Some Unconventional Early Byzantine Rings
Jeffrey Spier
Although many rings dating from the late 5th and early 6th
century survive, no careful typological study of these has yet
been undertaken.1 The various shapes of Early Byzantine rings
are, however, adequately documented in publications of
individual museum and private collections.2 These rings, like
much of what is often termed the koiné style of Byzantine
jewellery (found throughout the Empire), tend to fall into clear
categories based on shape and technique, with a far more
limited variety than was seen during the Roman Empire. Most
of the shapes that emerged in the 6th century are distinctive
and found in relatively large numbers, but there are some
unusual types as well. This paper will examine three related
aspects relating to the typology of Early Byzantine rings: some
rare varieties of the late 5th century, some unconventional
rings of the 6th–7th centuries, and the connection between
rings of Byzantine origin and similar examples produced in the
Germanic kingdoms in the West (Ostrogothic, Lombardic,
Merovingian, Vandal, and Visigothic), a relationship that has
not been particularly well documented.
Already by the mid-3rd century, after the fall of the Severan
dynasty, a significant change in fashion is apparent. Gemstones
were rarely engraved, and rings were set instead with old
gems, unengraved gems, or coins. In the Constantinian period,
rings became larger, with tubular hoops or hoops decorated
with floral patterns (usually an acanthus wreath). Sometimes
the hoops and bezels are hollow with embossed decoration.
Material from the late 4th and 5th centuries is poorly
attested and difficult to classify, but evidence is provided by
several late 5th century hoards of jewellery. Unfortunately,
there is no trace of the greatest discovery of the period, the
tomb of the empress Maria, wife of Honorius, who died around
the year 400 and was buried in the now-destroyed chapel of St
Petronilla in St Peter’s in Rome.3 When the chapel was
demolished in 1544, workmen found the tomb which
contained, according to contemporary accounts, two silver
boxes full of rings. Nothing appears to have survived or was
even recorded with the exception of the so-called ‘bulla,’ a gold
pendant studded with emeralds and garnets enclosing a cameo
in the shape of a chi-rho monogram composed of the names of
Maria and her family.4 The use of emerald and garnet is typical
of the changing tastes in gemstones in Late Antiquity; these
stones, along with sapphire, amethyst, and rock crystal,
become the most popular stones for use in jewellery.
The most important and best recorded hoard of the late 5th
century material was found at Reggio Emilia in 1957.5 The
hoard, evidently belonging to an eastern Germanic official of
some standing, contained jewellery of the highest quality,
including necklaces and earrings set with garnets, a pair of
Gothic fibulae, a gold opus interrasile fibula of
Constantinopolitan manufacture denoting the owner’s high
official status,6 15 gold rings, some set with gems, and gold
Plates 1a-b Gold ring set with an earlier intaglio, Byzantine, late 5th century.
Private collection
coins of the late 5th century down to the time of Emperor Zeno
(474–91). There is a notable variety of rings, but all display
typically Late Antique characteristics, such as tubular hoops
and hollow hoops with embossed floral (acanthus) decoration.
Most of the rings are set with gems typical of the period
(emerald, garnet, sapphire, and pearl), while other rings have
bezels engraved with Gothic names or Latin monograms, a
fashion introduced at the end of the 5th century.
One particular variety of ring is of special interest as it
suggests ties to Constantinople. The shape is characterized by
its ribbed, ‘calyx’-shaped bezel set with a gem and joined to
either a tubular or octagonal hoop. Two examples were present
in the Reggio Emilia hoard, one with an unengraved nicolo, the
other with a garnet.7 A number of similar rings are known,
including one example set with a much older engraved gem
probably of 1st century bc date (Pls 1a–b),8 another in a hoard
of Byzantine jewellery from Istria, Romania, set with a
contemporary engraved garnet,9 and a third discovered in
Georgia, also with an engraved garnet.10 Other examples
without recorded provenance are known as well.11 An origin for
the workshop in Constantinople is suggested by the eastern
Mediterranean and Black Sea provenance of a number of rings,
as well as the frequent use of contemporary engraved garnets
cut in what I have defined as a prolific ‘garnet workshop’ in
late-5th century Constantinople. Around 70 examples of
garnets from the workshop have now been recorded, all of
distinctive shape, style, and iconography.12
Engraved garnets from this workshop are also found set in
a group of finely embossed rings, most of which have been
discovered in Italy. One example was present in the Reggio
Emilia hoard; its hoop is embossed with a floral pattern, and
the garnet is engraved with a dolphin.13 Another hoard of
jewellery and silver, said to have been discovered at or in the
vicinity of Desana (Vercelli), contained nine gold rings, similar
to the variety found in the Reggio Emilia hoard, including one
of the embossed type set with a garnet engraved with a hare.14
A third embossed ring, set with an unengraved garnet, was
found in a Gothic grave at Torriano, which also contained a
pair of fibulae of Gothic type and a belt buckle.15 The finest
‘Intelligible Beauty’ | 13
Spier

Plates 2a-c Gold ring set with an engraved garnet, Byzantine, late 5th century. London, British Museum (PE 72,6-4,313)

Plates 3a-c Gold ring set with an engraved garnet portrait of Theodosius II (401–50). Private collection

Plates 4a-b Gold ring set with an engraved garnet, Byzantine, 5th century. Plates 5a-b Gold ring with niello inlay, Byzantine, late 5th century. Formerly
Vidin (Bulgaria), Historical Museum Christie’s, New York, Antiquities, 18 December 1998, lot 160

14 | ‘Intelligible Beauty’

Plate 6 Gold ring
with niello inlay,
set with a garnet,
Byzantine, late 5th
century. Private
collection
example of the embossed group, a ring in the British Museum,
may also have been discovered in Italy (although no find site is
recorded, it was purchased from the Roman dealer Alessandro
Castellani) (Pl. 2).16 The engraved garnet shows an unusual
image of a seated figure, his hands raised in prayer, likely
depicting the emperor flanked by crosses. The hoop is finely
embossed with floral motifs, tendrils, and birds. Although most
of these rings have been found in Italy, the garnets are
certainly from Constantinopolitan workshops, and the rings,
too, were most likely produced there. The date for the group
must be in the late 5th century in view of the coins in the
Reggio Emilia hoard and the style of the gems. The rings, like
the fine opus interrasile gold fibulae, were likely gifts bestowed
as signs of official status and demonstrate direct
communication between the Byzantine court and Gothic
officials in Italy.
Engraved garnets from the same workshop in
Constantinople are found in some other rings of similar date
and related style and technique. They have different forms of
‘calyx’ bezel, often of high, stepped form. The finest and
earliest datable example is the very large, hollow gold ring with
its hoop embossed with an acanthus wreath and a stepped
bezel set with a garnet engraved with a frontal portrait of the
Emperor Theodosius II (401–50). The ring no doubt once
belonged to an important imperial official or client king (Pls
3a-c).17 A simpler but typologically related ring was found in a
hoard of jewellery from Ratiaria, Bulgaria, thought to date
from the mid-5th century. It has a tubular hoop and stepped
bezel set with a garnet engraved with a cross (Pls 4a–b).18
Also around this date (the mid- to late 5th century), ring
bezels began to be engraved with personal names and
monograms, a fashion that became increasingly popular. Rings
bearing Latin monograms and both Roman and Gothic names
were present in the Reggio Emilia and Desana hoards and have
been found elsewhere in Italy as well. One ring from Reggio
Emilia is inscribed with the names of a Gothic couple, Stafara
and Ettila.19 A ring in the Desana hoard records the names
Stefanus and Valatruda, perhaps a mixed marriage between a
Roman and a Gothic woman.20 Similarly, the grave of a Gothic,
perhaps Gepidic, aristocrat discovered at Apahida in Romania
contained spectacular gold and garnet jewellery, buckles, and
fibulae, including an opus interrasile example from
Constantinople, together with three rings.21 One ring is
inscribed in Latin with the Gothic name Omharus, very likely
the owner of the treasure. A second ring bears an engraved
monogram that has been read as also representing the name
Omharus.22 The letter forms are, however, Greek, and the
identical monogram is used elsewhere for the common name
Marias (the genitive form of Maria).23 This ring was an import
Some Unconventional Early Byzantine Rings
Plate 7 Gold ring
with niello inlay
and engraved
monogram,
Byzantine, late 5th
century. Private
collection
from Constantinople, and although the commonly found, ‘off-
the-shelf’ monogram could have been selected to denote
Omharus, perhaps it is more likely that the ring belonged to the
Gothic official’s wife (a Greek?), named Maria. In any event,
the fashion for rings with monograms, which had reached
Gothic Italy by the late 5th century, certainly originated in
Constantinople. Rings with Greek monograms of block type
were widely used, and the style continued well into the 6th
century, eventually to be replaced by cruciform monograms
around 550.24
Several other distinctive varieties of rings originated in
Constantinople in the late 5th century and served as prototypes
for Western copies. The Byzantine origin of one such group has
become clear recently thanks to the appearance of several
previously unpublished examples.25 The rings have broad
hoops, usually curved slightly inward, with flattened,
triangular shoulders decorated with niello inlay and
sometimes monograms. The bezels are stepped, with the top
either engraved or set with a stone. The finest extant example
has a partridge engraved on the bezel, niello-inlaid floral
motifs and spirals on the shoulders, inlaid patterns of steps and
waves on the sides of the bezel and hoop, and two engraved
names EYTYXHOY and MAPIAC, ‘(of ) Eutychios (and) Maria’
(Pl. 5).26 A second example, seemingly by the same goldsmith,
has similar niello decoration on the shoulders and around the
bezel but not on the hoop, and there are no names; the bezel is
set with a cabochon garnet (Pl. 6). A third specimen is much
smaller and lighter, with a cruder pattern of palmettes inlaid
with niello on the shoulders; engraved on the top of the bezel is
the Greek monogram for Marias, ‘(of) Maria’ (Pl. 7). An
example in silver with gilded top, in the Schmidt collection in
Munich, is engraved with two monograms on the shoulders
(Pl. 8).27 All these are certainly eastern, likely from
Constantinople.
Plates 8a-b Silver ring with gilding and engraved monograms, Byzantine, late
5th century. Munich, C.S. collection
‘Intelligible Beauty’ | 15
Spier
Plates 9a-b Gold ring with niello inlay, set with a ruby, Gothic, late 5th
century. London, British Museum (PE AF 483)
Plates 11a-c Gold ring with niello inlay, set with an engraved emerald, Rome(?), 6th century. Madrid, Museo Lázaro Galdiano
Plate 12 Silver ring of ‘architectural’
form, Byzantine, mid-6th century.
Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum
There are, however, western versions closely copying the
shape of the originals. A gold ring with ruby setting is of the
same shape and similarly has niello inlay on the triangular
shoulders (Pl. 9).28 It is said to be from Italy and was likely
made there, as suggested by the unusual niello design, but
bronze rings of similar shape and with the same distinctive
decorative pattern on the shoulders were likely made in
Visigothic Spain as well (Pl. 10). 29 A slightly later but closely
related shape is seen on a particularly fine gold ring in the
Museo Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid, which is set with an
emerald engraved with busts of Peter and Paul (Pls 11a-c).30
Around the bezel and on the triangular shoulders are carefully
engraved Latin inscriptions and monograms with niello inlay,
augustini vita in xps, ‘Augustinus, life is in Christ,’ and a pair
of identical cruciform monograms best resolved as the name
Augustinus. The cruciform monogram first appeared in
Byzantium in the 520s31 and became increasingly popular; this
ring may date c. 550 or slightly later. Another fine ring, once in
16 | ‘Intelligible Beauty’
Plate 10 Bronze ring with engraved decoration, Visigothic, late 5th century.
Private collection
Plate 13 Gold ring of ‘architectural’
form, Merovingian, 6th century, from
La Garde (Loire). Private collection
the Guilhou collection and likely from Italy (purchased from
Castellani again) also has triangular shoulders and even more
elaborate niello inlay.32 The bezel is set with an emerald and
two garnets. The Latin inscription around the bezel reads,
micael mecv vivas in deo, ‘Michael, live with me in God’. The
fine floral decoration on the shoulders finds a close parallel on
the remarkable gold reliquary cross discovered in 1863 in the
church of San Lorenzo fuori le mura in Rome and now in the
Vatican Museums collection, which in addition bears block
monograms and Latin inscriptions.33 Both ring and cross must
come from the same mid- 6th-century workshop, probably in
Rome.
During the 6th century, a number of new varieties of rings
were introduced by workshops in Constantinople, and some of
these proved influential on tastes in the west. The most
popular type of Byzantine ring had a tubular or octagonal hoop
joined to a separately worked flat bezel (round, square,
cruciform, or floral-shaped), which was engraved with a

Plate 14 Gold ring with double-diamond bezel, Plate 15 Gold rings with double-diamond bezels, Lombardic, late 6th–7th century, from Castel
Byzantine, 6th century. Toronto, Royal Ontario Trosino. Rome, Museo dell’Alto Medioevo
Museum
monogram, religious invocation, or iconographic device (such
as Christ, the Virgin, a saint, or an eagle with wings spread).
Somewhat surprisingly, rings of this type had little influence in
the West. Other Byzantine rings were more elaborate, notably
those with tall, conical, or calyx-shaped bezels ringed with
pearls and set with rock crystal, garnet, emerald, sapphire or
pearl, with broad hoops, sometimes embossed or executed in
openwork. All these varieties of rings have been found together
in hoards, demonstrating their contemporaneity. They may
well derive from the same goldsmiths’ ateliers that produced
other types of jewellery, such as earrings, necklaces, small
crosses and various forms of pendants.34
Two types of rings of relatively simple construction appear
to have originated in Constantinople and achieved great
popularity in the Gothic West in more elaborate versions. The
Byzantine prototypes of both varieties were included in an
interesting hoard of silver jewelry, including coins, belt buckles
and tabs, a spoon, an amuletic silver armband, fragments of
pendants, and at least eight rings, all datable to the mid-6th
century, now in Toronto. The shape of one of the rings can be
described as ‘architectural.’ The tubular hoop is attached to a
bezel composed of a square platform and four pieces of filigree
wire bent into semi-circles terminating in spirals, which
support a hemispherical, dome-like element; additional pellets
sometimes ornament the joins and the top of the dome (Pl.
12).35 In addition to the silver example in Toronto, specimens in
gold are in the Benaki Museum and in the Stathatos Collection
in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, the latter said
to be from the island of Chios.36
The architectural shape reached the West, but there
became far more elaborate in decoration. An example found in
the church of Madonna dell’ Orto in Rome has a heavy
openwork hoop decorated with beaded wire; the filigree
‘columns’ on the bezel support a pyramidal ‘roof’ ornamented
with granulation.37 Merovingian examples, which survive in
some quantity, tend to be even more complex, adding filigree
wire and granulation to band hoops and pyramidal tops, some
set with garnets or other gems (Pl. 13).38 Examples reached
Spain as well.39 Heavier versions, with squat ‘columns’ and
bezels either engraved or set with gems, are typically found in
Alamannic and Germanic sites in Germany and Eastern
Europe, although at least one was discovered in Gaul.40
The second variety of ring is not well attested in Byzantine
finds, but three examples in silver were present in the Toronto
hoard. Another example in gold, not from the hoard but
certainly of Byzantine manufacture judging from its style, is in
Some Unconventional Early Byzantine Rings
the same collection (Pl. 14).41 These rings have band hoops,
curved inward, and are distinctive for their bezel decorated
with two raised, diamond-shaped elements placed side-by-side
and outlined in beaded wire filigree, with some additional
filigree on the shoulders. This variety, too, reached the West,
where typically they had broad bands and were decorated with
elaborate filigree and granulation. They are well attested, both
in gold and silver, at Lombardic sites, most notably the 6th–7th-
century burials at Castel Trosino, near Rome (Pl. 15).42 A few
Merovingian examples, very similar to those from Rome, have
been found in Gaul.43
A final group of elaborately constructed rings with complex
bezels set with precious stones is poorly documented, but these
rings, too, appear to have originated in Byzantium and found
favour in the Gothic west. Without further provenance
information, however, it is difficult to form a clear picture of
their development. One type is distinguished by its unusual
double-bezel taking the form of a large central setting (oval,
rectangular, or diamond-shaped) with an additional element,
often a small cone outlined in filigree, attached to the side of
the ring. Both elements are set with gems or pearls. Rings with
double-bezels of this type may date as early as the 3rd
century,44 but a number of examples are clearly of 6th or early
7th century date. A very fine gold example set with an emerald
and a garnet appears to be Byzantine,45 as does another with a
band hoop and ‘calyx’ bezel set with a garnet and a pearl.46 A
remarkable variant in the Stathatos collection in Athens has a
rectangular central element set with a large garnet and
decorated with a border of granulated pyramids, while a small
bezel on the side has a hinged gold foil cross that served as a
cover for the compartment (perhaps for a relic?).47 A very
similar example is in a private collection in Munich. Simpler
versions, which have appeared on the market in recent years
without recorded provenance, also may be Byzantine.48 Several
others of slightly more ornate form have been discovered in
Gaul and are likely of Merovingian origin.49
A related type of ring adds an ‘architectural’ feature of four
‘columns’ supporting a rectangular bezel set with a gem. One
example decorated with filigree and set with a large garnet is
thought to be from Italy (Pls 16a–b).50 A ring in the Hashimoto
collection combines this variety of ‘architectural’ ring with the
double-bezel group by adding a small second bezel of conical
shape to the side of the ring, along with filigree wire decoration
(Pl. 17).51 Another example in a private collection is similar, but
it is set with a rock crystal engraved with a cross (the engraved
side set face down) and a garnet in the small, conical side bezel
‘Intelligible Beauty’ | 17
Spier
Plates 16a–b Gold ring, set with garnet, Lombardic (?), late 6th–7th century. Private
collection
(Pls 18a–b). The engraved rock crystal very likely is a product
of a late 6th- or early 7th-century workshop perhaps located in
Antioch; other rock crystals of this type were set in pendants,
although no other recorded specimen is in a ring.52 Like other
rings of 6th–7th century date, these elaborately constructed
double-bezel and architectural rings, although difficult to
categorise with the little information available, appear also to
have originated in Byzantium before finding their way West.
Notes
1 For the typology of rings dating from the imperial period, see the
useful surveys in: F.H. Marshall, Catalogue of the Finger Rings,
Greek, Etruscan and Roman, in the Departments of Antiquities
British Museum, London, 1907, xlv–xlix; F. Henkel, Die römischen
Fingerringe der Rheinlande, Berlin, 1913.
2 See, for example, M.C. Ross, Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early
Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, vol. 2,
Jewelry, Enamels, and Art of the Migration Period, Washington DC,
1965; G. Vikan, ‘Early Christian and Byzantine Rings in the Zucker
Family Collection,’ Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 45 (1987),
32–43.
3 J. Spier, Late Antique and Early Christian Gems, Wiesbaden, 2007,
1–2; the contemporary accounts of the discovery of the tomb are
gathered by P. Mazzuchelli, La Bolla di Maria, moglie d’Onorio
imperatore che si conserva nel Museo Trivulzio, brevamente spiegata,
Milan, 1819.
4 Spier (n. 3), 138, no. 752; P. Pasini (ed.), 387d.c. Ambrogio e Agostino.
Le sorgenti dell’Europa, Milan, 2003, 441, no. 339 (E. Gagetti).
5 M. Degani, Il Tesoro Romano Barbarico di Reggio Emilia, Florence,
1959.
6 For fibulae of this type, see B. Deppert-Lippitz, ‘A Late Antique Gold
Fibula in the Burton Y. Berry Collection’, in A. Calinescu (ed.),
Ancient Jewelry and Archaeology, Bloomington and Indianapolis,
1996, 235–43; and for objects presented as imperial largess, see R.
MacMullen, ‘The emperor’s largesses’, Latomus 21 (1962), 159–66.
7 Degani (n. 5), 61, nos 5–6, pl. 22, 2–5.
8 Spier (n. 3), 91, n. 11, pl. 138, fig. 7.
18 | ‘Intelligible Beauty’
Plate 17 Gold ring
with double bezel,
Byzantine or
Merovingian, 6th–7th
century. Tokyo,
Hashimoto collection
Plates 18a–b Gold ring with double
bezel, set with engraved rock crystal
and garnet, Byzantine, 6th–7th
century. Private collection
9 Ibid., 87, no. 483.
10 Ibid., 87, no. 486.
11 Ibid., 91, n. 11; for another, set with a plasma intaglio, see H. Battke,
Geschichte des Ringes, Pforzheim, 1953, 37–8, no. 45, pl. 8; R.
Hadjadj, Bagues mérovingiennes. Gaule du Nord, Paris, 2007, 290,
no. 359, records several specimens from Gaul, but, like the
examples from Italy, these are likely Byzantine imports.
12 Spier (n. 3), 87–92.
13 Degani (n. 5), 62, no. 8; Spier (n. 3), 88, no. 504.
14 V. Bierbrauer, Die ostgotischen Grab- und Schatzfund in Italien,
Spoleto, 1974, 270–1, pl. 12, 8; Spier (n. 3), 88, no. 508.
15 Bierbrauer (n. 14), 318–20, pls 42–3; Spier (n. 3), 90, n. 8.
16 Spier (n. 3), 89 and 92, no. 522.
17 Ibid., 25–6, no. 76.
18 D. Giorgetti, ‘Trésor de parures d’or et d’objets d’argent’,
Archeologiya (Sofia) 3 (1988), 32, no. 4, fig. 6; Spier (n. 3), 89, no.
512.
19 Degani (n. 5), 63, no. 15, and the commentary on the Gothic names
on this and related rings, 79–110 (C.A. Mastrelli); for similar rings
with Gothic names, see also: O.M. Dalton, Franks Bequest.
Catalogue of the Finger Rings, Early Christian, Byzantine, Teutonic,
Mediaeval and Later, London, 1912, 3, no. 11 (Blithia and monogram)
and 23, no. 146 (Gundehildis); Hadjadj (n. 11), 343, no. 470.
20 Bierbrauer (n. 14), 270, pl. 12, 7.
21 M.C. Bianchini (ed.), L’or des princes barbares du Caucase à la Gaule
Ve siècle après J.-C., Paris, 2000, 184–90, nos 30, 3, and 30, 4.
22 J. Werner, ‘Namensring und Siegelring aus dem gepidischen
Grabfund von Apahida, Siebenbürgen’, Kölner Jahrbuch für Vor-
und Frühgeschichte 9 (1967–68), 120–3, who recognized that the
letter forms are Greek but believed the monogram should be
resolved as Omharus, which is conceivable.
23 See the Byzantine ring, Pl. 7 above, and the garnet, Spier (n. 3), 90,
no. 538.
24 See, for example, O.M. Dalton, Catalogue of Early Christian
Antiquities and Objects from the Christian East in the Department of
British and Mediaeval Antiquities and Ethnography of the British
Museum, London, 1901, 27, nos 168 and 170; G. Taylor and D.
Scarisbrick, Finger Rings. From Ancient Egypt to the Present Day,
Oxford, 1978, 42, no. 201; G. Schlumberger and A. Blanchet,
Collections Sigillographiques, Paris, 1914, 180, no. 605, pl. 25, 9

(which should be read as ‘Konstantinou’); C. Stiegemann, Byzanz.
Das Licht aus dem Osten, Mainz, 2001, 328–9, no. IV.63 (J. Spier),
read as perhaps ‘Eugenios’.
25 J. Spier, ‘Un anillo bizantino-occidental en el Museo Lázaro
Galdiano’, Goya. Revista de Arte 216 (1990), 328–30, first discusses
the group, but a number of additional examples have since come to
light.
26 Christie’s, New York, Antiquities, 18 December 1998, lot 160; there are
superb modern forgeries of this ring in both gold and silver.
27 Spier (n. 25), 329, fig. 4; collection C.S., Munich.
28 Dalton (n. 19), 28, no. 176a; for another gold ring of similar shape,
said to be from S. Angelo dei Lombardi in Campania, see Marshall
(n. 1), 138, no. 846.
29 Private collection, unpublished; see also, Wm. Reinhart, ‘Los
anillos Hispano-Visigodos’, Archivo espãnol de arqueologia 20
(1947), 177, fig. 3, nos 65 and 69.
30 Spier (n. 3), 99 and 101, no. 579.
31 The earliest datable cruciform monograms are those of the
Emperor Justin I (518–27), which appear on small bronze coins
struck at Antioch, for which see M. Phillips and S. Tyler-Smith, ‘A
sixth-century hoard of nummi and five-nummi pieces’, Numismatic
Chronicle (1998), 318 and 322.
32 M. Deloche, Anneaux sigillaires, Paris, 1900, 306–7, no. CCLVI;
Spier (n. 25), 330, fig. 6.
33 G.B. De Rossi, ‘La croce d’oro rinvenuta nella basilica di San
Lorenzo’, Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana 1 (1863), 33–8; F.
Bisconti and G. Gentili (eds), La Rivoluzione dell’immagine. Arte
paleocristinana tra Roma e Bisanzi, Milan, 2007, 172–3, no. 37 (C.
Lega).
34 See, for example, the hoard of jewellery said to be from Syria and
now in Washington, which includes six rings of different shapes:
Ross (n. 2), 135–9, no. 179A-S.
35 Royal Ontario Museum, inv. no. 986.101.102.
36 B. Segall, Katalog der Goldschmiede-arbeiten: Museum Benaki,
Athen, Athens, 1938, 162, no. 356, pl. 50; É. Coche de la Ferté,
Collection Hélène Stathatos: les objets byzantins et post-byzantins,
Limoges, 1957, 15–17, pl. 1, 3; another silver example, said to have
been found in Lebanon with other rings, is in Munich: L. Wamser
and G. Zahlhaas (eds), Rom und Byzanz. Archäologische
Kostbarkeiten aus Bayern, Munich, 1998, 217–8, no. 318; for a gold
example with a cameo set in the bezel: Spier (n. 3), no. 751; and
another set with an emerald: D. Scarisbrick, Historic Rings. Four
Thousand Years of Craftsmanship, Tokyo, New York and London,
2004, 43–4, no. 104 (Hashimoto collection, Tokyo).
37 F. Gaultier and C. Metzger (eds), Trésors antiques. Bijoux de la
collection Campana, Milan, 2005, 148, no. III.9; see also an example
said to be from Milan: Dalton (n. 19), 27, no. 174.
38 Hadjadj (n. 11), 74–7, nos 246, 253, 259, 325, 378, 393, 482, 483, 493,
499, 534, 561, 569, 587, 594. Pl. 13, from La Garde (Loire) and now in
a private collection, is published in Deloche (n. 32), pl. 4, 11, and
Hadjadj (n. 11), no. 587; S. Hindman, Towards an Art History of
Medieval Rings. A Private Collection, London, 2007, 70–3 and 217–18,
no. 10. One ring probably of Merovingian origin was discovered in a
7th-century Avar grave in Hungary: F. Daim, ‘Avars and Avar
archaeology: an introduction’, in H.-W. Goetz, J. Jarnut and W. Pohl
(eds), Regna and Gentes. The Relationship between Late Antique and
Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the
Roman World, Leiden and Boston, 2003, 491, pl. 25, 2; I am grateful
to Falko Daim for this information. See also the architectural
element of a ring used as the head of a pin, probably from a
Some Unconventional Early Byzantine Rings
Merovingian grave: O. van Hessen, Museo Nazionale del Bargello.
Gioielli franchi della collezione Carrand, Florence, 1981, 11, pl. 1b.
39 A ring very similar to Merovingian examples was found at
Torredonjimeno: Reinhart (n. 29), 169, fig. 1, 4a; a more unusual
ring set with a pearl, said to be from Alcudia (Elche) and allegedly
found with other rings, jewellery, and 4th-century coins, appears to
date much later than the 4th century: see, H. Schlunk and T.
Hauschild, Hispania Antiqua, Mainz, 1978, 157, pls 48b and 49b
(private collection of A. Ramos Folqués).
40 For example: a gold ring from a woman’s grave at Samobor
(Zagreb), Croatia: W. Menghin, T. Springer and E. Wamers (eds),
Germanen, Hunnen und Awaren, Nürnberg, 1987, 191 and 196, IV,
8.a; another gold ring from a 6th-century woman’s grave at
Donzdorf (Baden-Württemberg): H. Roth, Kunst und Handwerk im
frühen Mittelalter, Stuttgart, 1986, pl. 44b; a gold ring engraved
with a monogram: A.B. Chadour, Ringe. Die Alice und Louis Koch
Sammlung, Leeds, 1994, vol. 1, 151, no. 507; a silver example of
unknown provenance, once set with a stone: C.C. Oman, Victoria
and Albert Museum. Catalogue of Rings, London, 1930, 65, no. 235,
pl. 9; and a gold ring, finely carved and engraved with a male head
in profile and an inscription, discovered at Saint-Pierre (Ardèche):
Deloche (n. 32), 234–5, no. CCX.
41 Royal Ontario Museum, Inv. no. 986.181.1; the silver rings are inv.
nos 986.101.103.1–2.
42 G. Becatti, Oreficerie antiche dalle minoiche alle barbariche, Rome,
1955, 221–2, nos 579–80; C. Bertelli and G.P. Brogiolo (eds), Il futuro
dei longobardi. L’Italia e la costruzione dell’Europa di Carlo Magno,
Milan, 2000, 42, fig. 15, 48, no. 12d.
43 Hadjadj (n. 11), nos 87 and 97, both silver, and an unpublished gold
example.
44 Chadour (n. 40), 124, no. 426, set with emeralds.
45 A.B. Chadour and R. Joppien, Kunstgewerbemuseum der Stadt Köln.
Schmuck II, Fingerringe, Cologne, 1985, 104, no. 15.
46 Chadour (n. 40), 144, no. 484.
47 A.K. Orlandos, Collection Hélène Stathatos: objets antiques et
byzantins, Strasbourg, 1963, 289, no. 230bis, pl. 44; L. Kötzsche-
Breitenberg, ‘Zum Ring des Gregor von Nyssa’, in E. Dassmann and
K. Thraede (eds), Tesserae. Festschrift für Josef Engemann, Münster,
1991, 291–8, pl. 38. In the late 4th century, St Macrina, the sister of
Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa, was said to have worn an
iron ring which contained a piece of the True Cross (Gregory of
Nyssa, Vita Macrinae), but no ring that served as a reliquary
appears to survive.
48 Hadjadj (n. 11), 346–7, no. 474, Content collection, formerly
Christie’s, New York, Ancient Jewelry, 7 December 2006, lot 309, set
with an amethyst and a pearl; a very similar example set with a
garnet appeared the following year: Christies, New York, Ancient
Jewelry, 6 December 2007, lot 468; an example in the British
Museum, Marshall (n. 1), 133, no. 815, set with a plasma and a
partially drilled sapphire, does not have a recorded provenance.
49 Hadjadj (n. 11), 83 and 346–7, nos 173, 330, 403, 426 and 474, who
discusses the group and notes further examples from Eastern
Europe; see also the example set with a sapphire in the Victoria &
Albert Museum, which is said to be Merovingian: Oman (n. 40), 65,
no. 239.
50 Hindman (n. 38), 66–9 and 216–17, no. 9, as Lombardic, 7th century,
although it may be earlier.
51 Scarisbrick (n. 36), 43, no. 103, formerly in the Adolphe Stoclet
collection; the stones are missing.
52 Spier (n. 3), 115–26, nos 696–7 (crosses).
‘Intelligible Beauty’ | 19