Byzantine, 12th/ 13th century | Cameo with the Archangel Saint Michael

Private collection, UK

The Archangel Michael was among the most popular saints in the Late Byzantine Empire. He was frequently depicted in hardstone, including in a bloodstone cameo dated 11th/ 12th century in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (inv. no. 42.6) and in a late 14th century cameo in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (inv. no. 40.20.58). The symmetrical, frontal depiction of the saint seen here, dressed in long robes and armour, follows a type familiar from Late Byzantine icons. An anologous figural style appears in a cameo of Daniel in the Lion's den, catalogued as Venetian, 13th century, is in the Staatliche Münzsammlung, Munich.

RELATED LITERATURE
I. Weber, Geschnittene Steine aus altbayerischem Besitz: Kameen und Intaglien des 15. bis späten 17. Jahrhunderts in der Staatlichen Münzsammlung München, Berlin, 2001, p. 43, no. 1