id: 135909 accession number: 1959.41 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1959.41 updated: 2023-08-25 11:18:39.226000 Bloodstone Cameo with Saint George, 1000–1100. Byzantium, Contantinople, Byzantine period, 11th century. Bloodstone; overall: 3.2 x 2.8 x 1.4 cm (1 1/4 x 1 1/8 x 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 1959.41 title: Bloodstone Cameo with Saint George title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1000–1100 creation date earliest: 1000 creation date latest: 1100 current location: 105 Byzantine creditline: Dudley P. Allen Fund copyright: --- culture: Byzantium, Contantinople, Byzantine period, 11th century technique: bloodstone department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Byzantine type: Glyptic find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 3.2 x 2.8 x 1.4 cm (1 1/4 x 1 1/8 x 9/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Greek inscription on either side of the head. translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2007-05-10T00:00:00 Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Medieval Art from Private Collections: A Special Exhibition at The Cloisters, New York, NY (October 30, 1968-January 5, 1969). --- PROVENANCE Ducal Museum, Gotha, Germany date: footnotes: citations: (Richard H. Zinser, Forest Hills, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: -1959 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1959- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Legends about bravery can be comforting in times of distress. The wearer of this cameo, for example, may have thought about the fearlessness of Saint George in his battle against the dragon. digital description: wall description: Bearing the image of Saint George, one of the Byzantine Empire’s most popular saints, this cameo served as a powerful devotional and protective device. Close physical contact with a holy image was believed to enhance its effectiveness, creating a strong bond between the worshipper and the devotional object. Originally worn around the neck, this cameo was easily kissed and touched in moments of distress or crisis. Bloodstone was also believed to carry magical medicinal powers to stop hemorrhages and increase blood circulation. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Burgold, Karl "Das Herzogliche Museum," Mit einem Unhang: Die herzoglischen Unstalten für Kunst und Wissenschaft seit 1934 (Gotha, 1937). page number: tafel 53. url: Art Quarterly (Summer 1959). page number: p. 178. url: “Appointment.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 46, no. 4 (1959). page number: p. 63 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25142337 "Accessions of American and Canadian Museums: January - March, 1959." The Art Quarterly XXII, no. 2 (Summer 1959): 177-188. page number: Mentioned: P.178 url: Wentzel, Hans "Die byzantinischen Kameen in Kassel, Zur Problematik der Datierung byzantinscher Kameen" Mousseion, Studien aus Kunst un Geschichte für Otto H. Förster (Köln: M. DuMont Schauberg, 1960.) page number: url: 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. 40 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n64 Cloisters (Museum), and Carmen Gómez-Moreno. Medieval Art from Private Collections: A Special Exhibition at The Cloisters, October 30, 1968 Through January 5, 1969. 1968. page number: p. 212 url: 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. 40 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n62 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. 42 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n62 Klein, Holger A. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 78-79, no. 21 url: Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007. page number: p. 70, repr. p. 71, no. 19 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 28, fig 21 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.41/1959.41_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.41/1959.41_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.41/1959.41_full.tif