id: 126030
accession number: 1948.25
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1948.25
updated: 2022-03-08 10:00:30.694000
Altar Front, c. 540-600. Early Byzantium, Constantinople or Ravenna, Byzantine period, 6th century. Marble; overall: 101 x 169.5 x 25.5 cm (39 3/4 x 66 3/4 x 10 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1948.25
title: Altar Front
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 540-600
creation date earliest: 540
creation date latest: 600
current location: 105 Byzantine
creditline: John L. Severance Fund
copyright:
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culture: early Byzantium, Constantinople or Ravenna, Byzantine period, 6th century
technique: marble
department: Medieval Art
collection: MED - Byzantine
type: Sculpture
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 101 x 169.5 x 25.5 cm (39 3/4 x 66 3/4 x 10 1/16 in.)
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edition of the work:
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inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe
opening date: 2010-10-17T00:00:00
Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 17, 2010-January 17, 2011); The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD (February 13-May 15, 2011); The British Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (June 23-October 9, 2011).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
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PROVENANCE
Originally from S. Carlino (formerly S. Fabiano and S. Sebastiano), Ravenna
date:
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Villa Lovatelli near Ravenna
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Villa Landau near Florence, Finaly Collection
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(Adolph Loewi, Los Angeles), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: ?-1948
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The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1948-
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citations:
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fun fact:
This marble altar was likely in a Byzantine church that was opulently decorated with mosaics, rich textiles, and gilded lamps. Worshipers would have witnessed the rituals of faith that occurred at the altar, enshrined behind a barrier called a templon, and accessible only to the clergy.
digital description:
wall description:
This carved marble panel resembles the front of an Early Byzantine sarcophagus, or coffin. While its decoration is typical of those produced in the Italian city of Ravenna during the 500s, its size is considerably smaller, indicating that the panel may instead have been made as an altar front. It is likely that the small window between the center columns with its opened curtains once allowed the faithful to contemplate a precious reliquary placed inside. The decorative repertoire of the panel includes both architectural forms--arches, pediments, and columns--and a number of symbols commonly found in Early Christian art including scallop shells, lambs, palms, and crosses that represent the concepts of life, the sacrifice of Christ, victory over death, and eternal life.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Miner, Dorothy Eugenia. Studies in Art and Literature for Belle Da Costa Greene. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1954.
page number: pp 132-142
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 83
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n29
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page number: Reproduced: p. 37
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n61
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page number: Reproduced: p. 37
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n59
Brandenburg, Hugo. "Ein frühchristliches Relief in Berlin: Taf. 66-80". Mitteilungen des deutschen archaeologischen Instituts roemische Abteilung, Band 79 (1972)
page number: pp. 126-128, plate 79
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The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page number: Reproduced: p. 38
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n58
Klein, Holger. "Himmlische Schatze: Eine internationale Ausstellung in den USA und Großbritanien widmet sich der Geschichte christlicher Reliquien und Reliquiare von der Spätantike bis zur frühen Neuzeit" Das Münster 63 (2010)
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Bagnoli, Martina. Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2010.
page number: No. 17, pp. 17-18
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Markiewicz, Philippe. "Reliques et Reliquaires: Une Approche Chretienne du Sacre" Arts Sacrés No. 13, (Sept/Oct 2011)
page number: pp. 48-53
url:
Fliegel, Stephen N., and Stephen N. Fliegel. A Higher Contemplation: Sacred Meaning in the Christian Art of the Middle Ages. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2012.
page number: p. 19
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Jäggi, Carola. Ravenna: Kunst und Kultur einer spätantiken Residenzstadt : die Bauten und Mosaiken des 5. und 6. Jahrhunderts. 2013.
page number:
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Pentcheva, Bissera V. Hagia Sophia: Sound, Space, and Spirit in Byzantium. University Park: PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017.
page number: Reproduced: p. 53, fig. 23; p. 54, fig . 24
url:
Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
page number: Mentioned: p. 6-9; Reproduced: p. 7
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.25/1948.25_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.25/1948.25_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.25/1948.25_full.tif