LOT 0204

Byzantine Silver Bracelet Sections with Warrior Saint and Crucifixion

6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

1 in. (9.67 grams total, 26 mm each).

Two fragments from a military bracelet (brachiolion) comprising: a disc with double border of pellets, at the centre two standing figures of the two robbers flanking a stylised Stavrosis (crucifixion), composed of a stylised cross surmounted by the nimbate head of Christ; the other an ellipsoid panel and portion of the shank with pelta-shaped motifs flanking 'ICT' (IesouC Theou = Jesus son of God) legend, the panel with double border of pellets enclosing image of nimbate Saint George on horseback with scale armour and spearing the dragon with a long spear (doru). [2]

Ex private Dorset, UK, collection circa 1980s.
Property of a London, UK, antiquarian.

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.13042-248494.

Cf. for similar typology of rod bracelets with central element, see two specimens from Egypt (Tomei or Antinoe) in Baldini Lippolis, I., L’Oreficeria nell’Impero di Costantinopoli tra il IV e VII secolo, Bari, 1999, fig.5-6 p.183; s. also Dennison, W., A gold treasure of the Late Roman Period from Egypt, New York, 1918, nos.30-31 pl.L; for the early iconography of Saint George see Atanassov, G., ‘The Early Medieval Military Iconography, Armament and Equipment of Saint George (5th – 10th C.)’ in Yotov, V. (ed.), Weapons and military equipment during the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages 4th-15th centuries, International Conference, Varna, 14-16 September 2000, Varna, 2002, pp.37-58, figs.4, 15-16, 23-28.

The importance of the depicted subject, the Stavrosis or Crucifixion, lies in its rarity. We know of very few representations of this subject in the early period of Christian art. Since the 6th-7th centuries, the iconographic type of military saints on horseback, Saint George, Saint Demetrios, Saint Theodore and Saint Sisinnios appear in the artistic milieu of the Middle East at the end of the 5th century-early 6th century AD. Among this iconography, the figure of Saint George, killer of the Dragon, stood out. The warrior saint was represented armed like a true Christian warrior of the Roman Empire, and the style of his armament here, also for comparison with similar images, points to a 6th-7th century dating, a period when the Eastern Roman Empire was still at the height of its power and exerted its influence over Eastern and Western Europe.