These two portraits were drawn with a needlelike point on gold leaf applied to the upper surface of deep blue sapphire. Medallions like these, meant to be worn as jewelry, are closely associated with the bustling, cosmopolitan port city of Alexandria.
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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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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.
Lapatin, Kenneth. Luxus: The Sumptuous Arts of Greece and Rome. Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2015. no. no. 56, pp. 87, 236, pl. 56.
Patt, Rachel Catherine. “Probably Alexandria”: Gold-Glass Portraiture and the Allure of Egypt (2024). fig. 1, pp. 222-240.
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