Beschreibung:

Byzantine Justinian the Great Marble Reliquary Casket 6th century AD A marble sarcophagus-shaped casket from the period of Justinian the Great, rectangular in plan with pitched-roof lid; the contoured body with rosette within a wreath to each short side, expanding-arm cross within a wreath to one long side and to the other long side a D-shaped trough with arcaded outer face flanked by opposed peacocks and with a scallop above forming a spout; the plain interior with corresponding outlet hole; the lid with scrolled up stand to each corner, expanding-arm cross to each short side, similar motif in a wreath to one long side and to the other the image of the Divine Lamb (Agnus Dei) within a wreath; apex of the roof flat with central hole to accept strongly scented offerings of oils which was the method of interaction with the precious relic; the holes inside the wreaths were originally inset with precious stones. 16.3 kg, 30cm (12"). Very fine condition, minor wear. Extremely rare. Provenance Property of a central London gentleman; previously with a London, Mayfair, gallery in the early 1990s, accompanied by an academic report by specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato and a geologic report No. TL005222, by geologic consultant Dr R. L. Bonewitz. Literature See Grabar, A. L'età d'oro di Giustiniano, Milano, 1966; Hahn C. (ed.), Objects of devotion and desire, medieval relic to contemporary art, Januar 27-April 30, 2011, catalogue of the exhibition at the he Bertha and Karl Lebsdorf Art Gallery, Hunter College, New York, 2011; Various, Byzanz Pracht und Alltag, Kunst und Austellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn 26.Februar bis 13.Juni 2010, Mainz; and cf. The Metropolitan Museum, accession number 1978.273a,b and 49.69.2a,b for similar shaped caskets with offering apertures to the top. Such object of devotions began to be common from 4th century AD, when the Roman Empire slowly underwent its transformation in a Christian empire, beginning with the Edict of Tolerance towards all the Religions (included the Christian one) of Constantine and Licinius in 313 AD and ending with the proclamation of the Christianity as official religion of the Roman State, with Theodosius, in 380 AD. Since then the Roman Empire was a Christian one, with its eastern capital, Constantinople (the city of Constantine) or Nea Romi (New Rome) born a Christian city, and remaining such until its fall to the Turks in 1453 AD, except for the short period of Julian II (361-363 AD). Many simpler similar reliquaries are preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of New York, generically