A BYZANTINE BRONZE PROCESSIONAL CROSS

CIRCA 8TH-9TH CENTURY A.D.

Details

A BYZANTINE BRONZE PROCESSIONAL CROSS
CIRCA 8TH-9TH CENTURY A.D.
The flaring arms terminating in projecting knobs at each tapering end, the surface with finely engraved ornament, including compass-drawn rosettes and arches at the ends of each arm, punched dotted-circles along the edges, the upper vertical arm with a Greek inscription, reading: "The archistrategos," the lower arm engraved with a similarly-shaped processional cross emerging from floral scrolling issuing from the rosette below, with a large knob at the center, the lower edge of the horizontal arm perforated six times for suspension of now-lost pendants
23½ in. (59.7 cm.) high

Provenance

German Private Collection, 1960s-1970s.

Further details

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Lot Essay

Archistrategos means commander-in-chief and is usually used for the title of archangels. In written texts, it is also used as a title for Christ and St. Stephen. The word originally came from the Old Testament and was transferred through the Septuagint to the Christian world.

For a similar example in the Kanellopoulos Museum in Athens see no. 22, p. 58 in Evans and Wixom, eds., The Glory of Byzantium, Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261.

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