Roman Sheet-Gold Phalera Cover with Imperial Bust

4TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.

2 1/2 in. (4.78 grams, 64 mm).

Discoid ornamental appliqué with raised border enclosing an imperial bust in profile, shown bearded and wearing a diadem and a military cloak. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Acquired in the early 1990s.
From the collection of a London antiquarian.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Literature

Cf. Sannazzaro, M., Giostra, C., Petala Aurea, Gold-Sheet-work of Byzantine and Lombard Origin from the Rovati Collection, Truccazzano, 2014, no.10, for a circular gold sheet with imperial image.

Footnotes

The subject is represented as an Imperator or a field general, recalling the image of a victorious emperor. Such iconography was widely in use in the late Roman Empire, and even adopted on the coins of Gothic rulers of Ostrogothic Italy.

CONDITION

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LOT 0973