Byzantine Bronze Cross Pendant

Fragment of a fresco panel depicting a group of young women wearing crowns, possibly depicting queens or wise virgins, three in the foreground with suggestion of others behind them; a vertical line to the left marking the border of the painting; two outer women's eyes turning towards a point high on the right, and the middle one lowering her eyes; wearing clothes richly decorated with precious stones and pearls, and crowns consisting of a band encrusted with gems and bordered with pearls, topped with points adorned with coloured stones in the style of Western European crowns. 5.08 kg, 40 x 40 cm



Acquired in the early 1980s. Ex old German private collection. From the private collection of Mr S.A., before 1992. Thence by descent. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.PHO00064. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12115-218166.

This painting possibly comes from a representation of the Last Judgment including the representation of the crowned men and women mentioned in the Apocalypse (chapter IV, verse 4). The crowned women present the signs of adoration specific to this type of representation, their eyes turned or lowered as a sign of respect towards a point where Christ seated on a throne was painted in glory. Perhaps attributable to the Balkans in the 14th century, a region divided among the realms of Hungary, Venice, Greater Serbia and others. Another possibility is that the panel represents the five wise virgins of the parable of Matthew 25, who are crowned brides by Christ.

Flat-section ring with four round holes and attachment fittings for four substantial chains, forming a polycandelon chandelier with multiple candles. 528 grams, 27 cm hanging height



Ex Surrey, UK, collection of a gentleman, 1960-2000s.

In 563 A.D., Paul the Silentiary visited Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and described the wondrous lighting effects, ‘Thus is everything clothed in beauty…no words are sufficient to describe the illumination in the evening: you might say that some nocturnal sun filled the majestic church with light.’ The church was lit by polycandela, an early type of candelabra that held glass oil lamps rather than candles. The lamps were either conical or shaped like round bowls with an elongated stem attached beneath. An effective and very atmospheric source of lighting, polycandela required considerable skill in casting and glasswork. Amidst the burning of incense and the chanting of prayers, the flickering light must have helped to inspire pious devotion. Contemporaries certainly attest to this feeling and among the surviving accounts, that of Arculf, Bishop of Gaul, is particularly affecting. In 670 he went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and visited the Church of the Ascension, ‘…to the customary light of the eight lamps…on the night of the feast of the Lord’s Ascension it is usual to add innumerable other lamps; and under the terrible and wondrous gleaming of these, pouring out copiously through the shutters of the windows, all Mount Olivet seems not alone to be illuminated, but even to be on fire, and the whole city, situated on the lower ground nearby, seems to be lit up.’

Discoid with central void and portion of the shank embedded; inscribed with Greek characters '+AEB Φ BEPETEAI'. 2.66 grams, 18 mm



Acquired on the London, UK, art market in the 1990s. From a gentleman's private collection.

Similar objects could have been manufactured to look like spindle whorls, while they were in fact used as beads and/or amulets. The current evidence may suggest that these items were burial goods for females. They are sometimes seen incised with Greek letters and symbols that seem to suggest a cryptic onomata barbara formula. In this context, they can be viewed as mystical objects with the function of transmitting a message to the Other World, and the sheer mass of letters intended to convey the idea of an authoritative communication inaccessible to ordinary human being.