This rock crystal carving found in a cistern in Carthage (now in Tunisia, North Africa) demonstrates the quality of the arts of that great city as the Roman world became Byzantine. The Roman naturalist Pliny, describing its beauty, believed crystal to come from snow. It was thought to protect against kidney ailments and other diseases.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Rock Crystal Statuette of a Dolphin
Date:3rd–5th century
Culture:North African (Carthage)
Medium:Rock crystal
Dimensions:Overall: 2 1/16 x 6 5/16 x 1 1/4 in. (5.2 x 16.1 x 3.2 cm)
Classification:Lapidary Work-Crystal
Credit Line:Bequest of Ada Small Moore, 1955
Object Number:55.135.9
Mrs. William H. Moore, Potomac, Maryland, until (d.) 1955; her bequest to The Met; Mrs. William H. Moore (American), Potomac (until 1955)
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Early Christian and Byzantine art, an exhibition held at the Baltimore Museum of Art," April 25–June 22, 1947.
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.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Africa & Byzantium," November 13, 2023–March 3, 2024.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Africa & Byzantium," April 14–July 21, 2024.
Carton, Louis Benjamin Charles. "Objets de Cristal de Roche Decouverts a Carthage." Comptes Rendus des Seances de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres 5 (1915). no. 5, pp. 339–40, illus.
Miner, Dorothy, ed. Early Christian and Byzantine Art: An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 1947. no. 538, p. 111, pl. LXXV.
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. 4, pp. 20–1, 251.
Bühler, Hans-Peter. Antike Gefässe aus Edelsteinen. Mainz: Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1973. no. 115, p. 79.
Phoenix Ancient Art 2012 No. 1. Geneva: Phoenix Ancient Art S.A., 2012. p. 58.
Achi, Andrea. Africa and Byzantium. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023. cat. 25, pp. 62–63.
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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.
