Loading

Pendant Icon with the Virgin "Dexiokratousa" and Frame with Winged Bull of Saint Luke on the back

Pendant 1100s; Frame mid 1300s

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

This small-scale Byzantine icon depicts a half-length figure of the Virgin holding the Christ child. When the icon was mounted in its present frame by a German artist in the 14th century, it was considered to be an authentic portrait painted by Saint Luke. This claim, made in an inscription on the frame, is further emphasized by the ox, Saint Luke’s symbol, engraved on the frame’s reverse.

Download this artwork (provided by The Cleveland Museum of Art).
Learn more about this artwork.

Details

  • Title: Pendant Icon with the Virgin "Dexiokratousa" and Frame with Winged Bull of Saint Luke on the back
  • Date Created: Pendant 1100s; Frame mid 1300s
  • Provenance: Treasury of the Cathedral of Aachen; bequeathed in 1804 to the Empress Joséphine of France (1763-1814), Paris; by inheritance to her son Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, prince of Venice and duke of Leuchtenberg (1781-1824), Paris; Henri Daguerre, Paris; César de Hauke, Paris
  • Type: Glyptic
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1951.445
  • Medium: steatite, gilt silver, pearls
  • Department: Medieval Art
  • Culture: Byzantium (pendant); Germany, Aachen (frame), Byzantine period, 12th century (pendant); Byzantine period, 14th century (frame)
  • Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
  • Collection: MED - Byzantine
  • Accession Number: 1951.445

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Flash this QR Code to get the app
Google apps