Byzantine Empire Double Sided Bronze Pectoral Enkolpion Reliquary Cross with Jesus and Virgin Mary 9th–13th Century AD Aged with Oxidized Green Patina Museum Reproduction CE0008

Historiated reliquary cross-pendants were produced in various precious metals such as the following ninth-century examples: gold (the Pliska cross, in Sofia), silver (the Vicopisano cross, in Pisa) and enamel work (the Beresford-Hope cross, in London). But the historiated reliquary cross-pendant was also mass-produced in bronze in workshops throughout the Byzantine Empire from the ninth to the twelfth century. Hundreds of these more modest examples survive and are found in many museum and private collections. Their large number give evidence to the popular piety which stimulated the production of these bronze reliquary crosses and their owners’ trust in the efficacy of the protective and healing powers of the Cross, images of Christ and the saints, and holy relics in the post-Iconoclastic centuries.
Measurements: Height 9.9cm with a weight of 46.6gr