Late Roman minor arts

Metalwork

	1. Partially gilded silver repoussé Projecta wedding casket for Secundus and Projecta, ca. 380 A.D. (London: British Museum). Part of the Roman Esquiline Treasure. 28 x 56.6 mm. Shown on the side is the toilet of the bride, and Venus is on the lid. Note the tendency to use architectural elements, such as an arcade here, to isolate and intensify a scene at the expense of naturalistic relations between Projecta and her servants with the mirror and cosmetic box. The senatorial aristocracy used its wealth to sponsor a highly ideological neo-classical style of small scale, and thus not overtly political, art works such as this.
	2. Detail of partially guilded silver repoussé lid from the Projecta Casket showing Venus on a halfshell. From the Esquiline Treasure, Rome. Ca. 379-382 A.D. (London: British Museum). Classical motifs, but with some sacrifice of plastic values in order to place masses in tension. In hieratic art, the scallop had come to symbolize immortality, but here, in a neo-classical context, it recovers the old meaning of fertility.
	3. Lighly gilded cast silver Missorum Theodosius I. 388 A.D. (Madrid: Royal Acad.) 74 cm. dia. Theodosius, as consul, gives a diptych to an official. In attendance are Arcadius and Valentinian II with German bodyguards. Putti are seen in the pediment. Eastern influences combine with a classical hieratic solemn elegance.
	4. Gilt silver paten showing the communion of the Apostles, Constantinople, during the reign of Justin II (568-578 A.D.) (Riha, Syria). The plastic values here, the action narrative, reflects a classical revival associated with the court at Constantinople late 5th - 6th c.
	5. At top, a repousé silver paten from Stuma, Syria, showing the communion of the Apostles. Product of a Constantinople workshop, 565-578 A.D. (Istanbul: Arch. Mus.) Inflated plasticity, but shallow relief, and the rhythm of shapes to achieve a spiritual effect. At bottom is the silver repousé Hermitage Dish, showing a cross flanked by angels, found near Poltava, Ukraine, second half 6th c. (Leningrad: Hermitage Museum). Late Justinianic classicissm shows doll-like delicacy and stylized preciousness, as in the garment hems.
	6. Cross of Justin II (565-578). Silver gilt cross with stones. The use of polychrome, in this case, multicolored semi-precious stones set in gold and silver, draws upon a West Asian technology and aesthetic, mediated by Germanic influences in the Roman army. It anticipates the feudal aesthetic based on the relationship between diverse (colored) elements (a relation of private capacities) rather than the articulation of a surface plane (a political order that subsumes private capacities).
	7. Late Roman bronze belt buckle with a dolphin bow (Colchester: Essex Museum). Typical late Roman military buckle with semi-naturalistic animal designs.
	8. Late Roman chip-carved silver-niello spear mount from Vermand cemetery, Aisne (New York: Metropolitan Musuem). The cicada at the top, the naturalistic animal ornaments, rosettes, and interlaced star are all typically Roman motifs.
	9. Late Roman chip carved silver nielo spear shaft decoration from Vermand Cemetary, Aisne (New York: Metropolitan Museum). Technique and decorative motif is typically Roman.