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Details
LOT 0210
Eastern Byzantine Amethyst Gemstone of a Male Bust with Cross in Gold Ring
4TH-5TH CENTURY A.D. OR EARLIER
1 1/4 in. (9.56 grams, 32.00 mm overall, 20.72 x 16.55 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)).
Intaglio with bearded profile bust facing left with a small cross to the shoulder; set into a later hollow-formed gold ring.
Provenance
Acquired on the European art market.
Private collection, England.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13137-249543.
Literature
For motif see The Cleveland Museum of Art, item number 1947.33.
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LOT 0210
Eastern Byzantine Amethyst Gemstone of a Male Bust with Cross in Gold Ring
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,860
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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.
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.