Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art


    • Belt Buckle, 550–600
    Visigothic
    Copper alloy, cells inset with garnets, glass, lapis lazuli, and cuttlefish bone

    2 3/8 x 3 3/4 in. (6 x 9.5 cm)
    Rogers Fund, 1988 (1988.305 ab)

    The belt buckle was a field for elaborate decoration and a very visible symbol of rank and status. Brightly colored buckles inset with pieces of glass and stone are characteristic of Visigothic women's dress. This piece is exceptional for the rare inclusion of lapis lazuli, a stone used more frequently in Byzantium.

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    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • "Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1988–1989," The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 47, no. 2 (Fall, 1989).
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  • Belt Buckle, 550–600
    Visigothic
    Copper alloy, cells inset with garnets, glass, lapis lazuli, and cuttlefish bone

    2 3/8 x 3 3/4 in. (6 x 9.5 cm)
    Rogers Fund, 1988 (1988.305 ab)