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Source Description
Necklaces incorporating relief medallions were fashionable in the later Roman Empire. Pendants with heads of the Gorgon Medusa, who turned those who gazed at her into stone, had an apotropaic function, averting evil from their wearers. The use of coins in men's and women's jewelry was widespread by the late empire. While primarily worn to display the owner's wealth, the coins themselves were still valuable as bullion and could be used in the event the owner fell upon hard times.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
36079
label
Necklace with Medusa Medallion and Coin of Valerian Mounted as Pendant
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
36079
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Necklace with Medusa Medallion and Coin of Valerian Mounted as Pendant
description
Necklaces incorporating relief medallions were fashionable in the later Roman Empire. Pendants with heads of the Gorgon Medusa, who turned those who gazed at her into stone, had an apotropaic function, averting evil from their wearers. The use of coins in men's and women's jewelry was widespread by the late empire. While primarily worn to display the owner's wealth, the coins themselves were still valuable as bullion and could be used in the event the owner fell upon hard times.
provenance
Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1927, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
Coin: 253-254 CE (Roman Imperial-Late Antique)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
necklaces
medallions (medals)
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
H: 24 in. (61 cm)
Source extras
cul
Roman
inscriptions
[Inscription
Latin; obverse] IMP(erator) C(aius) P(ublius) LIC(inianus) VALERIANVS AVG(ustus). [Inscription
Latin; reverse] IOVI CONSERVATORI [Translation] To Jupiter the Preserver
med
gold
creator_ids
6191
collection_ids
ROM
JWL
exhibition_ids
1954
2227
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
42477aa5365d1460