Detail View: The AMICA Library: Pendant with a Double Solidus of Constantine I
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AMICA ID:
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CMA_.1994.98.1-4
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AMICA Library Year:
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2000
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Object Type:
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Costume and Jewelry
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Creator Name:
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Unknown
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Creator Nationality:
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Byzantine
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Creator Name-CRT:
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Byzantium, Late Roman, Constantinian Era
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Title:
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Pendant with a Double Solidus of Constantine I
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Title Type:
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Primary
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View:
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Full View
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Creation Date:
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324-326
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Creation Start Date:
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324
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Creation End Date:
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326
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Materials and Techniques:
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gold
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Classification Term:
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Jewelry
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Classification Term:
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Jewelry
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Style or Period:
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Byzantium, Late Roman, Constantinian Era
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Dimensions:
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Overall: 9.1cm x 9.8cm
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AMICA Contributor:
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The Cleveland Museum of Art
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Owner Location:
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Cleveland, Ohio, USA
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ID Number:
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1994.98.1
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ID Number:
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1994.98.2
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ID Number:
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1994.98.3
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ID Number:
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1994.98.4
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Credit Line:
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Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
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Rights:
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Context:
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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.
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Related Image Identifier Link:
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CMA_.1994.98.1-.4.tif
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