Diptych leaf, ivory, of the Consul Anastasius, Constantinople, AD 517

The seated Anastasius is shown with a sceptre in his left and the 'mappa circensis', with which he gave the signal for the games to begin, in his right. He wears a 'trabea', a sumptuous ceremonial costume. The inscription above refers to his office. The bust are, right to left, the Empress Ariadne, the Emperor Anastasius I (reigned 491-518), and the other consul or Pompeius, a relative of Anastasius. The sides of the throne show two 'Gorgoneia' and personifications of Rome and Constantinople. The figures in the lower section are two servants (or Amazons?) who lead horses, with a boy at the bottom left, and to their right is the head of an elderly man with a crab attached to his nose. An engraving made before the leaf was damaged shows that there was another man in a similar unfortunate position. On the back of the present ivory are traces of writing, now almost invisible

The present leaf together with the other leaf, formerly in Berlin, formed a Consular diptych which was preserved in Liège cathedrale of St Lambert; it was kown as the 'Diptychon Leodiense'. The treasury of St Lambert was sold by the end of the eighteenth century. It subsequently entered the museum via the Webb collection in 1871 (bought for 420 l.), while the Berlin leaf was acquired for the Kunstkammer in 1837.

Historical significance: There are traces of writing on the back of the present leaf, and the Berlin leaf had a list of Apostles, Fathers of the Church, Popes, Bishops and martyrs, none of them later than the seventh century. This indicates that it was quite early used for liturgical purposes. The blank insides used to record the names of saints and those for whom prayers were asked, these lists to recited during the Mass as a form of commemoration. Other such tablets were
re-used in later centuries such as 266-1867, which originally formed the upper half of a consular (the lower half is in the British Museum). The former blank reverse of 266-1867 shows carvings of the ninth century: The Crucifixion and The three Maries at the Sepulchre.

Consular diptychs were a form of highly decorated writing tablet, given on the day the consuol took office, to friends and those who helped him to reach his post. About fifty examples survive from ca. AD 400 to AD 540, when the consulate was abolished by Emperor Justinian. Nearly all are datable to the first year of the consul's office. From the fifth century no more than one diptych survives for an individual consul, and they all show a greater freedom in composition and general character, but from the sixth century there are several diptychs for some consuls, at least four for Anastasius, all dated 517; as the custom of giving these diptych grew, they seem to have been produced almost wholesale ready to meet the demand, many showing little variation on the format seen on this example.

This ivory panel offers a gimpse of the splendour of the Early Byzantine Court. It is one half of a hinged diptych and was made to commemorate the occasion of Flavius Anastasius taking the office of consul in Constantinople in AD 517. Such diptychs were a form of highly decorated writing tablet, given to the supporters who had helped the consul obtain his post. On the back of each panel was a raised border, the sunken enclosed field would have been filled with wax into which a message could be inscribed.

Anastasius is depicted wearing the trabea, an elaborate ceremonial costume. He holds a sceptre in his left hand, his right hand holds the mappa circensis - a ceremonial textile which was dropped to signify the start of the games. The scenes below Anastasius of small figures engaged in leading horses and other activities, may depict the games themselves. One of the men has a crab attached to his nose in what appears to be an act of comical endurance. An engraving of the other half of this diptych - once held in Berlin but destroyed during World War II, shows another man in a similarly unfortunate position.

368-1871