Diptych Showing Twelve Festive Scenes, Period: Middle Byzantine, circa: Late 10th century. Material: ivory. Dimensions: 26,4×13,3 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.
Medal of Emperor Constantine The Great, Period: Early Byzantine circa: 4th century, Materials: silver. On view at ” Raum-1 Medaillen”. The Museum is one of the oldest collections of its kind in Europe. Its beginnings date back to the second half of the 16th century.
Constantine Xeros, Sebastos. Period: Late Byzantine, 12th.c. second half. Translation: May you, all-holy Virgin, be the keeper and seal of the correspondence of the sebastos Constantine Xeros. 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.
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).
Bust of Emperor Arcadius, Period: Early Byzantine circa: late 4th. century. Made in/Findspot: Constantinople (Modern Turkey; Beyazit, Istanbul) Materials: Marble. 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.
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).
Cross, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 5th-6th century, Materials: golad and garnet. Dimensions: 3,8×1,9 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.
Tapestry panel: Head of a man. Coptic, Egypt. Period: Early Byzantine circa: 4th-5th century A.D. Dimensions: 23.5 x 20 cm (9 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.); Legacy dimension: 23.5 x 20.0 cm. Materials: Wool. 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.
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.
Earrings (pair), Period: Early Byzantine circa: 600s. Materials: gold. 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 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.
Small icon of St Nicholas. Period: Late Byzantine; circa: First half of 13th century. Materials: bronze. 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.
Ring, Materials: Gold. Period: Early Byzantine; circa: 6th-7th c. Ring with busts of saints on the shank and a representation of the Annunciation on the bezel with details picked out in niello. 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.
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.
Square Segmentum with Two Birds, Period: Early Byzantine; circa: 400s – 500s; Made in: Egypt, Material: tapestry; linen and wool. Dimensions: Overall: 10 x 10 cm (3 7/8 x 3 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.
Coin, Ruler: Tiberius III, Byzantine Emperor; circa: 705-711; Minted in: Ravenna. Weight: 4.309 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).
Pendant depicting the scene “Triumphal Entry” . Period: Early Byzantine; circa: 5-6th century. Material: glass. 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.
Tremissis of Theodoric in the name of Anastasius I, Period: Early Byzantine; circa: 491–518 A.D. Minted: Kingdom of the Ostrogoths, Ravenna. Materials: 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.
Solidus of Constans II, Period: Early Byzantine, circa: 651–654. Minted in: Constantinople. 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.