Byzantium, Late Roman, Constantinian Era / Pendant with a Double Solidus of Constantine I / 324-326

Byzantium, Late Roman, Constantinian Era
Pendant with a Double Solidus of Constantine I
324-326
View Larger Image

View Full Catalog Record Below

This image is one of over 108,000 from the AMICA Library (formerly The Art Museum Image Consortium Library- The AMICO Library™), a growing online collection of high-quality, digital art images from over 20 museums around the world. www.davidrumsey.com/amica offers subscriptions to this collection, the finest art image database available on the internet. EVERY image has full curatorial text and can be studied in depth by zooming into the smallest details from within the Image Workspace.

Preview the AMICA Library™ Public Collection in Luna Browser Now

Cultures and time periods represented range from contemporary art, to ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian works.
Types of works include paintings, drawings, watercolors, sculptures, costumes, jewelry, furniture, prints, photographs, textiles, decorative art, books and manuscripts.

Gain access to this incredible resource through either a monthly or a yearly subscription and search the entire collection from your desktop, compare multiple images side by side and zoom into the minute details of the images. Visit www.davidrumsey.com/amica for more information on the collection, click on the link below the revolving thumbnail to the right, or email us at amica@luna-img.com .

Creator Name: Unknown
Creator Nationality: Byzantine
Creator Name-CRT: Byzantium, Late Roman, Constantinian Era
Title: Pendant with a Double Solidus of Constantine I
Title Type: Primary
View: Full View
Creation Start Date: 324
Creation End Date: 326
Creation Date: 324-326
Object Type: Costume and Jewelry
Classification Term: Jewelry
Materials and Techniques: gold
Dimensions: Overall: 9.1cm x 9.8cm
AMICA Contributor: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Owner Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
ID Number: 1994.98.1
ID Number: 1994.98.2
ID Number: 1994.98.3
ID Number: 1994.98.4
Credit Line: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
Rights: http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html
Style or Period: Byzantium, Late Roman, Constantinian Era
Context: These elements formed part of what must have been one of the most elaborate gold necklaces produced during the 4th century, in the era of Constantine the Great (AD 306-337). Representing the finest quality goldsmithwork to have survived from that epoch, they were found as part of a hoard of jewelry and coins that included four other coin-set pendants, two round and two hexagonal in shape (now dispersed between Washington, London, and Paris). The Cleveland pendant, the only one hexagonal in shape, was surely the ensemble?s centerpiece.The eight-sided pendant was made from a sheet of gold decorated in an openwork technique, and set with a coin (a double solidus) of Constantine, whose image appears on the front (or obverse). Such elaborate coin-set jewelry is believed to have been presented as imperial gifts to members of the emperor?s family or to important political supporters. Surrounding the coin are eight strikinglythree-dimensional male and female busts that may represent mythological figures. On the coin?s reverse are portraits of Constantine?s sons, Crispus and Constantine II, and an inscription indicating the coin was struck on New Year?s Day, ad 324, to commemorate their third consulship. Crispus?s execution in ad 326 suggests that the pendant was made between these dates.
AMICA ID: CMA_.1994.98.1-4
AMICA Library Year: 2000
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright, The Cleveland Museum of Art

AMICA PUBLIC RIGHTS: a) Access to the materials is granted for personal and non-commercial use. b) A full educational license for non-commercial use is available from Cartography Associates at www.davidrumsey.com/amica/institution_subscribe.html c) Licensed users may continue their examination of additional materials provided by Cartography Associates, and d) commercial rights are available from the rights holder.