Exhibition «Jewelry Art of the 5th–19th Centuries in the Collection of the Novgorod Museum»

About exhibition

The collection is one of the most significant in Russia. It comprises works of jewelry art by Constantinople, Russian and Western European masters. Among them are outstanding examples of the 11th–12th centuries associated with the culture of the Byzantine imperial household and the princely and sovereign courts: the earliest Eucharistic vessels, small and large sions, and kraters. Of great interest are a bone casket (avorion) of Constantinopolitan workmanship, Gospel covers made by Limoges craftsmen, a casket originating from the Rhineland, and a German-made reliquary. Among the exhibits attention is drawn to the panagia of Archbishop Pimen with an 11th-century Byzantine cameo with delicate enamel inlay and precious sapphires. Filigree works by Moscow jewelers are notable. Small openwork lamp pendants on long chains were intended to hold multicolored glass lamps, producing the intended effect.