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.
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.
Medallion with a Bust of St Symeon; Period: Middle Byzantine; circa: 10th-11th c. Materials: gold. Dimensions: 0,021 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.
Enkolpion with the Crucifixion (front) and Saints Theodore and George (back), silver gilt and cloisoné enamel, Period: Middle Byzantine, 1080-1120. Constantinople. 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.
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.
Gold coin; Ruler: Constantine V Copronymus; Leo III, Byzantine Emperor; Period: Middle Byzantine; circa: 737-741; Minted in: Constantinople. Weight: 4.4 grammes Diameter: 19 millimetres. 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).
Pendant Cross, Period: Early Byzantine (7thc.) Height: 55.8 millimetres Width: 37.2 millimetres Depth: 7 millimetres Weight: 7.27 grammes. 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).
Gold Finger Ring; Early Byzantine. Period: 7thC – Early Byzantine. Excavated/Findspot: Smyrna (Asia, Turkey, Aegean Region, Anatolia (Turkey). 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).
Pair of Earrings, Materials: Gold, Gems, Pearls and Garnets. Period: Early Byzantine, circa: early 5th century. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Bracelet, Period: Late Roman circa: about 379 – 395 A.D., Materials: Gold, emeralds, sapphires, and glass, Dimensions: 2.8 × 5.8 cm (1 1/8 × 2 1/4 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.
Bracelet, Period: Late Roman circa: 379 – 395 A.D. Medium: Gold. Dimensions: 1.4 × 6.3 cm (9/16 × 2 1/2 in.) Museum Description: “A simple gold band with plain flanged edges forms this openwork bracelet. A vegetal scroll weaves across the surface of the band, into which hunting scenes are inserted. On one side a hound chases a stag, while on the other a hound pursues a hare. ”
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.
Molivdovul. Manuel I Comnenus, Period: Middle Byzantine, circa: 1143-1180. Material: lead. 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.
Pendant Cross, Material: Gold. Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 500s.
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.
Medallion with Saint George from an Icon Frame, Period: Middle Byzantine, circa: 1100, Made in Constantinople, Materials: Gold, silver, and enamel worked in cloisonné. 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.
Earring with Openwork, Period: Middle Byzantine circa: 7th-9th Century. Materials: gold with a rock crystal bead. 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 with the Crucifixion, Period: Middle Byzantine circa: mid-10th century, Made in probably Constantinople, Materials: Ivory, On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 899. 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.
[xyz-ihs snippet="Met-Museum-Booking"]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).
Ivory Plaque with Enthroned Mother of God, (“The Stroganoff Ivory”), Period: Middle Byzantine, circa: 950-1025. Material: ivory. 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.
Ivory Panel, carved with standing figures, Christ with the Virgin Mary and St John, below a pierced canopy; four holes for attachment in the raised border. Period: Middle Byzantine circa: 10thc. Materials: Ivory. 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).
Relief icon; rectangular bronze plaque cast in low relief with full-length Hodegetria flanked by the Archangel Michael and St Theodore, each wearing a girdled tunic beneath a chlamys with decorated tablion; the figures are identified by intaglio inscriptions; the whole is surrounded by a raised border with a running vine scroll; traces of solder at sides and back. Period: Middle 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).