Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

church and art in the fifth century 901
Fig. 33 Silver paten (from the Riha Treasure) with partially gilded repoussé relief and niello
inscription showing the Communion of the Apostles, probably 577. Byzantine Collection,
Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC
well as a censer; the Stuma and Riha patens are highly refined productions;
and the Cross of Justin II and Sophia, now in the Vatican collections, was
an imperial gift with a value far beyond the metal itself. 34 In form and style,
much metalwork did tend to be traditional, and it is in this medium that the
vocabulary of classicism was most obviously continued and recreated in
this period. 35 Another medium which shows the mark of tradition is that
of floor mosaic: the vast areas of floor mosaic found in the Great Palace
in Constantinople continue to defy a precise dating, actually because of
their ‘classicism’, and are variously attributed to the fifth century, the period
34 Cruikshank Dodd (1961) and (1973); Mango, M. M. (1986) and Boyd and Mango (1992).
35 Kitzinger (1976).
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