From Allegory to Icon:

The Christian Church Triumphant (cat. 16-30)

26 Cameo with St. Nikolaos Amethyst, set in a gold frame encircled withpearls strung on gold wire Byzantine, 10th - 11th century AD Diameter: 1 inch (2.5 cm.)

A half-length bust of the bearded and nimbate Saint Nikolaos, identified by an engraved Greek inscription, faces frontally, wearing bishop’s robes, raising his right hand in benediction and holding the Gospels in his left hand.

Saint Nikolaos, the Bishop of Myra in Lycia who was martyred at the beginning of the fourth century during the reign of Diocletian, achieved an unparalleled popularity both in the East and the West. He was frequently depicted on icons in all media throughout the Byzantine period.

The art of engraving hard stone cameos was revived in Constantinople at the end of the ninth century. Busts of Christ and various saints were the preferred motifs, and such items evidently served as personal icons. The preferred material for fine cameos was green and red jasper (bloodstone), but other cameos were carved from sardonyx, sapphire, rock crystal, and amethyst. The amethyst Saint Nikolaos is of very fine style, and the slightly elongated bust relates it to a series of cameos, many carved in sapphire.The gold and pearl mount is identical to those used to hold small enamel roundels that decorated a variety of luxury objects, including book covers, chalices, and votive crowns, produced in the imperial workshops of Constantinople in the 10th and 11th centuries and now preserved in the Treasury of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice.

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