Rare fragment of a marble, pâte de verre and gilded... Lot 4

Rare fragment of a marble, pâte de verre and gilded glass mosaic depicting a saint's head. Very slightly turned to the right, the head of a young woman with her hair up and her bust draped in the antique style. Byzantine art, Greece, 11th / 12th century H. 24 - L. 22 cm (very slight damage, minor restorations) Provenance : - Former private collection, Netherlands, since 1980 (attested by notarized document) This mosaic fragment, with its elegant, refined style, belongs to the post-iconoclastic production that flourished following the Council of Nicaea in 787, which authorized but regulated the cult of images. However, it wasn't until the arrival of Patriarch Photios of Constantinople (c. 820 - c. 897) that church walls and ceilings began to be decorated with biblical scenes, angels and saints, reaching the classical idealism of the Middle Byzantine Empire, as can be seen in the mosaics of the Daphní monastery in Greece.