Pendant Brooch with Cameo of Enthroned Virgin and Child and Christ Pantokrator

Unknown

late 1000s–1100s (cameo); 1100s–1300s (mount) · Chalcedony cameo; gold mount with pearls, emeralds, garnets, sapphires, and a sardonyx intaglio · Medieval Art

The elaborately carved cameo depicts the enthroned Virgin and Christ Child flanked by archangels, a subject often depicted in the apse of Orthodox churches. On the reverse of the gold case is an image of Christ Pantokrator, which would have been found in the dome of a church. The frame is typical of the Rus’, peoples of the north who had been converted by the Orthodox Christian clergy of Constantinople and who thus prized Byzantine works.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 1000s–1100s (cameo); 1100s–1300s (mount)

Medium

Chalcedony cameo; gold mount with pearls, emeralds, garnets, sapphires, and a sardonyx intaglio

Culture

Byzantine

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Purchase, Acquisitions Fund, Christopher C. Grisanti and Suzanne P. Fawbush, Austin B. Chinn, and Katharine R. Brown Gifts, Gifts of Marx Freres, J. Pierpont Morgan, and Mrs. Frank D. Millett, by exchange, and funds from various donors, 2007