Dress Ornament

Description This intricate gold ornament was designed to be sewn to a woman's dress or headcover. The eagle with spread wings is a recurring Byzantine image, while the peacocks at the top represent eternal life.

Exhibitions

• Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1947.

Provenance Paul Gruel, Paris, [date of acquisition unknown] by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1929, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Transcription] + Θεωτόκη βοέθι τῖ φορούσα [+ Θεοτόκε, βοήθη τῆ φορούσα]; [Translation] + Mother of God, help the woman who wears this

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1929