{
"data": {
"id": 160971,
"accession_number": "1999.229.a",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Reliquary Box with Scenes from the Life of John the Baptist, 1300s. Byzantium, Constantinople, late Byzantine period, 14th century. Tempera and gold on wood; overall: 9 x 23.5 x 9 cm (3 9/16 x 9 1/4 x 3 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Bruce Ferrini in memory of Robert P. Bergman, 1999.229.a",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Reliquary Box with Scenes from the Life of John the Baptist",
"creation_date": "1300s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1300,
"creation_date_latest": 1400,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Byzantium, Constantinople, late Byzantine period, 14th century"
],
"technique": "tempera and gold on wood",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Medieval Art",
"collection": "MED - Byzantine",
"type": "Wood",
"measurements": "Overall: 9 x 23.5 x 9 cm (3 9/16 x 9 1/4 x 3 9/16 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"height": 0.09,
"height_inch": 3,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.5625,
"width": 0.235,
"width_inch": 9,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.25,
"depth": 0.09,
"depth_inch": 3,
"depth_inch_fraction": 0.5625
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 206152,
"title": "Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557)",
"description": "Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (March 15-July 5, 2004).",
"opening_date": "2004-03-15T00:00:00"
},
{
"id": 180667,
"title": "Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"description": "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).",
"opening_date": "2007-05-10T00:00:00"
},
{
"id": 196195,
"title": "Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe",
"description": "Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 17, 2010-January 17, 2011).",
"opening_date": "2010-10-17T00:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "The Metropolitan Museum of Art (3/15/2004 - 7/4/2004): \"Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557)\"",
"opening_date": "2004-03-15T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "Bavarian Nationalmuseum, Munich (5/10/2007 - 9/16/2007), the J. Paul Getty Musuem, Los Angeles (10/30/2007 - 1/20/2008) and Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN (2/13/2009 - 6/7/2009): \"Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art\"",
"opening_date": "2007-05-10T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "CMA, October 17, 2010 - January 17, 2011, Walters Art Museum February 13 - May 15, 2011: \"Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe,\" cat. no. 52",
"opening_date": "2011-02-13T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": null,
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "John the Baptist--the first person to recognize Christ as the promised savior and the one who baptized him in the Jordan River--was one of the Byzantine Empire\u2019s most revered saints. This box shows four scenes from the saint\u2019s life: John\u2019s martyrdom, Christ\u2019s baptism, John\u2019s birth, and the announcement of his birth to his parents. It probably once housed one of the saint\u2019s relics; several were kept in churches and monasteries in Constantinople, including fragments of his skull and right arm and locks of his blood-clotted hair.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60747102"
],
"internet_archive": []
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. 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. 90-91, no. 26",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Bagnoli, Martina. Treasures of heaven: saints, relics, and devotion in medieval Europe. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2010.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: cat. no. 52, p. 93",
"url": ""
}
],
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"date_created": "2026-03-19T18:17:33",
"annotation": "Top Without Lid"
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"creditline": "Gift of Bruce Ferrini in memory of Robert P. Bergman",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 160971,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1999-12-06T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1300,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "1300s",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
"record_type": "part",
"conservation_statement": null,
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"cover_accession_number": "1999.229",
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-08-03 14:23:38.084000"
}
}