Byzantine ivory diptych relief
This is one of the largest surviving ivories from the Byzantine Empire. It comes from a hinged two-leaf diptych possibly used as a writing tablet, and shows an archangel holding an orb and sceptre. The style of his drapery is classical, but the Christian subject matter is Byzantine.
The ivory's extraordinary size and quality suggest that it was an imperial commission, perhaps by Justinian | (AD 527-565), a powerful and successful emperor whose patronage stimulated a golden age in Byzantine art.
Greek Inscription (front):
+ ΔΕΧΟΥ ΠΑΡΟΝΤΑ ΚΑΙ ΜΑΘѠΝ ΤΗΝ ΑΙΤΙΑΝ
‘Receive this man, although you know [his] sin’
Description:
Half of a diptych; ivory; the archangel Michael standing at the top of a flight of six steps under a round arch carved with acanthus ornament and supported by fluted columns; within the arch is a scallop, before which is a wreath bound with ribbons and containing a cross; in the spandrels are rosettes and acanthus leaves, and above a tablet with inscription; the archangel, with no nimbus, holds an orb surmounted by a jewelled cross, and in the other hand a staff with ball at each end.
Early Byzantine, ca. 525-550 CE
Made in Constantinople
British Museum (OA.9999)
Byzantine ivory diptych relief
This is one of the largest surviving ivories from the Byzantine Empire. It comes from a hinged two-leaf diptych possibly used as a writing tablet, and shows an archangel holding an orb and sceptre. The style of his drapery is classical, but the Christian subject matter is Byzantine.
The ivory's extraordinary size and quality suggest that it was an imperial commission, perhaps by Justinian | (AD 527-565), a powerful and successful emperor whose patronage stimulated a golden age in Byzantine art.
Greek Inscription (front):
+ ΔΕΧΟΥ ΠΑΡΟΝΤΑ ΚΑΙ ΜΑΘѠΝ ΤΗΝ ΑΙΤΙΑΝ
‘Receive this man, although you know [his] sin’
Description:
Half of a diptych; ivory; the archangel Michael standing at the top of a flight of six steps under a round arch carved with acanthus ornament and supported by fluted columns; within the arch is a scallop, before which is a wreath bound with ribbons and containing a cross; in the spandrels are rosettes and acanthus leaves, and above a tablet with inscription; the archangel, with no nimbus, holds an orb surmounted by a jewelled cross, and in the other hand a staff with ball at each end.
Early Byzantine, ca. 525-550 CE
Made in Constantinople
British Museum (OA.9999)