrician and Count of imperial Obsikion guarded by God”. The ring came from Leontios of the district of Opsikion, in exactly what is currently northwestern Turkey. Patrikios as well as komes were Roman titles that moved in definition throughout the Byzantine period; it promises that Leontios was the guv of the district or an upper-level general. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 303 . 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.
Octagonal intaglio, Period: Late Byzantine; circa: 14thc. Made in: Constantinople. Dimensions: Height: 1.7 centimetre. Material: sard. 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 coin. Ruler: Tiberius III, Byzantine Emperor; Period: Middle Byzantine; circa: 705-711; Minted in: Ravenna, Italy. 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).
Earring; Period: Middle Byzantine circa: 10thC-12thC. Materials: gold. 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).
Buckle with Embossed Head in Profile, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 400-600. Materials: gold, lapis lazuli, and glass. 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.
Psalter and New Testament, Period: Middle Byzantine, circa. 1084 A.D. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
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.
Pectoral Cross. Period: Middle Byzantine; circa: 900s. Made in: Constantinople. Materials: gold, gilt-silver, and cloisonné enamel. Overall: h. 12.4 cm (4 7/8 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.
Fragmentary Bracelet with Medallion of Emperor in a Chariot, Period: Early Byzantine, 6th century, Material: gold Found: Said to have been found at Latakia, Syria in 1948. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
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.
Earrings with Inlaid Cross-Shaped Pendants, Period: Early Byzantine Period, circa: 7th century A.D. Materials: Gold, glass paste and pearls. 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.
Roundel with Emperor John II Comnenus. Period: Byzantine, ca. 1110 – 1118. Material: marble. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Leaf-shaped pendant in opus interrasile embossed and chased with a foliate design. Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 7thc. Materials: gold. 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).
Double-sided circular jewellery attachment. Christ Pantokrator is depicted on one side and the Virgin Orans on the other side. Period: Late Byzantine; circa: early 12th century. Dimensions: 0,026 m. 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.
Medallion with Saint Peter from an Icon Frame, Period: Middle Byzantine, circa: ca. 1100, Made in Constantinople, Materials: Gold, silver, and enamel worked in cloisonné, Dimensions: Diam: 3 1/4in. (8.3cm) Mount: 20 1/2 x 15 x 7/8 in. (52.1 x 38.1 x 2.2 cm), On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 303. 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.
Pair of earrings, Period: Middle Byzantine (10thC-11thC). Material: silver. Diameter: 3.4 centimetres (max). 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).
Icon with Christ Pantokrator, Period: 11th–12th century, Middle Byzantine. Material: Ivory. Dimensions: 3 13/16 x 3 x 3/16 in. (9.7 x 7.6 x 0.4 cm). On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 303. 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.
Signet Ring of John, Imperial Spatharios, Period: Middle Byzantine, circa: 10th century, Materials: Gold, niello. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 300 . Museum Description: “The title spatharios, Sword-Bearer, was originally an honor reserved for the imperial bodyguard. By the middle Byzantine period, it had become an honorific title only, indicating Ioannis’s respectable status.” 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.