Monogram of Christ (Chrismon) (500s): Art, History and Details

Monogram of Christ (Chrismon) (500s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The superimposed Greek letters chi and rho, the first two letters of Christ’s name, was a popular early Christian symbol. The monogram of Christ, or chrismon, is also a powerful symbol of imperial victory: it appeared to Emperor Constantine the Great before his battle against Maxentius in ad 312, promising victory in the name of Christ. Made of gold sheet and decorated with three garnets, it may have formed the center of a golden wreath, serving as a protective device and an emblem of Christian triumph.

Object facts

• Title: Monogram of Christ (Chrismon)
• Date: 500s
• Culture: Byzantium, Syria, early Byzantine period, 6th century
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: gold sheet, gold wire, and garnets
• Dimensions: Overall: 14.8 x 12.1 x 0.7 cm (5 13/16 x 4 3/4 x 1/4 in.)
• Collection: MED - Byzantine
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1965.551

A detail from the museum

This image combines chi (X) and rho (P), the first two letters of Christ's name in Greek. The materials also had symbolic meaning, from the kingly gold to the deep, blood red of the garnets evoking his sacrifice.

Collection credit

Gift of Lillian M. Kern

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.