With Saint John the Forerunner, a youthful saint, a deacon saint with a censer (probably Saint Stephen), a saint in orant pose, and crosses
Inscribed in Greek: For the salvation of Kerykos, son of Michaelios, and Martyrios, genuine brothers
These censers retain their original copper liners, which held hot coals and incense. Deacons swung the censers, releasing the perfume of the incense to honor the Gospel, the altar, and the objects used in the Eucharist.
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Artwork Details
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Title:The Attarouthi Treasure - Censer
Date:500–650
Geography:Made in Attarouthi, Syria
Culture:Byzantine
Medium:Silver and gilded silver with copper liner
Dimensions:Overall (without chain): 3 x 5 3/16 in. (7.6 x 13.1 cm) Overall (hanging with chain): 15 3/4 x 5 3/16 in. (40 x 13.1 cm) Diam. of foot: 2 3/16 in. (5.6 cm); 398.2g
Classification:Metalwork-Steel
Credit Line:Purchase, Rogers Fund and Henry J. and Drue E. Heinz Foundation, Norbert Schimmel, and Lila Acheson Wallace Gifts, 1986
Accession Number:1986.3.13
Inscription: [in Greek:] For the salvation of Kerykos, Barochios, and Martyrios, genuine brothers
From Attarouthi, Syria; [ Elias Bustros, Beirut (by 1940)]; [ Sleiman Abou Taam, Beirut and Switzerland (1965–1986)]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Mirror of the Medieval World," March 9–June 1, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition," March 14–July 8, 2012.
Toronto. Aga Khan Museum. "Syria: An Unbroken History," October 15, 2016–February 26, 2017.
Institut du Monde Arabe. "Chrêtiens d'Orient, 2000 ans d'histoire," September 26, 2017–January 14, 2018.
Institut du Monde Arabe. "Chrétiens d'Orient, 2000 ans d'histoire," September 26, 2017–January 14, 2018.
Frazer, Margaret English. "Silver Liturgical Objects from Attarouthi in Syria." In Byzantine Studies Conference Abstracts of Papers. Vol. 14. Madison, Wisconsin: Byzantine Studies Conference, 1988. pp. 13–14.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "One Hundred Twentieth Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 1989, through June 30, 1990." Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 120 (1990). p. 28.
Maguire, Henry P. The Icons of their Bodies: Saints and Their Images in Byzantium. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. p. 105.
Piguet-Panayotova, Dora. "Silver Censers: A Hexagonal Decorated Silver Censer in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich." In Acta XIII Congressus Internationalis Archaeologiae Christianae, edited by Nenad Cambi, and Emilio Marin. Vol. 3. Split, Croatia: Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana, 1998. pp. 646–653, fig. 11–23.
Wixom, William D., ed. Mirror of the Medieval World. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. no. 46, pp. 37–38.
Dandridge, Pete. "A Study of the Gilding of Silver in Byzantium." In Gilded Metals: History, Technology and Conservation. London: Archetype Publications, 2000. pp. 125–139, fig. 7.1.
Eisenberg, Jerome M. "The New Byzantine Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Minerva 12, no. 3 (2001). pp. 26–27, fig. 13.
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). pp. 38, 50, 60.
Elbern, Victor. "Zehn Kelche und eine Taube : Bemerkungen zum liturgischen Schatzfund von Attarouhti [ Attarouthi ]." Oriens Christianus 88 (2004). pp. 233–253, fig. 1.
Dandridge, Pete. "The Exhibition of Unlacquered Silver at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 44 (2005). pp. 178–179.
Elbern, Victor. "Zehn Kelche und eine Taube. Bemerkungen zum liturgischen Schatzfund von Attarouhti." In Fructus operis III : ausgewählte kunsthistorische Schriften aus den Jahren 1961-2007, edited by Michael Brandt. Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner, 2008. pp. 378–98.
Barnet, Peter. "Medieval Europe." In Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1977–2008, edited by James R. Houghton. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009. p. 25.
Piguet-Panayotova, Dora. "The Attarouthi Chalices." Mitteilungen zur spätantiken Archäologie und byzantinischen Kunstgeschichte 6 (2009). pp. 9–76, fig. 1.
Scott, David A. Ancient Metals: Microstructure and Metallurgy. Vol. 1. Los Angeles: Conservation Science Press, 2011. p. 41.
Evans, Helen C., and Brandie Ratliff, ed. Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition, 7th–9th century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. no. 22l, pp. 4, 8–9, 41–44.
Syria: A Living History. Aga Khan Museum, 2016. p. 42.
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