Love, faith, and dynasty — a Byzantine engagement ring from the Stathatos Collection reveals the extraordinary world of a prominent family whose story ends at the fall of Constantinople.
Enkolpion with Nativity
The Dumbarton Oaks Enkolpion beautifully unites faith and craftsmanship, its intricate scenes of the Virgin and Christ’s life reflecting Byzantine devotion, protection, and theological storytelling in wearable form.
Pair of Byzantine Gold Perikarpia from Thessaloniki
In Byzantine culture, bejewelled perikarpia served as symbols of status and protection — these extraordinary wristbands from Thessaloniki reveal a city’s turbulent history, buried twice to survive centuries of conflict.
Michael Attaleiates’s Ring at Dumbarton Oaks
Ring of Michael Attaleiates, now at Dumbarton Oaks, unites inscription, portraiture, and devotion, revealing Byzantine identity through a rare personal object of prayer, status, and artistic refinement.
Pectoral with Coins and Pseudo-Medallion
Explore the opulent Byzantine Imperial Neck Ring at the Met — a breathtaking gold pectoral adorned with coins and medallions, symbolising power, faith, and the grandeur of Byzantine imperial authority.
Pendant with the Bust of an Empress
The pendant in the Getty collection cannot be securely identified as Aelia Flacilla. Although its imperial iconography and late 4th-century date place it within the Theodosian milieu, the lack of inscriptions or provenance makes any specific portrait attribution—however tempting—ultimately speculative rather than demonstrable.
Byzantine Girdle
The Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Marriage Belt unites sacred and pagan imagery, where Christ blesses a union framed by Dionysian figures, symbolising harmony between love, ritual, and cultural continuity in Byzantium.
Ring of Michael Stryphnos
The Ring of Michael Stryphnos from the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection encapsulates Byzantine power and decline, symbolizing the troubled reign of Alexios III Angelos and the empire’s approaching catastrophe.
Gold Coin Pendant of Constantine the Great
The gold coin pendant of Constantine the Great in the British Museum celebrates his 321 consulship, combining imperial portraiture, dynastic imagery, and intricate opus interrasile goldwork.
Aelia Galla Placidia
Imperial daughter, captive, empress and regent — Galla Placidia’s astonishing life traversed courts, battles and exile, leaving behind her magnificent Ravenna Mausoleum as an eternal testament to her extraordinary resilience.