Collection Online as of November 30, 2023

Pendant Icon with the Virgin "Dexiokratousa"

1100s

Part of a set. See all set records

Byzantium, Byzantine period, 12th century

Steatite, gilt silver, pearls

Overall: 5.3 x 4 cm (2 1/16 x 1 9/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1951.445.1

Location

105 Byzantine

Description

This small-scale Byzantine icon depicts a half-length figure of the Virgin holding the Christ child. When the icon was mounted in its present frame by a German artist in the 14th century, it was considered to be an authentic portrait painted by Saint Luke. This claim, made in an inscription on the frame, is further emphasized by the ox, Saint Luke’s symbol, engraved on the frame’s reverse.

Provenance

Treasury of the Cathedral of Aachen; bequeathed in 1804 to the Empress Joséphine of France (1763-1814), Paris; by inheritance to her son Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, prince of Venice and duke of Leuchtenberg (1781-1824), Paris; Henri Daguerre, Paris; César de Hauke, Paris

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 40 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 40 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 42 archive.org

Winter, Patrick M. de. “The Sacral Treasure of the Guelphs.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 1 (March 1985): 2–160. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 20, fig. 14 www.jstor.org

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. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 76-77, no. 20

Exhibition history

CMA, October 17, 2010 - January 17, 2011, Walters Art Museum February 13 - May 15, 2011, British Museum June 23 - October 9, 2011: "Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe," cat. no. 114.

Aachen, 1965: Rathaus und Kreuzgang des Domes, Karl der Grosse, no.674.

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557)" March 15, 2004-July 5, 2004.

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"

National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic (5/14/2016 - 9/25/2016) and the Germaniches Nationalmuseum, Nuremburg, Germany (10/20/2016 - 3/5/2017): "Emperor Charles IV (1316-1378)"

Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (March 15-July 5, 2004).

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).

Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 17, 2010-January 17, 2011); The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD (February 13-May 15, 2011); The British Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (June 23-October 9, 2011).

Emperor Charles IV (1316-1378). National Gallery Prague, Prague, Czech Republic (organizer) (May 14-September 25, 2016); Germanisches Nationalmuseum, 90402 Nürnberg, Germany (October 20, 2016-March 5, 2017).