The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 20, 2024
Pilgrim's Medallion with St. Symeon the Younger
c. 1100
Diameter: 5.7 x 0.4 cm (2 1/4 x 3/16 in.)
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 on one side and a cross on the other, were taken home by pilgrims in commemoration of their visit and were believed to serve their owners as protective talismans.- 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.orgEvans, 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. 385-386Cleveland 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
- {{cite web|title=Pilgrim's Medallion with St. Symeon the Younger|url=false|author=|year=c. 1100|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.52.b