Early Christian Ivory casket from Samagher with iconographic "prototypes"
Early Christian ivory casket from Samagher near Pola (Istria)
possibly showing members of the Byzantine royal family of emperor Constantine
on Side D [circa 440 CE] –
Venice, Archaeologiocal Museum
photo by courtesy of restituzione.com
This Reliquary (height 18,5 cm, length 20,5 cm, width 16,01), which was discovered in Samagher (Pula, Croatia) in 1906 under the altar of the Church of St. Hermagoras, is in carved ivory with corner reinforcements and silver accessories. Probably of Roman craftsmanship, it is of exceptional value for the history of early Christian art, the history of the Church and the history of the Roman Empire because of the refined decoration in relief on the lid and on all four sides. In particular, the interpretation of critics is unanimous in their belief that the iconographic motifs on the cover and on the front side were inspired by the mosaics, no longer preserved, in the apse of the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter, known only from Renaissance drawings; the presbytery of the ancient Basilica of St. Peter is depicted on the back with the so called Memoria Petri, the monument erected by Constantine over the tomb of Peter, as it was until the end of the sixth century. Various hypotheses have been put forward regarding the characters depicted, for example Constantine and Helen visiting the Basilica of St. Peter in 326 on the back, Galla Placidia with the small Valentinian on the left, Valentinian and his wife Licinia Eudoxia and perhaps her daughter Eudocia in 449 -440 on the right; Galla Placidia as the main protagonist of the story, perhaps on a pilgrimage to fulfill a vow for the coronation of his son as emperor Valentinian. The capsella is datable to the middle of the fifth century AD owing to the typological and stylistic features of male and female figures and the iconographic motif of the "empty throne" which appears for the first time on the mosaic at the top of the arch of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore datable to after 431 AD (Council of Ephesus).
capsella di Samagher, avorio e argento, 440 d.c., Museo Archeologico di Venezia
Literature:
Davide Longhi: La Capsella Eburnea di Samagher: Iconografia e Committenza; Ravenna 2006
ISBN-13: 9788875674687
Early Christian Ivory casket from Samagher with iconographic "prototypes"
Early Christian ivory casket from Samagher near Pola (Istria)
possibly showing members of the Byzantine royal family of emperor Constantine
on Side D [circa 440 CE] –
Venice, Archaeologiocal Museum
photo by courtesy of restituzione.com
This Reliquary (height 18,5 cm, length 20,5 cm, width 16,01), which was discovered in Samagher (Pula, Croatia) in 1906 under the altar of the Church of St. Hermagoras, is in carved ivory with corner reinforcements and silver accessories. Probably of Roman craftsmanship, it is of exceptional value for the history of early Christian art, the history of the Church and the history of the Roman Empire because of the refined decoration in relief on the lid and on all four sides. In particular, the interpretation of critics is unanimous in their belief that the iconographic motifs on the cover and on the front side were inspired by the mosaics, no longer preserved, in the apse of the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter, known only from Renaissance drawings; the presbytery of the ancient Basilica of St. Peter is depicted on the back with the so called Memoria Petri, the monument erected by Constantine over the tomb of Peter, as it was until the end of the sixth century. Various hypotheses have been put forward regarding the characters depicted, for example Constantine and Helen visiting the Basilica of St. Peter in 326 on the back, Galla Placidia with the small Valentinian on the left, Valentinian and his wife Licinia Eudoxia and perhaps her daughter Eudocia in 449 -440 on the right; Galla Placidia as the main protagonist of the story, perhaps on a pilgrimage to fulfill a vow for the coronation of his son as emperor Valentinian. The capsella is datable to the middle of the fifth century AD owing to the typological and stylistic features of male and female figures and the iconographic motif of the "empty throne" which appears for the first time on the mosaic at the top of the arch of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore datable to after 431 AD (Council of Ephesus).
capsella di Samagher, avorio e argento, 440 d.c., Museo Archeologico di Venezia
Literature:
Davide Longhi: La Capsella Eburnea di Samagher: Iconografia e Committenza; Ravenna 2006
ISBN-13: 9788875674687