Images

This vessel, decorated with Christian imagery may have been used in religious ceremonies. The figure depicted may be the Christian martyr Saint Sergius, a high-ranking soldier who was tortured and executed during the...

This object is associated with a late Roman emperor, who was at the heart of the changing Roman Empire. This silver dish names Licinius in its Latin inscription. Licinius co-ruled with Constantine the Great...

Skillful Roman cameo-carvers exploited the tonal contrast of some stones. This could be a simple 2-tone contrast or a more subtle variation using all available gradations of shade. Sardonyx was particularly valued...

This spectacular whalebone casket was probably made in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria. Modelled on early Christian caskets, it was most likely created in a monastery for a significant (perhaps a royal) patron. The...

The outline is incised and then roughly cut round. A bridle is indicated and, on the extreme left, perhaps the knee of the rider. Presented by the Committee of the British School at Athens. Greek, about 500...

The unfinished state of the sculpture (statuette of a nude young male) reveals how the basic shape for this type of standing figure was 1st "roughed out" with a point. Archaic Greek, 6th century BCE. Found in the...

A gilt-bronze statue of Maitreya (the coming Buddha). Three Kingdoms Period, c. 600 CE, Korea. (National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea)

A ceramic ewer in the form of a warrior on horseback. 5-6th century CE, Silla Kingdom, Korea. (National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea)

This sardonyx cameo depicts Nike (Victory). The winged goddess wears a long chiton and drives a 4-horse chariot. Skillful Roman cameo-carvers exploited the tonal contrast of some stones. This could be a simple 2-tone contrast...

A painting of a winged horse on a birch bark saddle flap. From the Heavenly Horse Tomb, Gyeongju, Korea. Silla, 5-6th century CE.