Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

The relief decorated silver cross is cast in one piece and was once gilded in front. It shows a standing figure in the center, and busts at the end of the arms which flare outward and end in circular medallions, but the lack of an inscription prevents definite identification. The male figure in the center stands frontally and wears a mantle over a cloak; below his left shoulder he seems to carry a closed book bearing a cross and with his right hand he blesses. He represents either Christ or a saint. The figures in the four medallions are also all shown strictly en face or nimbed, wear crosses on their garments, and bless with their right hands, but they are distinguished by their facial features. The one in the right medallion is bearded and bald-headed, while the other three are bearded and long-haired. The beards differ in shape, implying all four busts were intended to be identifiable as particular saints, even though the heads and bodies of these figures are designed and treated so summarily that the types cannot be identified with known saints.

The border is a continuous, raised edge. The reverse is flat and plain, and bears spots of corrosion. A broad suspension loop with two circles of twisted wire around the center is attached by a hinge to the cross. A cast silver amulet is attached to the chain, which is of the multiple “loop-in-loop” type, by the hoops; it bears a bust image of a nimbed, beardless warrior saint wearing a mantle over a tunic (?) and holding a shield in his left hand and a lance or sword in his right.

This type of pectoral cross is known in Byzantine art from the sixth century onward. In later Byzantine times this type became widespread, and appeared in the provincial territories of the Empire.