Limestone Fragment from a Frieze with a Saint in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, August 2007

Limestone Fragment from a Frieze with a Saint
Byzantine, said to be from Bawit, Egypt
Carved 400-600 AD

Accession # 10.176.1

A half-length figure of a saint, enclosed within a laurel wreath, blesses with his right hand and holds a cross-staff with his left. The elements of the design- the wreath, acanthus swirl, and egg-and-dart molding- are classical motifs interpreted in a more stylized manner in the early Byzantine period.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.