Octagonal pendant
'The pendant consists of a decorative frame, a separately made suspension loop, and a double solidus of Constantine the Great set in a large mount.
The medallion was issued in Nicomedia in AD 324. The obverse shows the emperor's left profile. He wears the radiate crown, cuirass, and paludamentum, raises his right hand in salutation, and holds a decorated globe in his left. The legend 'D N CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG' encircles the bust.
On the reverse the consular busts of two Caesars face each other. Crispus is on the left and his younger half-brother, Constantine II, on the right. Each of them holds a globe and an eagle-tipped scepter, which cross. The legend reads 'CRISPVS ET CONSTANTINVS NOBB CAESS COSS III.' In exergue: SMN.
The frame is made of sheet gold cut to form an octagon with slightly scalloped edges that were thickened and reinforced by cutting notches from the corners and bending the metal over. A punched perforation along the rim creates the impression of a beaded wire border. The same decorative device was used for the edge of the molded bezel that holds the coin, which is set into a circular opening in the center of the pendant. A second bezel, also molded but with a plain edge, secures the coin, which was inserted from the back. Soldered to the upper edge of the pendant is a broad cylindrical suspension loop whose edges are reinforced by a molded frame made from gold sheet with a notched border toward the inside. The visible part of the loop is decorated in openwork with two running tendril scrolls separated by a stylized branch. On the back, it continues as a plain broad strip that covers the width of the decorative frame down to the bezel.
The octagonal frame is completely decorated with a dense pattern of a floral motif rendered in openwork. Eight miniature busts in high relief, set against a plain roundel reserved in gold (about 1.7 cm in diameter), are integrated into the design. A beaded wire ring and a molded frame surround each roundel. Only a small area along the outer edge and a zone of about 0.4 cm around the central bezel are left plain. Illegible traces of a scratched inscription, obliterated by abrasion, are obvious in this zone, close to the tondo on the top left. The octagonal shape of the pendant and the eight tondi evenly spaced around the central medallion determined the design of the openwork. The main element consists of two narrow leaves with engraved details, one pointing outward, the other inward. Placed exactly between the tondi, each double leaf is the central axis of a lyre-shaped ornament formed by tendril scrolls that develop into volutes and spirals. Running tendril scrolls fill the remaining areas and lead to petal-shaped ornaments set in the tips of the angles of the octagon.
The openwork design was carefully planned before manufacture. First, the center (not yet opened) was marked, and then a grid of concentric and vertical lines lightly incised on the surface. Vertical lines radiating from the center divided the surface into at least sixteen sectors, eight of them determining the axis of each decorative motif, and eight connecting the central mark with the points of the octagon. Concentric lines helped define the exact place of all horizontal details. As a next step, the outlines of the tendril scrolls were integrated into the grid.
The surfaces are remarkably smooth and the shapes have a formal clarity. With few exceptions the faces are oval with pointed chins, and forehead and nose form a straight line. The large eyes, which gaze out into space, are treated three-dimensionally and, despite the minute size, so detailed that tear ducts are often indicated. A single stroke of a domed punch created the large pupils, exact circles that recede just under upper eyelids, and the perfect roundness gives each face a very intense expression. Pronounced curved lines form the lids. The mouths are small, and the lips slightly parted in most cases. The elongated necks are also noteworthy. Male busts feature an Adam's apple, females Venus rings.
The facial expressions and the postures give an impression of elegance, dignity, and a certain pathos. The busts alternate between male and female, and each is paired with one on the opposite side of the double solidus. The corresponding heads turn toward each other without actually looking at each other. While the heads turn toward the center, the bodies are directed outward, and the resulting torsion, emphasized by the elongated necks, creates the impression that the figures stopped moving suddenly.
The busts:
No. 1: boy in a tunic, almost facing front. The remarkably individual features betray a certain coarseness: short forehead with protruding eyebrows, bulging eyes set deep into their sockets, flat nose with flaring nostrils, round cheeks, broad mouth, and small chin. The short wavy hair hangs down, just covering the ears.
No. 2: young woman, draped and chin lifted, almost facing front without looking at the viewer. Her hair, arranged in soft waves, is parted in the center and carried low over the temples and the tips of the ears. The features are delicate, marked by a classic profile, large eyes, and a softly molded lower face. The triangular element with a deep incision in the center on top of her head seems to be the tip of a crown tress, a hair style for women that was popular from the mid-third century onward.
No. 3: young male in a three-quarter view, cloak draped over one shoulder, perhaps one of the classical heroes. He has an oval-shaped face, lofty forehead, arching eyebrows, a classic profile, large eyes, and a small mouth. The hair is fashioned from large, irregularly arranged spiraled locks standing out in high relief.
No. 4: young round-faced female, draped, facing the viewer. Her wavy hair is parted in the center, brushed back, and gathered on the top of her head. The head has no identifying features but fits well into the common repertory of mythological female representations in the broadest sense.
No. 5: nude youth in a near-profile view, looking down slightly. Under a Phrygian cap, decorated with minute embossed dots representing stars, locks of hair in high relief frame the forehead and temples. The nose is straight, the large eyes deep-set. Chin and mouth are small, the neck sturdy. Attis (a supreme solar deity), Orpheus (mythical singer and son of the muse Calliope), and Aeneas (Trojan leader in the Iliad, hero of the Aeneid, and mythological founder of the Roman state) are the most likely candidates.
No. 6: female, draped in a chiton and possibly a cloak, in a three-quarter view, her gaze fixed forward (fig. 3f). The most prominent features of the face are the high forehead and large eyes with pronounced curved upper lids, classic profile, small mouth with full lips, and energetic chin. Parted in the center, the hair is brushed back in generous strands, covering the ears. A large crown tress with incised details on both sides and in the center covers the top of her head.
No. 7: young male, nude, in three-quarter view, chin slightly lifted. His short wavy hair, parted in the center, recalls portraits of Alexander the Great. The facial features are delicately rendered, the expression determined by large eyes and pronounced eyebrows.
No. 8: young female, draped, in a three-quarter view, head inclined slightly downward. Long strands of wavy hair cover her ears and seem to be arranged in a set of large curls on the top of her head. The large eyes under sharply dropping eyebrows create a melancholy expression.
The pendant's decoration - the imperial portrait in the center, the floral ornaments rendered in openwork covering the surface, and the eight busts - form a carefully composed unit. The light-and-shadow effects of the dense openwork contrast markedly with the shiny surfaces of the coin and the busts, which resemble satellites around the portrait of Constantine I.'
