This exquisitely vivid image of an educated youth of the powerful port city of Alexandria probably celebrates his success in a musical contest. The medallion, worked in gold on dark blue glass, was made to be mounted and worn as a pendant.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Medallion with a Portrait of Gennadios
Date:250–300
Geography:Made in Alexandria, Egypt
Culture:Roman
Medium:Glass, gold leaf, polychromy
Dimensions:Overall: 1 5/8 x 1/4 in. (4.1 x 0.6 cm)
Classification:Glass-Gold glass
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1926
Accession Number:26.258
Inscription: Inscribed in Greek: Gennadios most accomplished in the musical arts
[ Martin Fabiani (French)(sold 1926)]
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.
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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). p. 9, detail ill. on p. 4.
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Howells, Daniel Thomas. A Catalogue of the Late Antique Gold Glass in the British Museum, edited by Chris Entwistle, and Liz James. London: British Museum Press, 2015. p. 10 n. 70.
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