CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C./A.D.

Details

A GRAECO-ROMAN GILT BRONZE ROUNDEL
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C./A.D.
With standing figure of a draped woman, holding an object in her right hand, her head turned to the left, a sinuous tree behind her, pierced for attachment; and a Byzantine silver gilt repoussé roundel with St George and the Dragon, the saint astride his horse, holding a spear which is plunged into the serpent-like dragon beneath, circa 12th Century A.D.
1¼ in. (3.2 cm.) and 1½ in. (3.9 cm.) diam. respectively (2)

Provenance

German private collection, formed during the 1960s-1970s.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Item two: cf. exhibition catalogue, The Road To Byzantium, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, 2006, p. 170, no. 136 for a steatite icon with St George. The equestrian figure of the soldier-martyr St George was adapted by the Christians from earlier riders such as the Thracian rider-god Heron and Horus-Harpocrates.

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