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The "Apostles" Pyx (Box)
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This pyx shows Christ as Pantokrator (Ruler of the World), the Apostles, and the Virgin as a continuous frieze of figures seated in high-backed chairs with cushions. The tapered lip of the body of the pyx was intended to dovetail into the missing lid. Because of its style, the box is thought to be from a workshop of ivory carvers called "The Triptych Group" active in Constantinople between about 950 and 1010. This is the only known pyx to survive from the Middle Byzantine period (about ad 843-1204).
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineThe "Apostles" Pyx (Box), c. 980–1010. Probably by Triptych Group. Ivory; overall: 25.5 x 17.5 cm (10 1/16 x 6 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1973.4
