Browse Items (84 total)

A small bronze statue of a monkey holding a spike. The statue was probably intended as a decoration though the statue itself displays the Byzantine's knowledge of the world, trade, and art. There have been suggestions that it could have been part of…

Saint's medal made in Venice, Italy. Likely for use at the church nearby which held St. Nicholas' remains.

This manuscript, dating to around 1350, is one of hundreds of manuscripts of Le roman de la rose, a seminal text in the history of medieval literature, and one of the most influential of the period. It was widely read, translated, and commented on…

This was placed on an altar in the 15th century in Florence, Italy. There are both angels and the Virgin Mary on the altar cloth. It was used during the time of the Italian Renaissance, which makes its relevance extremely interesting. This was a…

Cut and voided velvet with pomegranate motif indicative of the style and level of production of silk and velvet in Italy at the time

A bronze coin weight with the busts of three emperors, this is an example of the currency produced and used by early Byzantium. It follows their tradition of carving their current emperor's likeness on their coins, but more interestingly it follows…

Brass plate with image of St. Christopher at the center, surrounded by an inscription

This is a wooden relief from 13th century Italy or Western areas of the Byzantine Empire. It shows the Virgin Mary sitting on a throne, holding Baby Jesus on her lap. They are idealized and fairly unemotional and Jesus looks like a miniature adult.…

This is a characteristic Roman-style oil lamp of the "North African" style because they were found a lot in North Africa--there is some doubt, however, that they originated from North Africa, under the hypothesis that Alexandria could have been one…