Byzantine, 6th - 7th century A.D.

Gold and Niello

D. 0.6 cm

PROVENANCE: Acquired on the European Art market, 1994.

SERIAL NO: 14513

This beautiful piece is a small Byzantine disk of gold ornamented with a cruciform monogram in Greek engraved and filled with niello that occupies the entire surface. This piece was most probably part of a set, including valuable dishes, a necklace, and a box.

Monograms were very commonly used by the Byzantines as a method of identification and expression as part of a social group. This standard monogram consists of the name of the owner in the genitive (this object belongs to...) along with his title. At the end of the 6th century, the first cruciform monograms appear, with letters attached to the arms of the cross. The sobriety of this monogram recalls the use of such symbols in the monograms of the middle class and well to do Christians of the 6th and 7th century A.D.