The typical image of Saint Paul—with a long face, receding hairline, and pointed beard—was established during the first centuries of the Christian church. Here Paul holds a book, an appropriate symbol for the author of many of the texts of the New Testament. This plaque and the one showing Saint Peter under a similar arch may have flanked a lost central panel depicting Christ, as parts of an icon, or religious devotional image.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Plaque with Saint Paul
Date:550–600
Geography:Made in Antioch or Kaper Koraon (?)
Culture:Byzantine
Medium:Silver, originally partially gilt
Dimensions:Overall: 10 3/4 x 8 1/2 x 9/16 in. (27.3 x 21.6 x 1.5 cm) Overall (Mount with 50.5.2): 15 x 22 x 7/8 in. (38.1 x 55.9 x 2.2 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Silver
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1950
Accession Number:50.5.1
Found near Antioch, Syria, ca. 1908–10; [ Kouchakji Frères, Paris and New York (by 1913)]; [ Fahim Joseph Kouchakji, New York (sold 1950)]
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Pavillon de Marsan. "Exposition internationale d'art byzantin," May 28–July 9, 1931.
Worcester Art Museum. "The Dark Ages, loan exhibition of early Christian and Byzantine art," February 20–March 21, 1937.
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Early Christian and Byzantine art, an exhibition held at the Baltimore Museum of Art," April 25–June 22, 1947.
Baltimore Museum of Art. "The history of bookbinding, 525-1950 A.D.," November 12, 1957–January 12, 1958.
British Museum. "Wealth of the Roman world: Gold and silver, AD 300-700," April 1–September 30, 1977.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century," November 19, 1977–February 12, 1978.
Walters Art Museum. "Silver from Early Byzantium," April 18–August 17, 1986.
Worcester Art Museum. "Antioch: The Lost Ancient City," October 7, 2000–February 4, 2001.
Toronto. Aga Khan Museum. "Syria: An Unbroken History," October 15, 2016–February 26, 2017.
The Dark Ages: Loan Exhibition of Pagan and Christian Art in the Latin West and Byzantine East. Worcester, Mass.: Worcester Art Museum, 1937. no. 83, p. 36.
Miner, Dorothy, ed. Early Christian and Byzantine Art: An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 1947. no. 390, p. 86, pl. LIV.
Downey, Glanville. "The Inscription on a Silver Chalice from Syria in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." American Journal of Archaeology 55, no. 4 (October 1951). p. 349.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Eighty-First Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year 1950." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 10, no. 1 (Summer 1951). p. 26.
Downey, Glanville. "A Processional Cross." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 12, no. 9 (May 1954). p. 276.
Ross, Marvin C. Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection. Volume 1: Metalwork, Ceramics, Glass, Glyptics, Painting. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1962. p. 50.
Weitzmann, Kurt, ed. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979. no. 554, pp. 618–19.
Frazer, Margaret English. "Medieval Church Treasuries." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 43, no. 3 (Winter 1985-1986). p. 16, fig. 9.
Mango, Marlia Mundell. Silver From Early Byzantium: The Kaper Koraon and Related Treasures. Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery, 1986. no. 44, pp. 18, 28–33, 63, 199–201, fig. 44.1–44.3.
Shepard, Mary B. Europe in the Middle Ages, edited by Charles T. Little, and Timothy B. Husband. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. pp. 7, 31, pl. 18.
Durand, Jannic, ed. Byzance: L'Art Byzantin dans les Collections Publiques Françaises. Paris: Musée du Louvre, 1992. p. 116.
Kondoleon, Christine. Antioch: The Lost Ancient City. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000. no. 99, p. 212.
Evans, Helen C., Melanie Holcomb, and Robert Hallman. "The Arts of Byzantium." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 58, no. 4 (Spring 2001). pp. 22, 44.
Syria: A Living History. Aga Khan Museum, 2016. p. 42.
Kitzinger, Beatrice E., and Cambridge University Press. The cross, the Gospels, and the work of art in the Carolingian Age. Cambridge, 2019. pp. 49, 226 (p. 49 n. 55).
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world, encompassing the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Renaissance.
