Byzantine Medallion featuring Saint Matthew,
Circa 1100,
Executed in Constantinople,
Gold, silver, and enamel worked in cloisonné
© The Metropolitan Museum, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Byzantine Medallion featuring Saint Matthew,
Circa 1100,
Executed in Constantinople,
Gold, silver, and enamel worked in cloisonné
© The Metropolitan Museum, New York, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist
Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus was walking on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’
Reflection on the Byzantine Enamelled Medallion
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Matthew, apostle and evangelist. Before meeting Jesus, Matthew was a tax collector. Tax collectors were notorious for being dishonest, greedy individuals, seen as working for the Roman oppressors. Tax collectors would often exploit taxpayers by exacting more than was required by the state and pocketing the difference for themselves. So their reputation was very negative, to say the least. And yet it is such a man that Jesus calls to be one of his disciples. Jesus can redeem anyone! But Matthew had to give his response to Jesus' calling. When Jesus first saw Matthew and said 'Follow me', Matthew's response was one of immediate obedience and enthusiasm. He abandoned his job and became one of Jesus' Apostles there and then.
Our enamel roundel dating to 1100, was executed in Constantinople and originally surrounded an icon of the archangel Gabriel. The medallions may have been sent as a gift from the Byzantine court to the neighbouring Christian state of Georgia. We see the saint holding his book of Gospels, and his other hand in an orthodox blessing pose. His halo features multicoloured crosses.
The technique used in our artwork is cloisonné enamelling. This metal-and-glass-working tradition thrived in the Byzantine Empire from the 6th to the 12th century AD. Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metal objects with coloured material (usually hardened liquid glass) that is held in place by incised recesses in the metal base. For example if you look at the letter ‘M’ on the right where there is a small area of missing hardened glass, we can see the incised recess. Note also the beautiful detailing of the frowning forehead of St Matthew.
The Byzantine Empire also mastered a technique using thinner wires, to compartmentalise even smaller areas for colour decoration. Look at the saint’s cloak for example which features these thin metal wires.
Saint Matthew, pray for us.
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This medallion reminds of something that happened years ago. Whenever a relative needs help packing or unpacking after/before a move it has always been my job to handle the ‘china’ as we call it. My husband’s grandmother, Emily, had moved from California down here to Texas . There were more than two dozen boxes of ‘china’. There was all sorts of stuff…plates, cups, gold and silver cutlery of all kinds, nick-nacks, jars, every imaginable kind of ‘china’. Several boxes contained pieces of cloisonne’. It was fabulous ! So many beautiful objects ! I asked Emily where she had gotten all this cloisonne’ ? She told me her sister, who was an art collector and antiques dealer in San Francisco had left it to her when she passed. It took me all day to unpack everything and put it away in this huge china closet she had brought, and all about the house. It was a truly magnificent collection, and so beautiful to look at. Sadly, she passed not long after. When it came time to clean up her house I was called upon to pack up the ‘china’ as usual. It was a job I was not looking forward to. When we got there I immediately saw that my job would be a pretty easy one. Most of the china was gone. I looked for the cloisonne’. Every piece was gone. I asked my mother in law, what happened ? She explained to me that two of Emily’s granddaughters had flown down here from CA and had taken most every single thing in the closet and a lot of her clothing and jewlery, and whatever else they took a fancy to. Then they left. It made me very sad that people, especially middle aged women could do something like that. No reverence or love for Emily, just outright thievery; didn’t even stay for the funeral. They came and went so fast we didn’t even know they were there. I hope they got a good price for what they took. Every time I see a carrion crow, I think about those two women.
Mooi begin van verhaal maar zo triestig. Respectloze kleindochters …
I’ve heard of such behaviour before when people die. One cousin brought a huge pantechnicon down to her brother’s house and emptied the house out overnight! He had left stuff to others but they never gor their bequests!
Greed, pure and simple. I am no longer surprised by such stories.
It no longer surprises me howlow some people can fall.
Very sad and yet not shocked Carol! ‘This too will pass,’ comes to mind! My aunt who also collected beautiful China and art left it all to my family! I could not bring myself to choose the most expensive pieces. There is nothing pleasant about picking over a dead person’s stuff as that is what it is -stuff! I chose some pretty bags as they are personal items. One such bag, she used to bring the blessed candles to the Chapel..still has the whiff of wax- I love it and think about the numerous journeys they made together ❤️
The first thing that came into my head when I first saw this beautiful image at 0600 today, was a likeness to the Wise Old Elf in the children’s series Ben and Holly; if you had or have had young children in your world over the last ten years you may be familiar with that image and, in particular, the exaggerated, askance glance. Such expressions are usually associated with disapproval or distrust if the on-line dictionaries are to be believed. Maybe he’s looking at his former colleagues.?But, we need tax collectors, straight ones that is, because without them we wouldn’t have all the public services that we sometimes take for granted.
I’ve had a busy few days with my Uncle’s funeral in Guernsey. It was ostensibly a humanist celebration of life but at least my “free church” cousin managed to get a wooden crucifix at the head of the coffin. I have kept tuned into CA, enjoying all your dialogue and mutual repair. I think I self-actualised on the Centurion’s helmet and the gentle nature of the soldier in the gospel. My experience of soldiers is that their acceptance of the risks of their profession makes them highly suitable to be a force for good! We named our son Julius, after the pianist Julius Drake, which made buying Christmas and birthday presents easier – lots of helmets!
I reflected on Chazbo’s free day and ended up asking what my Uncle would have done with an extra one – he was 85? From the eulogy I gleaned that puzzles and crosswords were his thing, and listening to Stan Getz whose rendition of “If I should ever leave you” did the job on anyone who’d held it together up to that point. He had a spectacular sense of humour and would have laughed out loud when the celebrant started to read the wrong eulogy, like he did when I was sat next to him in a hearse 20 years ago and we went to the wrong cemetery! And defo the tea!! God bless you all,
John
Fijn dat u mooie herinneringen kunt koesteren aan uw oom ! Humor blijft toch zo belangrijk. Groeten.
That was an interesting and an unusual story. I’m afraid I’m unable to suppress a rather strange element of my brain now which many find very irritating. Are you sure your free church cousin attached a crucifix to the coffin or was it just a cross? A crucifix must have the corpus of Christ affixed to it and tends to be a Catholic emblem. Apologies for the pedantry.
I didn’t explain that well enough. It was a freestanding cross mounted on a base and placed on the floor at the head of the coffin. Sorry for confusion there.
Two things structure about today’s reading
The word (saw). And the way Jesus and the way The Pharisees. Saw . The same action but the different kind of seeing
The word said Jesus words follow his way of seeing In contrastThe words the Pharisees follow the way they saw the same person.
I pray the Jesus will help me to see and speak in his way.
This is my first contribution andI am so grateful to you all for your thoughts, questions and prayers
Welcome Spider!
I was just thinking how good it is to see new names ☺️
Love the name Spider.. bienvenue !
The gospel story today makes sinners sound like a profession, bracketed with tax collectors! When we’re feeling our failings most, when we are “sick”, that’s when Jesus is most there for us. And when others are in need, physically or spiritually, that’s when we’re called on to show mercy. The amazing thing about mercy – or acts of compassion and forgiveness – is that “it is twice blessed, it blesseth him that gives and him that takes”. (Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice).
I love the medallion, where we can see the hard work involved, the wrestling with materials, the technique. Preparation to produce an icon involved prayer and fasting, and permission from the abbot, demonstrating the seriousness of undertaking such holy work.
Dear St. Matthew, if Jesus could call and transform him, may He do the same for us.
It’s gloriously sunny here today, for me that is always a blessing. May we all be blessed today, and may we show mercy wherever we can, for that is what Jesus wants us to do .
Amen
Morning All, I would love to know more about the art work too. Why is he frowning?
The gospel is quite matter of fact. But I’m in awe of the allure of Jesus that Matthew would leave his lucrative post and follow Him.
St Matthew help us to follow the Lord unconditionally.
Amen
Fabulous image today. Truly beautiful.
The fact that Matthew gets up – seemingly without a word – and follows Jesus is also quite amazing!
And in his own words- so must have happened this way.
‘Let us like them without a word rise up and follow Thee.’
Yes Patricia this strikes me too! Reminds me of the prodigal son when the father sees him in the distance, he immediately goes and gets ready! Or Our Lady’s response to the Angel Gabriel. Dear Lord, please give us the courage to immediately accept your will!
What a beautiful thing. It reminds me of Yeats poem Sailing to Byzantium, and these lines:
‘O sages standing in God’s holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.’
‘Lord help me to follow you today, show me the way and I will try, like Matthew, to cast aside all other thoughts but You.’
Tremendous lines from Yeats, and thank you, too, for your prayer, SFG, which is poem-like.
Thankyou Noelle- I am just back from a coffee and a walk with an old friend- she has had a tough time recently so we were comparing notes. The Lord has put us back in touch with each other I think! Later I will be welcoming a group of Anglican women to my church. I can feel this strengthening of bonds between Christians and what a good thing that is!
I wish we would do that more..
‘make though our sad divisions soon to cease’
Triple amen!
Good morning from Glasgow where I have accompanied my husband to collect some of the transistors he has had made here in Scotland! Please don’t ask me anything about the technology as I can’t really understand any of it but I had just been admiring this detailed work on the medallion when my husband brought me a transitor to look at and I was so delighted by the similarity in technologies – tiny wires with infill and both using gold!
Has anyone here seen The Chosen? They portray Saint Matthew as being autistic, with a concern for detail and maths. I think that would be an understandable trait of a tax collector? The decoration on St Matthew’s gospel cover looks very binary and coincidentally like this transistor or a even a calculator or a laptop. Not that the makers of this beautiful object could’ve known of such things.
I don’t know his eyes woukd be looking so starkly to his right? It feels like the makers didn’t want him to meet our gaze but maybe he is indicating we should keep our eyes on the future or what is around us, alert to Christ and not himself? That’s just a guess.
Thank you for St Matthew’s gospel and for all those who have been converted, inspired and encouraged by its words. What a gift!
What a very interesting comparison. Beauty becomes apparent in the practical work of the electronics industry and can be compared to the artistic efforts of a Byzantine medallion maker. God’s inspiration shines out in random places and times for our enlightenment.
What an interesting connection, or should I say connections, between the medallion and the transistor. It raises a broad topic relating to the similarities between technology and art, and whether God’s hand is behind innovations and creativity. Surely sometimes yes, and sometimes no.
It all belongs to Him, I believe, the whole of Creation, natural and man-made. How can it be other? I don’t think the devil is so poweful?
Let’s hope not, in fact we know he is not.
All praise and glory be HIS Mark.. it is by the grace of God that we have our God-given gifts and talents.
Hello Pauline. We’ve been following The Chosen, and I love the portrayal of Matthew, he is the most distinctive of the disciples, and gave up the most in worldly terms. So interesting, too, about the transistor, thank you.
We need to always keep our eyes focused on Jesus. Isn’t the image very clever then if that was actually the reason for them not being centred!
I love the Chosen Pauline and especially the portrayal of Matthew, he is funny, sweet and truly adorable! If he was the typical tax collector, then truly God can redeem any of us hence the sick needing the doctor!
Saint Matthew! I’m up early but hope to go back to bed soon! Please smile on us today and inspire us to get up from what we’re doing and follow Jesus!
I have a day ahead with little arranged. What should I do to advance the Kingdom of God? I’ll sleep on it for a bit.
Personally I start with a cup of tea. Basic question I know, however, can anyone comment please on the positioning of the eyes in the Medallion? Thanks. Graham.
Morning Graham. Interesting point. The best explanation I can find is that you are not invited into a relationship with the saint, he is a portal to God, so is directing his and our gaze away from this world to the heavenly one… other explanations may be available! 🌻
I like this one!
If thé medallions surrounded a larger icon,MThe saints would have their eyes turned towards the central,subject.
Good point….
Ah thanks for that Noelle. I guess directing my gaze to where it should be!
If it was me with a day like this (I hope to have at least one soon!)This is what I would do: Pray, ring an old friend I haven’t spoken to in a while, go to see a relative I don’t particularly like, go to mass in a different church, visit a cathedral, talk to people in the shops, talk to a homeless person and buy them a sandwich, pray again. The possibilities are endless Chazbo- I’m sure if you pray first the Lord will find you something to do!
Let us know what happened.
Indeed, nice list. It’s a tiny mission of mine to really engage with shop assistants. All my relatives live at a distance, but I shall ring my brother, no use waiting for his call! It’s quite a trek to visit our local cathedral, but it’s on our to-do list; and am planning to visit my oldest friend to go to mass together in her church…..
I always greet the security guard in M&S as he must be bored witless standing around all day. So much food and drink being shoplifted he says….
Great minds Noelle! Hearts and souls too!
🌻⭐
I took ny old dog Stella to the vet for a once over. She’s pretty good for 15 the vet said!!
Dogs are animals which comes from the Latin word ‘anima’ meaning soul. I never knew that until recently.
So far cleared up after the dog in the bedroom and took them for a walk. Next stop Church of the English Martyrs to try and rope them into our foreign currency initiative. Then cup of coffee. Sort out MOT.
I’m just wondering if I am trivialising CA website?
In lock-down I wrote down the following message and still have it in my kitchen, ‘Nothing is trivial!’ It can all be offered up for the glory of God.
Thank you SFG. I hope the Anglican ladies are impressed with your church. Our local Anglican church is led by an ex Dominican friar. He went off the Catholic Church big time I hear. God bless him.
I read yesterday that there are upwards of 300 ‘churches’ now in the States, started by erstwhile Catholics. Pope Francis not happy and said OUR church is their true home and we need to welcome all shades of Catholic.
Some say Francis is divisive? I don’t know. He’s hard on traditionalists and Latin Mass people both of which I quite like. Our parish is quite ‘middle stump’ as John Betjeman would say. Dignified and not super liberal. Our parish priest is rather clever which is good and is a very good preacher.
✔🌻
Absolutely not Chazbo.. I love the day-to-day stories that people share here, for me it makes us more like a family and allows us to grasp the essence of our personalities! You often make me LOL Chazbo! That can only be a good thing .. IMHO!😅🤣😂
🙂
The fact that you want to means that you will😊
How about, “Lord what can I do today to bring you glory?”