Phylactery (Reliquary Penant) (c. 500–700): Art, History and Details

Phylactery (Reliquary Penant) (c. 500–700) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Made in the 500s, this Byzantine phylactery, or personal reliquary, was meant to be worn around the neck on a chain. It is fashioned of bronze and still contains its original linen-wrapped relic.

Object facts

• Title: Phylactery (Reliquary Penant)
• Date: c. 500–700
• Culture: Byzantium, Egypt or Syria, early Byzantine period, 6th-8th centuries
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: copper alloy
• Dimensions: Diameter: 3.2 cm (1 1/4 in.); Overall: 7.8 cm (3 1/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Byzantine
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1999.237

A detail from the museum

This was gifted to the museum in memory of Robert P. Bergman, former director of the museum and medievalist.

Collection credit

Gift of Bruce Ferrini in memory of Robert P. Bergman

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Rare Chinese Paintings, Baroque Porcelain Plaque and Other New Acquisitions Exhibited with Hanging Scrolls,” December 20, 1999, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.

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.