Description:

Byzantine Empire, ca. 6th to 7th century CE. This is a redware tile with a molded relief showing a stylized soldier on horseback, with the dragon rendered as a snake. This was probably from the provinces of Africa Proconsularis or Byzancena; it would have been used to decorate wooden chests. The story of St George and the Dragon, although today most famous as the symbol of England, is originally from the east, brought back to western Europe by the Crusaders. In the iconography of the Eastern Orthodoxy, as here, a soldier fighting a dragon is an early tale dating to at least this time. Size: 8.9" W x 10" H (22.6 cm x 25.4 cm)

Cf. Die Welt von Byzanz. Europas östliches Erbe, exhibition catalogue, Munich Staatliche Museum, 2004, no. 90. Covered in a white slip. Cf. CMA., 210 no. 17; . Guidi, Africa Italiana, V, 1933, 21f.; Y. Allais, Libyca, VII, 1959, 51, Abb. 6;. OM Leiden, XLIII, 1962, 73 f.

Provenance: Ex German private collection, acquired from Axel Weber, Cologne in 1970s.

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#112610

  • Condition: Wear and chipping to the edges, but the design is clear.

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June 22, 2016 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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