Antiquity Reused. Antique Engraved Gems on Byzantine Rings, In: S. V. Maltseva et al. (eds), Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art. V. Collection of articles, St. Petersburg 2015, 195-202. (original) (raw)

It is nowadays generally accepted that the Byzantines were familiar with the art of antiquity. This is mainly visible in the artistic activity of the so-called Byzantine "renaissances". The display of ancient statues in public places of Byzantine cities, probably over one hundred in Constantinople during the middle Byzantine period [30, p. 58], and the reuse of spolia in buildings are well documented [6; 7; 27; 36; 8; 40]. Moreover, it is believed that antique engraved gems, namely intaglios and cameos manufactured prior to the 4 th century AD, were collected in Byzantium [31, pp. 58-62]. The majority of these precious stones are now in the West where they arrived either as diplomatic gifts and purchases or as spoils of the Fourth Crusade [23, p. 113; 43, p. 2]. They were reused there by rulers, members of the aristocracy and high-ranking prelates to embellish precious liturgical objects as well as insignia and jewels [31, pp. 58-59; 52, pp. 249-270; 46, p. 1 n. 2]. It is interesting to note that no sacred objects of Byzantine origin, decorated with ancient engraved gems, have come down to us. It has, however, been argued that the Byzantines too, by engraving new inscriptions on antique cameos, altered their original meaning and attached them to religious objects like reliquaries and book covers [31, pp. 58-62; 32, p. 81]. On the other hand, extant Byzantine jewels, mostly rings, set with antique engraved gems, although significantly fewer than the Western ones, prove that the Byzantines also followed this practice.