Collection Online as of December 4, 2023

Pilgrim's Medallion with Saint Symeon the Younger

c. 1100

Part of a set. See all set records

Byzantium, Syria, Byzantine period, early 12th Century

Lead

Diameter: 5.7 x 0.4 cm (2 1/4 x 3/16 in.)

Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 1972.52

Location

105 Byzantine

Description

Saint Symeon the Younger was a stylite saint, an early Christian ascetic who fled the world for the desert and, perched on a column, spent his days fasting and praying. The site of Symeon’s column attracted many pilgrims during and after his lifetime. Medallions like this one, showing Symeon atop his column, were taken home by pilgrims in commemoration of their visit and were believed to serve their owners as protective talismans.

Citations

Verdier, Philippe. "A Medallion of Saint Symeon the Younger." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 1 (1980): 17-26. Reproduced: p. 17; Mentioned: p. 17-26 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. 60-61, no. 13

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).

Generous Donors: A Tribute to The Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991).

The Glory of Byzantium. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3-July 6, 1997).