The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Pilgrim's Medallion with Saint Symeon the Younger

Pilgrim's Medallion with Saint Symeon the Younger

c. 1100
lead
Diameter: 5.7 x 0.4 cm (2 1/4 x 3/16 in.)
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 1972.52.a
Location: 105 Byzantine

Description

Saint Symeon the Younger was a stylite saint, an early Christian ascetic who fled the world for the desert and, perched on a column, spent his days fasting and praying. The site of Symeon’s column attracted many pilgrims during and after his lifetime. Medallions like this one, showing Symeon atop his column, were taken home by pilgrims in commemoration of their visit and were believed to serve their owners as protective talismans.
  • Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1972." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 60, no. 3 (1973): 63-115. Reproduced: p.67 25093732
    Verdier, Philippe. "A Medallion of Saint Symeon the Younger." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 1 (1980): 17-26. Reproduced: p. 17; Mentioned: p. 17-26 www.jstor.org
    Evans, Helen C., and William D. Wixom. The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. Mentioned: p. 385-386; Reproduced: p.385
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 60-61, no. 13
  • Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
    The Glory of Byzantium. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3-July 6, 1997).
    Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).
  • {{cite web|title=Pilgrim's Medallion with Saint Symeon the Younger|url=false|author=|year=c. 1100|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.52.a