A BYZANTINE GARNET CAMEO

CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

Details

A BYZANTINE GARNET CAMEO
CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
Drop-shaped, sculpted with the head of a man, perhaps Christ or an Apostle, wearing a long pointed beard and downturned moustache, with large angled lidded eyes and a fringe of short cap-like hair; mounted as a ring in a modern gold setting, the bezel inscribed in Latin, ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST, "and the word was made flesh," from the Gospel of John, 1:14
13/16 in. (2.1 cm.) long; ring size 9

Provenance

Paris Art Market, late 1980s.

Lot Essay

Without the original context, it is impossible to discern whether this cameo was meant to depict Christ himself or one of his apostles. See, for example, a pectoral cross now in Dumbarton Oaks, with a beardless Christ centered between four apostles, one similarly depicted with a long pointed beard, no. 301 in Weitzmann, ed., Age of Spirituality, Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century. For the bearded Christ, in similar style, see nos. 468 and 474-475, op. cit.

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