The last sardonyx carvings to be analyzed are those that are carved in low, flat relief. The figures tend to be stocky, with flat forms that are delineated by linear incisions. Most of the stones are smaller than the average enkolpion and measure less than 3 cm in height. These sardonyxes include four with the image of Daniel between the lions (nos. 95, 96, 97, C7), three with the image of the Archangel Michael (C6, C8, C12), one with the image of Christ (C10), one with the image of the Transfiguration (C11), and one with the image of three martyr saints (C5).67
These gems are difficult to date and attribute. On the one hand, they display Byzantine iconography and Greek inscriptions. On the other hand, they do not compare well with
Byzantine gems in carving or figure style. Some have already been convincingly attributed to the medieval West on the basis of their similarities with Western glyptics.68 Hans Wentzel, Alisa Bank, and other scholars have identified Italian and French carvings of sardonyx and agate from !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
67 The sardonyx carvings of Daniel between the lions are located in the Hermitage, Cividale, the British Museum, and the Staatliches Münzsammlung in Munich. On the sardonyx in the British Museum see Williamson, “Daniel between the lions,” 37-39. On the sardonyx in Cividale see Menis, “Un malnoto cammeo cividalese con Daniele,” 184-186. On the sardonyx of Daniel in the Hermitage (inv. no. ш-360) see Bank, “Vier byzantinisierende Kameen aus der Ermitage,” 15-16. On the sardonyx of Daniel in Munich see Wentzel, “Die Mittelalterlichen Gemmen der Staatlichen Münzsammlung zu München,” 52, no. 15. One sardonyx of the Archangel Michael is located in the Staatliches Münzsammlung in Munich. On this gem see ibid., 53, no. 18. One sardonyx of the Archangel Michael is located in the Louvre. On this gem see Guillou and Durand, Byzance, 288, no. 204. The sardonyx of the three saints and one of the sardonyxes of the Archangel Michael are located in the Hermitage. See Bank, Prikladnoe Iskusstvo
Vizantii, 134 and Bank, Iskusstvo Vizantii, vol. 3, no. 917. The sardonyx of Christ is located in
Stockholm. See Wentzel, “Mittelalterliche Gemmen,” 64, no. 123. The sardonyx with the image of the Transfiguration is located in the Hermitage. See Piatnitsky, “Panagia with ‘The Transfiguration’ Cameo from the Hermitage Collection,” 237. See also Alisa Bank’s discussion of the agate carving of the Virgin Orant in the Hermitage (C9) in “Vier byzantinisierende Kameen aus der Ermitage,” 15-16.
68 Outside of the publications of Wentzel, the best discussion of Western gems, most of which were produced in Italy and France, is in Rainer Kahsnitz, “Staufische Kameen,” 477-520.
! late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries that offer close parallels, such as the agate carving of St. Anne in Modena, the sardonyx of King Jehu in the Hermitage, and the sardonyx of St. George in Windsor Castle (C2, C3, C4).69 Although the figure of St. Anne on the agate in Modena has been modeled in relief with smooth, rounded forms, the other two gems are carved in low relief with flat forms that have been articulated with linear and circular incisions. The distinctive figure style differs from the figure style of Byzantine carvings. Anatomical features such as noses, cheeks, and eyes are exaggerated and heads tend to have a bulbous appearance. This can be observed most clearly on the agate carving of St. Anne, in which the hood of the saint’s maphorion is disproportionately large and spherical (C2).
The attribution of the following sardonyx carvings to the medieval West can be
confirmed because they display aspects of the carving and figure style that were described above. They are the sardonyx with the image of Christ in Stockholm, two with the Archangel Michael in the Louvre and the Hermitage, one with Daniel between the lions in the Staatliches
Münzsammlung of Munich, and one with the image of three martyr saints in the Hermitage (C5, C6, C7, C10, C12).70 These gems are carved in low relief with flat, simple forms. The heads are represented in a round, bulbous manner. Although they display Byzantine iconography, they !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
69 These pieces have been identified as western works in the Byzantine style by Hans Wentzel, Alice Bank, Rainer Kahsnitz, and Jannic Durand. These scholars have argued that other gems can be attributed through comparisons with these pieces. See Kahsnitz, “Staufische Kameen,” 498-499; Wentzel “Die Kamee mit dem hl. Georg im Schloss zu Windsor,” 103-110; Wentzel “Mittelalterliche Gemmen in den Sammlungen Italiens” throughout, esp. pp. 243 and 265; Wentzel, “”Die Mittelalterlichen Gemmen der Staatlichen Münzsammlung zu München,” 43-52; Bank, “Vier byzantinisierende Kameen aus der Ermitage,” 16; Guillou and Durand, Byzance, 288.
70 These attributions are in agreement with scholars who have already dated and attributed these gems. On the Archangel Michael sardonyx in the Louvre see Guillou and Durand, Byzance, 288. On the sardonyx of Daniel, Wentzel proposed that it was an Italian imitation of a Byzantine work or a provincial Byzantine work in Wentzel, “Die Mittelalterlichen Gemmen der Staatlichen Münzsammlung zu München,” 52, no. 15. On the sardonyx of Christ in Stockholm see Wentzel, “Mittelalterliche Gemmen, Versuch einer Grundlegung,” 64 no. 123. On the sardonyx of three martyr saints in the Hermitage see Bank, Prikladnoe
! cannot otherwise be compared with Byzantine carvings in gemstone or steatite. Instead, their carving and figure style is closest to that of the French and Italian gems from the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (C2, C3, C4). Therefore, an attribution to the medieval West remains the most probable for these works.
There are, however, three sardonyxes with the image of Daniel between the lions that should be considered Byzantine (nos. 95, 96, 97). As noted earlier in this chapter, scholars have not agreed upon an attribution for these three gems. Alisa Bank determined that those in the Hermitage and Cividale could not be from the medieval West, but she also had difficulty attributing them firmly to Byzantium.71 Paul Williamson proposed that they were works of medieval Italy in a byzantinizing style.72 My attribution of the three works to Byzantium takes into account iconography, epigraphy, and the prominence of the cult of Daniel in Constantinople.
If one accepts that the three gems with the image of Daniel between the lions were produced somewhere that had a strong following of the cult of Daniel, then Constantinople should be identified as their location of origin. Daniel’s relics were located in Constantinople and his tomb was on the pilgrimage route.73 His vita was revised in the tenth century by the hagiographer Symeon Metaphrastes, who highlighted Daniel’s dual role as a holy man and a court eunuch.74 His liturgy was celebrated at the Church of Hagia Sophia.75 In Byzantium, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
71 “Bank, “Vier byzantinisierende Kameen aus der Ermitage,” 13-16 and Bank, “Sur le probleme de la glyptique italo-byzantine,” 311-318.
72 Williamson, “Daniel between the lions,” 37-39.
73 George Majeska, “A Medallion of the Prophet Daniel in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection” Dumbarton
Oaks Papers 28 (1974): 361-366 and Majeska, Russian Travelers to Constantinople in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, 327-328.
74 Kathryn M. Ringrose, “Reconfiguring the Prophet Daniel: Gender, Sanctity, and Castration in Byzantium,” in Gender and Difference in the Middle Ages, eds. Sharon A. Farmer and Carol Brown Pasternack (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003), 89-96.
! Daniel was also known as the supposed author of dream books and apocalyptic prophecies.76 I know of no evidence that suggests that Daniel held the same cultural and religious importance in the medieval West. In fact, Daniel is not represented on a single Venetian cameo of glass paste. If the subject matter of glass paste cameos is any indication of the relative importance of holy figures in a Western devotional context, this would suggest that Daniel was rather insignificant.77 Since Daniel was not represented on Venetian cameos of glass, it seems unlikely that several gemstones would be carved with his image in the medieval West. It is more likely that the three sardonyxes of Daniel were carved in Constantinople.
The gems with the image of Daniel between the lions in the British Museum, Cividale, and the Hermitage are difficult to compare with Byzantine gems, mainly because Byzantine gems tend to be carved in higher relief. A comparison can be made, however, with the sardonyx of St. John the Baptist in the British Museum. The lions on the gems with the image of Daniel are carved with the same technique as the tree and the axe on the British Museum gem. The white stone is flattened into block-like forms that are divided with circular drill marks and short, linear incisions. The figure of Daniel on the Hermitage gem can also be compared with the
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 75 Daniel is commemorated along with the Three Youths who were thrown into the fiery furnace. See Lowden, Illuminated Prophet Books, 78; Majeska, “A Medallion of the Prophet Daniel,” 363n13; Miloš M. Velimirović, “Liturgical Drama in Byzantium and Russia” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 16 (1962): 352- 359.
76 Steven M. Oberhelman, Dreambooks in Byzantium: Six Oneirocritica in Translation, with Commentary
and Introduction (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008), 59-116; Albert-Marie Denis, Introduction aux pseudépigraphes grecs d'Ancien Testament (Leiden: Brill, 1970), 309-314.
77 Venetian cameos of glass paste were produced mainly for consumption in the medieval West and therefore depict saints who were more commonly venerated in the West instead of in Byzantium. There are no Venetian glass cameos with image of Daniel. See Hans Wentzel, “Das Medaillon mit dem Hl. Theodor und die venezianischen Glaspasten im byzantinischen Stil” in Festschrift für Erich Meyer zum
! figure of Daniel on the bloodstone in the Cabinet des Médailles (nos. 95, 159).78 Both are front- facing and have oval-shaped faces, blank eyes, triangular-shaped noses, and full lips. Their Phrygian caps are symmetrical and come to a peak above their heads. On the other two sardonyxes, Daniel’s head is tilted, as it also is on the sardonyx carvings in high relief in the Galleria Sabauda and the Hermitage (nos. 92, 93, 96, 97). The sardonyxes of Daniel in low relief can also be compared with Byzantine seals with the image of Daniel from the eleventh and twelfth centuries (C13).79 On the seals, Daniel is also represented in stocky proportions, his legs are set apart, and the lower edges of his cape are smooth, without visible folds
The form of the inscriptions on the three sardonyxes of Daniel between the lions provides further evidence that they are Byzantine. The inscriptions are in Greek and the word “prophet” is in the monogrammatic form that appears with other Byzantine representations of Daniel from the eleventh century to the late Byzantine period. It seems unlikely that the Greek monogram could be so perfectly duplicated by craftsmen in the West. In fact, the sardonyx of Daniel in the Staatliches Münzsammlung that has been attributed to the medieval West does not have the monogram. Instead, the word “prophet” is written out in Greek and is slightly misspelled.80 For all of the reasons discussed, the three sardonyxes of Daniel in the Hermitage, Cividale, and the British Museum can be attributed to Byzantium and dated to the eleventh or twelfth centuries.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
78 On the bloodstone of Daniel see Guillou and Durand, Byzance, 348, no. 330.
79 On an eleventh or twelfth century seal with Daniel between the lions in the Hermitage see Bank,
Byzantine Art in the Collection of Soviet Museums no. 171 (unnumbered plates). For an eleventh or
twelfth-century seal in the Cabinet des Médailles, see Mango and Mango, “Cameos in Byzantium,” 71, no. 4.21b.
80 On the gem in Munich the word “Prophet” is written with an alpha substituted for the eta, as follows: Ο ΠΡΦΑC. For the spelling of the inscription see Wentel, “Die Mittelalterlichen Gemmen der Staatlichen Münzsammlung zu München,” 52, no. 15.
! The sardonyx of Daniel in the Staatliches Münzsammlung is probably a Western copy of a Byzantine gem.
The sardonyx of the Archangel Michael in the Staatliches Münzsammlung and the small sardonyx with the image of the Transfiguration in the Hermitage were carved later than those that have been examined thus far (C8, C11).81 Both display Byzantine iconographic themes, but the presence of iconographic peculiarities suggests that the original themes were not known or understood by the carvers. For example, the figure of the Archangel Michael on the gem in Munich resembles the typical image of the Archangel that appears on Byzantine carved gems. The figure is clad in armor, holds a sword in the right hand, and is slightly turned. The sheath of the sword has been absorbed into the image so that it almost disappears and the cloak is
represented as both falling loosely behind the figure and slung over the left arm. This
representation of the cloak in this impossible arrangement suggests that the artist may have based his composition upon more than one model. The figure also has a bulbous head that is
reminiscent of the figure style of gems that were given a Western attribution, such as the sardonyx with the image of the Archangel Michael in the Louvre (C12).82 The sardonyx of the Archangel Michael in Munich could be a copy of one such Western gem. This would allow for two degrees of separation from Byzantine models, which could explain its iconographic
inconsistencies.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
81 On the sardonyx of the Archangel Michael in Munich see ibid., 53, no. 18. On the sardonyx with the transfiguration in the Hermitage see Piatnitsky, “Panagia with ‘The Transfiguration’ Cameo from the Hermitage Collection,” 237.
82 Wentzel concluded that the work is either Western in the Byzantine style or possibly Byzantine, and noted the comparison with the gem in the Louvre. See Wentzel, “Die Mittelalterlichen Gemmen der Staatlichen Münzsammlung zu München,” 53, no. 18.
! The sardonyx with the image of the Transfiguration in the Hermitage could not have been carved later than the first quarter of the seventeenth century.83 It is unlikely to be of Byzantine origin because the image deviates significantly from the original iconographic theme of the Transfiguration. The figure of Christ is represented with normal proportions, but the other figures are compressed and abstracted to the point that they are almost unrecognizable. The cowering figures of the disciples in the lower half of the composition have been reduced to shapes. The work may have been carved after a Byzantine prototype, but its date and location of production cannot be determined.
Conclusion
The most important finding from the analysis of Byzantine sardonyx carvings is that it is not possible to date or attribute a sardonyx carving based only upon the color in which the relief is carved. Byzantine sardonyxes are carved in both the light and dark figure styles, as are gems that were carved in the medieval West. Another finding is that variations exist in the carving and figures style of Byzantine sardonyxes. This is not surprising, as a variety of techniques were also used for carving other types of gemstones, especially opaque stones such as bloodstone. Finally, this analysis has confirmed what other scholars have noted, which is that Byzantine gems were copied in the medieval West. These “Italo-Byzantine” gems are difficult to attribute and date because they display Byzantine iconographic themes and, occasionally, Greek inscriptions. This study has focused only on determining which of these gems could be Byzantine, but a study of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
83 A termibus ante quem is provided by the gem’s placement within the panagia of Patriarch Philareten. See Piatnitsky, “Panagia with ‘The Transfiguration’ Cameo from the Hermitage Collection,” 237.
! Western gems in the byzantinizing style would benefit from a focused study as they remain poorly understood.
Chapter Seven: Subject Matter and Iconography Part I
This chapter and the one that follows it are dedicated to the subject matter and iconography of Byzantine carved gemstones. The objectives for these two chapters are to identify the subjects that appear on Byzantine gems, the frequency with which they appear, their iconography, and changes in iconography and subject matter that occur over time. The method of analysis was to examine all of the gems together as a group by means of a database into which relevant
information for every gem was entered and then sorted. This information included their present location, date, material, size, general subject matter, and specific subject matter. The distinction between the latter two categories is as follows; the general subject matter is the type of holy figure represented (such as a warrior saint) and the specific subject matter is the identity of the holy figure (such as St. George). For this methodological approach I was inspired by the work of Dr. John Cotsonis, who used a database to analyze the iconography of a large group of Byzantine lead seals.1
The database method provided a good starting point and a logical way to organize a large quantity of information. After organizing the information and arriving at useful data points, I turned to art-historical methods in order to interpret the findings and develop conclusions
regarding their significance. The most important of these methods is iconographic analysis, which was employed in order to understand why certain themes were chosen instead of others. Some iconographic themes are associated with particular groups of individuals, and whenever possible I used this information to put forth hypotheses regarding ownership.
The study of the subject matter and iconography of Byzantine carved gemstones was aided by a number of major catalogues and scholarly publications. The studies of Byzantine coins and !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
seals published by Dumbarton Oaks, George Zacos, and Dr. John Cotsonis were instrumental for demonstrating the ways in which the major iconographic themes in Byzantine art changed over time and the groups of individuals with which they can be associated.2 Publications dedicated to the iconography of important holy figures, such as the Virgin and warrior saints, guided my research and aided my efforts to date each gem.3 I consulted studies of related works of devotional art such as steatites, micromosiac icons, and cross-shaped enkolpia in order to contextualize my findings and locate comparative images.4
The findings from my analysis of the subject matter and iconography of Byzantine carved gemstones have been summarized below. First, it should be noted that the subject matter of
Byzantine gems is entirely religious. This is somewhat surprising given that secular subject matter is expressed on Byzantine art in other media including ivory, enamel, and textiles.5 Nonetheless, no Byzantine gems displaying secular themes have been identified with certainty. Hans Wentzel identified a single gem with secular subject matter that he thought could be Byzantine. His reasoning was based mainly upon his determination that the gem was not antique, and therefore !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 Nesbitt and Oikonomides, Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks, vols. 1-6; Bellinger and Grierson,
Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, vols. 3 and 4; G. Zacos, Zacos and Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals, 2 vols.; Cotsonis, “The Contribution of Byzantine Lead Seals to the Study of the Cult of the
Saints,” 383-497.
3 Leslie Brubaker and Mary Cunningham, The Cult of the Mother of God in Byzantium: Texts and Images (Farnham: Ashgate, 2011); Maria Vasilakē, Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in
Byzantium (Aldershot: Ashgate Pub., 2005); Pentcheva, Icons and Power: The Mother of God in