Veil Embroidered with Gold Thread. Period: Late Byzantine; circa: end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th c. A liturgical article used for covering sacred vessels on an altar. It depicts Jesus in a portrayal of the Communion of the Apostles, symbolic of the sacrament of Holy Communion. One of the rare extant Byzantine embroideries. Made in: Constantinople. Dimensions: 0.52×0.65 m.
Saint Mark. Period: Late Byzantine circa: late 13th century. Place: Constantinople (Place created) Dimensions: Leaf: 21 × 14.9 cm (8 1/4 × 5 7/8 in.). Museum Description: “Saint Mark pauses, quill in hand, as he writes his account of the life of Christ. This portrait of the saint as author introduces his Gospel in a Greek manuscript of the late 1200s. An inscription in red on the gold leaf background identifies the saint by name. ” 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.
Fragment of a Curtain, Period: Early Byzantine circa: 500s. Made in: Egypt, Materials: tabby weave, inwoven tapestry ornament; wool and linen, Overall: 38 x 52.3 cm (14 15/16 x 20 9/16 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.
Glass Cameo, Period: Late Byzantine; circa: 13th century A.D. Brick-red, opaque; on the front, the Crucifixion with, the Virgin at left, St John at right. Set in a metal frame. Diameter: 51 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).
Square Segmentum, Period: Early Byzantine; circa: 5th century. Type of art work: Textile, Materials: tapestry; linen and wool. 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.
Fragment from a Curtain, Materials: tabby weave with inwoven tapestry ornament, linen and wool. Period: Early Byzantine circa: 5th – 6th century. 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.
Tapestry fragment Egyptian (Coptic), Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 5th-6th century A.D. Material: silk. 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.
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.
The Agony in the Garden, Manuscript, Period: Late Byzantine; circa: 1200 to 1299 A.D. Place: Nicaea. (Modern Turkey) Material: Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment bound between wood boards covered with light brown velvet. Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.)
Museum Description: “Placed within the Gospel of Matthew, the full-page miniature of the Agony in the Garden represents one of the more powerfully emotional moments in Jesus’ Passion. After the Passover meal, Jesus and his apostles retire to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus foretells Saint Peter’s betrayal. Jesus then asks his closest disciples to stay awake with him, but later, while he prays, the apostles fall asleep.
The artist represents Jesus twice in the miniature: once confronting Peter at the bottom of the image and then praying above. Jesus’ feelings of isolation and abandonment as he prays are expressed visually by his physical separation not only from the apostles but also from the angel shown behind him. Against the hilly landscape, the apostles huddle together in their sleep, their bodies forming a mound almost as large as the mountain itself. The crisp folds of their garments are made of embedded geometric forms that echo the shape of the rocks at the top of the mountain.“
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.
Icon of Depicting Virgin Mary Thornousa, which was probably part of a wider composition depicting Extreme Humiliation or Crucifixion. Period: Late Byzantine; circa: The fourth quarter of the 14th century. The shape of the Virgin Mary, with the scattered hair and the deformed by pain characteristics, refers to the expressive, anti-classical flow of Byzantine painting.
Cross with Pearls, Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 1200–1400. Materials: Gold and pearls. 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.
Slipper; leather; with pointed toe and thick sole with gilt borders on the upper part and the figure of an animal. Culture: Coptic. Period: Early Byzantine; circa: 4thC-6thC; Made in: Egypt. Length: 262 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).
Four Icons from a Pair of Doors (Panels), possibly part of a Polyptych: John the Theologian and Prochoros, the Baptism (Epiphany), Harrowing of Hell (Anastasis), and Saint Nicholas. Period: Late Byzantine, early 15th century, Made in Crete, Materials: Tempera and gold on wood. 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.
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.
Horse and Lion Hanging, Period: Early Byzantine, 6th century A.D. Materials: wool and linen. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
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).
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.
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.
Relief icon; Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 14-15th c. carved white steatite in the shape of half an oval; St George and the dragon with name inscribed. Length: 2 centimetres Width: 1.6 centimetres. 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).
Fragment of a Tunic, Period: Middle Byzantine circa: first half of 7th century, Made in: Egypt. Materials: tabby weave with inwoven tapestry ornament, linen and wool. Overall: 26.1 x 74.3 cm (10 1/4 x 29 1/4 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.
Fragment of a Curtain, Period: Early Byzantine; circa: 5th century. Made in: Egypt, Materials: tabby weave, inwoven tapestry ornament; wool and linen. Dimensions: 23.2 x 22.9 cm (9 1/8 x 9 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.