The Archangel ivory is the largest surviving
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...
panel, now in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Dated to the early 6th century, it depicts an
archangel
Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...
holding a
sceptre
A sceptre (or scepter in American English) is a Staff of office, staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of regalia, royal or imperial insignia, signifying Sovereignty, sovereign authority.
Antiquity
Ancient Egypt and M ...
and
imperial orb.
Description
The archangel is usually identified as
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* he He ..., a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name
* Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
, and the panel is assumed to have formed the right part of a
diptych
A diptych (, ) is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by a hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world was a diptych consisting of a pair of such plates that contained a ...
, with the lost left half possibly depicting Emperor
Justinian
Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
(reigned 527–565),
to whom the archangel would be offering the insignia of
imperial power. The panel is the largest single piece of carved Byzantine ivory that survives,
at 42.9 × 14.3 cm (16 7/8 × 5 5/8 in).
It is, along with the
Barberini ivory, one of two important surviving 6th-century Byzantine ivories attributed to the imperial workshops of
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
under Justinian,
[A. Cutler, "The making of the Justinian diptychs", ''Byzantion'' 54 (1984), pp. 75-115.] although the attribution is mostly assumed due to the size and craftsmanship.
The figure is depicted in a highly
classical style, wearing Greek or Roman garb and with a youthful face and proportions conforming to the ideals of
classical sculpture. The architectural space, however, is more typically Byzantine in its bending of spatial logic: the archangel's feet are at the top of a staircase that recedes from the base of the columns, but his arms and wings are in front of the columns.
The feet are also not firmly planted on the steps.
There is a Greek inscription at the top, translated variously. Translated as "Receive this suppliant, despite his sinfulness", it might be an expression of humility on the part of
Justinian
Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
.
Interpreted as the beginning of an inscription that continues on the lost second panel, it may read, "Receive these gifts, and having learned the cause...".
References
Further reading
*
Weitzmann, Kurt, ed.,
Age of spirituality : late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century', no. 481, 1979,
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, New York, ; full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries.
External links
British Museum: Ivory panel showing an archangel
{{British Museum
6th-century sculptures
Byzantine ivory
Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures in the British Museum