Saint Panteleimon

Description Although there is no inscription, the figure on this small plaque can be identified by his curly hair and the lancet he holds as Saint Panteleimon, a physician who died a martyr's death in Nicomedia ca. 305 for being a Christian. As other representations suggest, the saint would have carried a medical box in his now missing left hand. Steatite relief plaques were either mounted and worn on the chest or used to decorate the wooden frames of larger icons. They sometimes show traces of gilding, as this one does.

Exhibitions

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

Provenance Henry Walters, New York [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Sadie Jones (Mrs. Henry Walters), New York, 1931, by inheritance; Joseph Brummer, New York, 1941, by purchase; Miss Julia R. Rogers, Baltimore, 1941, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1941, by gift.

Credit Gift of Miss Julia R. Rogers [formerly part of the Walters Collection], 1941