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).
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.
Bowl with Hunting Scene, Period: Early Byzantine, 5th Century A.D. Material: silver. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Ring Decorated with a Monogram, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 7th century. Found: Pereshchepina Complex. near Poltava, the Village of Malaya Pereshchepina. Materials: gold. Technique: cast, polished, soldered and engraved. 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.
Leaf of the Consular Diptych of Areobindus, Period: Early Byzantine, Date: 506, School: Constantinople, Material: ivory, Technique: carved, Dimensions: 37,6; 14 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: Leontius II; Period: Early Byzantine; circa: 695-698; Minted in: Rome. 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 Solidus of Valentinian I (364–75), Made in Nicomedia (Modern Izmit, Turkey), Material: Gold. Valentinian restored Christian symbols, including the Chi-Rho emblem atop the emperor’s standard. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 301. 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 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.
Solidus of Justinian I, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 552–565 A.D. Minted in: Ravenna, Material: Gold. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 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.
Paten with Cross and Inscription, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: Mid 6th Century. Materials: silver, gilding and niello. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Pair of Loop Earrings; Materials: Gold. Period: Early Byzantine. 6thC-7thC. Subjects: Cross, Peacock. 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).
Chain with Pendant and Two Crosses, Materials: Gold with enamel and glass. Period: Early Byzantine, 500’s. 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.
Book Cover with a Cross Flanked by Cypress Trees, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: Mid 6th Century. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Portrait of an official, Period: Early Byzantine Period, circa: Late 5th–early 6th century A.D. Dimensions: Height: 21 cm (8 1/4 in.). Material: Marble. Found: Göktepe near Aphrodisias Ancient City, Anatolia (Modern Turkey). 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.
Fragment, Sleeve Ornament of a Tunic, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 5th – 7th century. Made in: Egypt. Materials: tabby weave with inwoven tapestry ornament, linen and wool. Overall: 15.6 x 20 cm (6 1/8 x 7 13/16 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.
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.
Enkolpion with Crucifixion, Busts of the Virgin, St. John and Two Saints. Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 6th-7th century. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Silver Chalice, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 6th century A.D. Dimensions: Height (max.): 18 cm. (7 1/16 in.); Width (max. at handles): 26.6 cm (10 1/2 in.); Width (bowl): 16 cm (6 5/16 in.).
The cup has actually ring handles topped by flat plates of lunate kind with trapezoidal forecasts in the line of the handles. An inscribed band in between the manages is flanked by a gilded profiled rim (above) and a gilded profiled band listed below. The body is hemispherical. The high foot includes a concave, then round stem and a cone-shaped assistance with broad, horizontal flange listed below. The niello-inlaid engraving (in Greek uppercase) equates: “Sarah hoped and made [this] using to the First Martyr” (Saint Stephen). Likewise (each side) is a gilded Christogram made up of a chi and rho (the very first 2 letters of Christ’s name in Greek) flanked by alpha and Omega. These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, symbolizing that Christ is the beginning and end of all things. Locations of the bowl are completed; foot is corrected and repaired.
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.
Hanging with Hestia Polyolbus, Period: Early Byzantine, First half of 6th Century. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Sapphire and Tourmaline Ring Gems; Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 6-7th century. Findspot/Location: Constantinople. Materials: Sapphire, Tourmaline. 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.
Mosaic Pavement; Period: Late Roman; circa: 4th c.; Excavated/Place: Halicarnassus, Modern Turkey, Aegean Region, Anatolia. Materials: stone. Dimensions: Height: 1.4 metres Width: 1.36 metres. Museum Description: Panel from a mosaic pavement, Dionysos dances to the right, with the panther running behind and looking up at him. Dionysos wears a grey-green wreath, and carries a strip of red drapery edged with black. The name of Dionysos is inscribed in Greek.
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).