The eleven extensively detailed ornaments—a cross, a pair of leaves, and eight amphorae (vases) of varying shapes—are separated by hexagonal gold spacers meant to resemble miniature columns.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Gold Necklace with Ornaments
Date:6th century
Culture:Byzantine
Medium:Gold
Dimensions:34 7/8 × 2 11/16 × 9/16 in., 7.936oz. (88.6 × 6.8 × 1.4 cm, 225g) Other (pendant cross): 2 11/16 × 1 7/8 × 3/8 in. (6.8 × 4.8 × 1 cm) Other (pendant): 1 7/16 x 11/16 x 1/2 in. (3.7 x 1.7 x 1.2 cm) Other (pendant): 1 3/8 x 5/8 x 1/2 in. (3.5 x 1.6 x 1.2 cm) Other (pendant): 1 5/16 x 11/16 x 9/16 in. (3.3 x 1.7 x 1.4 cm) Other (pendant): 1 9/16 x 11/16 x 1/2 in. (4 x 1.8 x 1.2 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Gold
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:17.190.151
Cyprus Treasure, found at Karavas, Cyprus, 1902; [ Amedeo Canessa, Paris (sold 1906)]; J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (1906–1913)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Middle Ages: Treasures from The Cloisters and The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 18, 1970–March 29, 1970.
Chicago. Art Institute of Chicago. "The Middle Ages: Treasures from The Cloisters and The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 16, 1970–July 5, 1970.
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.
New York. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University. "Designing Identity: Gender and Power in Late Antique Textiles," February 25, 2016–May 22, 2016.
Hartford, Conn. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. "Morgan: Mind of the Collector," September 23–December 31, 2017.
Dalton, O. M. Byzantine Art and Archeology. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911. pp. 534–549, fig. 317.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1925. p. 40, fig. 20, ill. p. 41.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. p. 40, fig. 19, ill. p. 41.
Peirce, Hayford, and Royall Tyler. L'art Byzantin. Vol. 2. Paris: Librarie de France, 1934. pp. 126–27, pl. 179b.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mediaeval Jewelry: A Picture Book. New York: Museum Press Limited, 1940. pl. 4.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mediaeval Jewelry: A Picture Book. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. pl. 3.
Wagner de Kertesz, Margarita. Historia Universal de las Joyas. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Centurion, 1947. p. 235.
Oved, Sah. The Book of Necklaces. London: A. Baker, 1953. pp. 50–65, fig. XVII.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Guide to the Collections: Medieval Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1962. fig. 12.
Ross, Marvin C. Catalogue of Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection. Volume 2: Jewelery, Enamels and Art of the Migration Period. Vol. 2. Washington, D. C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1965. p. 16.
Ostoia, Vera K. The Middle Ages: Treasures from the Cloisters and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1969. no. 20, pp. 50–1, 253.
Stylianou, A. and J. Hoi thesauroi tes Lampouses. Vasilia, Lapethos, Cyprus, 1969. pp. 49–64, fig. 40.
Beeson, Nora B., ed. Guide to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1972. no. 16, p. 213, fig. 16.
Gómez-Moreno, Carmen. "Gold." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 31, no. 2 (1972–1973). pp. 98–99.
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. 285, p. 311.
Geroulanou, Emilia. Diatrita: Gold Pierced-Work Jewelery from the 3rd to the 7th Century. Athens: Benaki Museum, 1999. no. 23, pp. 37, 163, 206, fig. 44, 310.
Geroulanou, Emilia. "Common Elements in 'Treasures' of the Early Christian Period." In Byzanz – das Römerreich im Mittelalter: Volume 1, Welt der Ideen, Welt der Dinge, edited by Falko Daim, and Jörg Drauschke. Mainz: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, 2010. pp. 354–55, fig. 25.
Humphrey, Lyle. "Collecting Christianity on the Nile: J. Pierpont Morgan and The Metropolitan Museum of Art." In Age of Transition: Byzantine Culture in the Islamic World, edited by Helen C. Evans. New York: Yale University Press, 2015. pp. 3–4, fig. 3.
Thomas, Thelma K., ed. Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity. New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, 2016. no. 2, p. 144, ill.
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