Roman provincial art in the Levant
(4th - 7th centuries A.D.)

Metalworking

	1. Silver gilt chalice, Antioch, late 4th - early 5th century A.D. (New York: Cloisters). Ca. 8" tall. Double cup construction with outer shell being cast-metal open work. The aesthetic illustrates the disintegration of surfaces in favor of an aesthetic based on relations. This may be the earliest surviving Christian chalice.
	2. Silver censer of Finike, showing Gospel scenes, 6th c. A.D. A sense of narrative, with the natural inclination to focus on the the local event of Christ's birth.
	3. Silver chalice of Zenon, 6th c. A.D. Dedicated by the priest Zenon to Saint Sergius. Shows medallion of Christ. Although frontal, he is still treated in the classical style as a youth.
	4. Silver book cover showing two Apostles who support a cross, Antioch (?), 6th c. A.D. (New York: Metropolitan Museum). While there are classical influences here, the Syrian figure style has tubular limbs, geometric faces, bulging round eyes, and a hieratic frontal stiffness. 11.5" tall. Antioch, like Alexandria, had close associations with Constantinople, and it sometimes hard to define the provenance of their art works without such provincial stylizations.
	5. Polychrome cross and gold medallions in a bishop's chain, 6th c, Syria.

Ivories

1. Ivory diptych with personifications of Rome and Constantinople, 5th century A.D. (Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum). The rigid schematism and symmetry seem to make this a Syrian work, but there are also classical elements.

2. Ivory panel with Adoration of Virgin and Child, Syrian, 6th c. (London: British Museum). Manifests the solemn hieratic style and the Magi theme which were popular in the Levant. The style draws upon East Mediterranean traditions, and the content is Christian. Being a provincial work, we find a hieratic style. Mary is stiff, frontal, and stylized, although her figure has some plastic value. The twisted flute columns and portico is of Near Eastern inspiration. The flanking archangel (Michael?) lends a certain imperial character.

Panel painting

1. Encaustic panel painting on gesso on sycamore wood showing SS. Sergius and Bacchus. Provenance is perhaps Syria, 7th c. (Kiev: City Museum of Eastern and Western Art). 28.5 cm. Halos with punched dots, circles and stars. Each saint wears a chlamys, chiton, clavi, and gemmed torque. Faces have been retouched and there are oil restorations. A Horizontal crack has been refilled.