Asset number
903184001
Description
Box, pyxis; ivory; oval, cut from the solid, with provision for a hinge and lock; sides carved with scenes representing the martyrdom and sanctuary of St Menas; on one side a Roman official is seated as a judge upon a stool, his feet on a footstool; one hand raised, in the other a staff; behind him an armed guard, and beyond a basket; before him a table with inkpot, behind which a man holds a diptych; behind is a veiled doorway; before the table St Menas, with hands bound behind his back, has fallen on one knee; an executioner grasps him by the hair while brandishing a sword; behind him an angel flies; on the other side, St Menas stands beneath an arch, hands raised in the attitude of an orans, and with nimbus; on each side of the sanctuary is the head of a recumbent camel; from each direction approach two worshippers.
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