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Unknown Maker, Greek

Medallion
Now On View

Maker

Unknown Maker, Greek

Culture

Greek

Title

Medallion

Period

Hellenistic

Year

330-269 BCE

Medium

  • gold,
  • garnet; enamel inlay

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • gold,
  • garnet; enamel inlay

Materials

garnet, gold, inlay, enamel

Geography

Archaeological Site: Thessaly

Dimensions

Diameter: 7 cm (2 3/4 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

29.256

Type

  • Jewelry

Publications

  • Books

A Handbook of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

  • Journal

Manual / Issue 5: Unfinished

  • Books

Classical Jewelry: Ancient Jewelry from the Museum's Collection

Bulletin of Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Museum Notes

Exhibition History

Ancient Greek and Roman Galleries
Sep 22, 2010

Label copy

This depiction of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, shows a bust in the center of a series of decorated circles ending in nine small gold loops. Medallions like this have been recovered from many places in the Hellenistic world. Scholars are unsure of their exact function. Theories suggest their use as the central piece of a lady’s hairnet or as a small box cover. Although much of the jewelry in this case has clear modern parallels, some pieces, like this medallion, are more difficult to place.

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Greek
Medallion, 330-269 BCE
Gold, garnet; enamel inlay
Diameter: 7 cm (2 3/4 inches)
Museum Appropriation Fund 29.256

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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