Byzantine, 7th century A.D.

Gold

H: 5.2 cm, L: 4 cm

Provenance: Acquired on the European Art Market in 1980.

Serial NO: 20228

A gold leaf encolpion in the shape of an aniconic cross, elegantly decorated on one side. The arms are treated like flowering plant stems surrounding small crosses inscribed in medallions. A double edged cross is in the center. The obverse is closed by a smooth gold leaf subtly soldered to the first sheet.

The decor of the reverse was obtained by pressing and hammering the gold leaf on a lead matrix. The craftsman chiseled the details to highlight them, weakening the metal in places. Therefore, with the passing of time and the normal wear, cracks have appeared in the angular hollows. A suspension ring is soldered to the top of the cross, allowing the pendant to suspend from a necklace or a chain.

Jewelry is very popular in the Byzantine Empire. The myriad of colors and a high decorative sense characterize this production. Precious and semi-precious stones (emerald, sapphire, garnet, ruby, amethyst, lapis, rock crystal ...) combine, in the finest jewels, with pearls, enamels, glass paste. Gold at last, is worked with refinement and imagination (repoussé, beaded, granulation, filigree, opus interasile, ...) continuing the ancient techniques. The use of silver and bronze is reserved for jewelry of lesser value.

Wearing jewelry enabled to designate the social status of a person in a very hierarchical society. The Emperor distributed thus jewels during the largitiones in order to distinguish and reward the servants of the Empire. Workshops were attached to the palace, making Constantinople a major center in the innovation of goldsmith.

The largest Empire jewelry centers are then located in Constantinople, but also on the island of Cyprus and in the Levantine cities of Antioch, Tyre and Bosra. The absence of archaeological workshops evidence, as well as the mere echoes from the goldsmiths activity in the written sources do not provide more details on these important production centers.

Sources however often tell about the splendor of Byzantine jewelry. It sometimes reached such excesses that some clergymen strove to bring their contemporaries far more in line with the evangelical poverty. These admonitions may have favored the profusion of the wearing of religious symbols as a belonging sign to Christianity. Encolpia, which are religious pendants containing sometimes religious relics, can be placed in this context. As indicated by the meaning of the word encolpion, these pendants were worn on the chest, sometimes under the clothes in a spirit of personal devotion. Nevertheless this religious devotion was just an excuse for some people to show off a profusion of beautiful adornments. In a number of jewels that survived until today, the cross is inserted into a sparkling set of precious stones, of pearls and gold.

The cross presented here is in line with the production of the 7th century. The plant treatment as well as the round shape of the arms ends are typical of crosses of the time, manufactured by pressing on a matrix. Our example can particularly be related to the gold crosses found in Rethymnon (Agios Vasileios), in Crete, now in the Historical Museum of Heraklion (nos. inv. 306 & 307).

Bibliography:

WAMSER L., Die Welt von Byzanz- Europas östliches Erbe. Glanz, Krisen und Fortleben einer tausendjährigen Kultur, Munich, 2004, pp. 308-311.

WAMSER L., ZAHLHAAS G., Rom und Byzanz, Archäologische Kostbarkeiten aus Bayern, Munich, 1998, pp. 196-198.

BALDINI LIPPOLIS I., L’oreficeria nell’impero di Costantinopoli tra IV e VII secolo, Bari, 1999, p. 147, nos. 6-7.