- Museum number
- 1879,1220.1
- Description
-
Pyxis; ivory; oval, cut from the solid, with provision for a hinge and lock; sides carved in relief 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.
- Production date
- 6thC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 79 millimetres
-
Length: 122 millimetres (max)
-
Weight: 209.32 grammes
-
Width: 113 millimetres
- Location
- On display (G41/dc13)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2015, Oct 29 – 2016, Feb 7. British Museum, Room 35. Egypt: Faith after the Pharoahs
2015 1 April - 15 Sept. Berlin, Bode Museum, 'EIN GOTT - Abrahams Erben am Nil'
2012-2013 11 Nov-25 Aug, USA, Art Institute of Chicago, Tradition Transformed: Late Roman and Early Byzantine Treasures from the British Museum
2011 23 June-9 Oct, London, BM, Treasures of Heaven
2011 13 Feb-8 May, Baltimore, Walters Museum of Art, 'Treasures of Heaven'
2010-2011 17 Oct-6 Jan, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, 'Treasures of Heaven' 2007 20 Apr-19 Sep, London, The British Library, Sacred: Discover What We Share
2004 26 Jun-29 Aug, Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2004 10 Apr-13 Jun, Fukuoka Art Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2004 17 Jan-28 Mar, Kobe City Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2003 18 Oct-14 Dec, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2000 30 Sep-2001 7 Jan, France, La Clape, Musée de l’Ephebe, L’art copte en Egypte
2000 15 May-3 Sep, France, Paris, Institut du Monde Arabe, Coptic Art
1997 20 Mar-13 Jul, Germany, Munich, Staatliche Sammlung Agyptischer Kunst, Agypten: Schätze aus dem Wüstensand - Kunst und Kultur der Christen am Nil
1996 24 Nov-1997 23 Feb, Germany, Mainz, Landesmuseum Mainz, Agypten - Schatze aus dem Wustensand: Kunst und Kultur der Christen am Nil
1996 15 Jun-13 Oct, Germany, Hamm, Gustav Lübcke Museum, Agypten: Schatze aus dem Wustensand - Kunst und Kultur der Christem am Nil
1983-1984 15 Dec-11 Mar, Germany, Frankfurt, Städtische Galerie Liebieghaus, Late Antiquity and Early Christianity
1977-1978 18 Nov-12 Feb, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Early Christian Art
- Associated events
- Associated Event: Martyrdom of St Menas
- Acquisition date
- 1879
- Acquisition notes
- Letter from Credito Italiano dated 28.11.80. states this item was discovered in a chapel in Rome dedicated to St Menas located in the church of St Pauls-without-the-Walls (See bib.xref).
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1879,1220.1
