Marble slab with braided cross and standing animals

Material: Marble
Date range: Late 11th - Early 12th century AD
Origin: Athens, likely (related to the Athenian Sporgites family)

This marble slab is a component of a church screen (templon), featuring a central braided cross in high relief. The cross is intricately woven, terminating in loops at the ends of the arms, and stands beneath a decorative arch formed by a band of relief braiding, which is supported by two stylized columns with capitals. Inside the arch, flanking the head of the cross, are two circular medallions containing the Christogram monograms IC (Iēsous) and XC (Christos).

Below the cross's horizontal arms, the slab is decorated with scenes of fauna. On the left and right, small, stylized standing animals (possibly deer or gazelles) are depicted, feeding or drinking from small plants, which is a common Christian symbolic representation of the soul seeking God. A vertical, partially visible Greek inscription runs along the right edge of the slab. This slab, along with a companion piece (BXM 1050), has an inscription that refers to the renovation of the church screen by the Athenian Sporgites family during the Late 11th to Early 12th century AD.

Museum label reference: Inscribed marble screen-closure slabs decorated with relief composite crosses. Verse incomplete inscription on the banded frame of the two slabs refers to renovation of the church screen by members of the Athenian Sporgites family. Late 11th–early 12th c.

Original Text: Μαρμάρινα ενεπίγραφα θωράκια τέμπλου με ανάγλυφη διακόσμηση σύνθετων σταυρών. Έμμετρη ελλιπής επιγραφή στο ταινιωτό πλαίσιο τους που αναφέρεται σε ανακαίνιση του τέμπλου του ναού από μέλη της αθηναϊκής οικογένειας Σποργίτη. Τέλη 11ου-αρχές 12ου αι. ΒΧΜ 1049, 1050

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