Copper alloy
11th century
Height 3 3/4"
Provenance: Pars Coins, San Jose, CA
This Byzantine copper alloy reliquary cross is cast and engraved with a standing frontal figure in ecclesiastical robes occupying the central field, flanked by smaller cross motifs at each arm. A Greek inscription runs across the upper register, identifying the figure depicted. The cross retains its suspension loop and hinge mechanism, the two halves joined in the manner typical of encolpia, hollow reliquary crosses designed to contain a fragment of a relic or sacred material within the cavity between the two plates.
Encolpia of this type were produced in considerable numbers across the Byzantine world from the tenth century onward and were worn as devotional objects by clergy and laity alike. The combination of figural imagery, inscribed text, and subsidiary cross ornament on this example follows established iconographic conventions of middle Byzantine metalwork. The verdigris patina and condition of the hinge are consistent with an eleventh-century date.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Copper alloy
11th century
Height 3 3/4"
Provenance: Pars Coins, San Jose, CA
This Byzantine copper alloy reliquary cross is cast and engraved with a standing frontal figure in ecclesiastical robes occupying the central field, flanked by smaller cross motifs at each arm. A Greek inscription runs across the upper register, identifying the figure depicted. The cross retains its suspension loop and hinge mechanism, the two halves joined in the manner typical of encolpia, hollow reliquary crosses designed to contain a fragment of a relic or sacred material within the cavity between the two plates.
Encolpia of this type were produced in considerable numbers across the Byzantine world from the tenth century onward and were worn as devotional objects by clergy and laity alike. The combination of figural imagery, inscribed text, and subsidiary cross ornament on this example follows established iconographic conventions of middle Byzantine metalwork. The verdigris patina and condition of the hinge are consistent with an eleventh-century date.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
