Commonwealth of Venice

The artwork presented here is a paten, a liturgical dish on which the Holy Bread was placed during the celebration of the Eucharist (Fig. 1). It is a very peculiar and rare object, both in respect to its material, as well as to its iconography and the origin of the model used. In fact, the paten is made of leather on a wooden support. The iconography, as well as the matrix used to impress the leather, are Byzantine, as precise comparisons with other artworks can clearly demonstrate.

The mould used to impress the leather had a specific and traceable origin. It was surely created in Byzantium, and possibly by a workshop of the Byzantine court active during the 12th Century. Indeed, an identical paten, made in gilded silver, is  on display in the Museum of the Treasure of the Cathedral of Halberstadt (Fig. 2). The origin of that artwork is sure and historically documented: on 16 August 1205, Konrad von Krosig, bishop of Halberstadt, went back to his Episcopal See after having taken part in the Fourth Crusade. He took several objects with him from Byzantium, including the silver paten, which had been created by a workshop of the Byzantine court between 1050 and 1190

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