Byzantine Enamels: status, diplomacy and markets in the twelfth century

Byzantine enamels, made of translucent glass against glittering gold grounds, are among the materially most expensive and technically most advanced works of art from the middle ages. Two objects, the Pala d’Oro in the Venice and the Khakhuli Triptych in Gelati, Georgia, contain nearly 20% of all the known enamels produced in the wider Byzantine World. This lecture looks at these two great compilations of enamels in the wider context of enamel making to consider the mechanics of display and markets and their implications for gift giving and diplomacy in the middle ages. It considers the great enamel works from Venice and Siena to Moscow and Munich, and from Esztergom and Budapest to Gelati and Jumati.
Professor Antony Eastmond is acting Executive Dean and Deputy Director at The Courtauld, and also the AG Leventis Professor of Byzantine Art. He teaches and researches on the wider Byzantine world, encompassing all regions from Venice and Sicily in the West to the Caucasus and Holy Land in the east. This lecture comes out of a project on the Khakhuli triptych in Georgia, which is part of a larger project on enamels in the Byzantine world.
Organised by Dr Tom Nickson, The Courtauld, as part of the Medieval Work-in-Progress Series.