LOT 0161

Byzantine Bronze Reliquary Cross

10TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.

3 1/4 in. (82 grams, 83 mm).

Comprising two narrow hinged plates and articulated suspension loop with two vertical ribs; obverse with Jesus on the cross, dressed in a long robe with standing Virgin and Saint John on his side, Greek inscription 'ἴδε ὁ υἱός σου.Ἰδοὺ ἡ μήτηρ σου' (John 19:27-28: 'Here is your son. Here is your mother') under the arms; titulum, the sun and the moon above; on the tabula ansata of the titulum a Greek inscription 'Χ fur XΡΙΣΤΟΣ'; reverse with Theotokos (Mother of God) in orans pose and the four busts of the evangelists, at the four arms of the cross.

Acquired on the German art market around 2000.
From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.

See Pitarakis, B., Les Croix-Reliquaires Pectorales Byzantines En Bronze, Paris, 2006, nos.19, 20, 23, 27, for similar.

This enkolpion is a beautiful example of the type of pendant cross widespread in the 11th-12th centuries. Many variants of enkolpia reflected the new artistic fashions in vogue at Byzantium, influenced by the political and artistic vigour of the Macedonian dynasty. This enkolpion corresponds to type I of the Pitarakis classification.