Anonymous, 4th century. Pendant (Glass, 17 mm, 0.95 g). Adam and Eve standing beside the Tree of knowledge of good and evil, around which serpent is coiled. Rev. Blank. C. Entwistle and P. Corby Finney: Late Antique Glass Pendants in the British Museum, in: C. Entwistle and L. James (eds.): New Light on Old Glass. Recent Research on Byzantine Mosaics and Glass. London 2013 - . Wolfe/Sternberg Auction XIII (1989), 264 and 265 (still attached to its original bronze earring). A rare and interesting type of late Roman pendant. Very fine.



This scene of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is rarely found in late Roman iconography. It appears on a group of late Roman glass pendants from the 4th century, many of which are amber-colored, including our example. These pendants also feature several biblical narrative scenes that were quite beloved among early Christians, such as stories of Jonah and Daniel, the sacrifice of Isaac, Christ as the Good Shepherd and Christ teaching the apostles. The Old Testament scenes may well have been commissioned by Jews, as the prohibition on graven images was by no means universal in the Jewish diaspora. Furthermore, there are many pendants showing a menorah.