Skip to Content
 

Rich in Blessings: Women, Wealth, and the Late Antique Household

At home and in public, luxury art broadcast late antique elites' status in a society characterized by deep economic inequalities. Whereas household artifacts like textiles, plate, ivory, and jewelry undeniably served to embellish bodies and interiors, from another perspective such works might be seen as exclusive symbols of individual and family affluence. In their imagery and materials, artworks associated with dress and decor conveyed charged messages about late antique attitudes toward prosperity, ownership, and display, particularly as concerned women's property and the legacies of intergenerational wealth. Paradoxically, the opulence admired in late antique artworks stood in contrast to the period's emerging Christian and Jewish ideals urging the reunciation and sharing of riches, rhetoric foundational to how communities understood individuals' philanthropic obligations to society. Rich in Blessings: Women, Wealth, and the Late Antique Household thus explores the multilayered associations of art, wealth, and inequality in late antiquity, prompting consideration of the enduring meaningfulness of these themes in our own world and in museum collections today.

Showing 1 to 20 of 21 Records

  FILTER RESULTS
Image of Hanging with Hestia Polyolbus, "Rich in Blessings"

Hanging with Hestia Polyolbus, "Rich in Blessings"

Early Byzantine
6th century
wool; tapesty weave
BZ.1929.1

Image of Hanging with Two Nereids

Hanging with Two Nereids

Early Byzantine
5th century - 6th century
wool and linen; tapestry weave
BZ.1932.1

Image of Marriage Belt

Marriage Belt

Early Byzantine
late 6th century - early 7th century
gold
BZ.1937.33

Image of Bracelet

Bracelet

Early Byzantine
7th century
gold
BZ.1938.66

Image of Silk Fragment

Silk Fragment

Islamic
5th century - 6th century
silk; samite
BZ.1939.33.1-2

Image of Isiac Cult Scene

Isiac Cult Scene

Roman Egyptian
second half of 2nd century
ivory
BZ.1942.1

Image of Plate with Phaedra and Hippolytos

Plate with Phaedra and Hippolytos

Early Byzantine
6th century
silver
BZ.1949.6

Image of Pair of Earrings

Pair of Earrings

Early Byzantine
5th century
gold, pearls, sapphires
BZ.1952.7.1-2

Image of Earring

Earring

Late Byzantine
8th century
gold
BZ.1953.12.25

Image of Corner Post with Maenad

Corner Post with Maenad

Late Roman
2nd century - 3rd century
ivory or bone
BZ.1956.1

Image of Signet Key Ring

Signet Key Ring

Byzantine
7th century - 8th century
gold with niello
BZ.1958.19

Image of Necklace with Two Amethyst Beads and One Emerald Bead

Necklace with Two Amethyst Beads and One Emerald Bead

Early Byzantine
late 6th century - 7th century
gold and gems
BZ.1958.27

Image of Necklace with Amethyst and Chalcedony Beads and Pearls

Necklace with Amethyst and Chalcedony Beads and Pearls

Early Byzantine
late 6th century - 7th century
gold and gems
BZ.1958.28

Image of Necklace with Thirteen Beads

Necklace with Thirteen Beads

Early Byzantine
6th century - 7th century
gold and gems
BZ.1959.61

Image of Plate with Monogram and Ivy Leaves

Plate with Monogram and Ivy Leaves

Early Byzantine
ca. 610 (early 7th century)
silver and niello
BZ.1960.60

Image of Marriage Ring

Marriage Ring

Early Byzantine
late 6th century - 7th century
gold with niello
BZ.1961.3

Image of Pyxis with Two Putti and Garland

Pyxis with Two Putti and Garland

Roman
1st century - 2nd century
ivory
BZ.1985.4

Image of Earring (?) or Pendant in the form of an Openwork Roundel with Oak Leaf in Center

Earring (?) or Pendant in the form of an Openwork Roundel with Oak Leaf in Center

Early Byzantine
4th century (?)
gold
BZ.2004.13

Image of Fragment of a Hanging or Cover

Fragment of a Hanging or Cover

5th century - 6th century
BZ.2010.070

Image of Pair of Earrings with Hoop and Three Chains Terminated with a Pearl

Pair of Earrings with Hoop and Three Chains Terminated with a Pearl

Date Unknown
pearls on gold
BZ.2015.041

Showing 1 to 20 of 21 Records

Your current search criteria is: Portfolio is "Rich in Blessings: Women, Wealth, and the Late Antique Household".

View current selection of records as:
CDWA Lite XML LIDO XML VRA Core 4 MODS XML Objects JSON