EARLY CHRISTIAN SCULPTOR, Byzantine
(active first half of 6th century in Constantinople)

Diptych panel

500-50
Ivory, 34 x 27 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

This ivory diptych panel in five parts from the Barberini collection depicts the Emperor Triumphant.

A juxtaposition of Christian symbolism with imperial iconography can be seen on the 6th-century Barberini Ivory, on which a mounted emperor, possibly Justinian I, receives tributes while above him a medallion containing a bust of Christ is supported by angels. The iconography remains predominantly secular.