The Emperor Triumphant, known as the 'Barberini Ivory', 500-550 AD (ivory)

gift to Cardinal Barberini from Claude Fabri de Peiresc, a scholar from Aix; on the back is a list of Barbarian kings and officials from the region; the only almost complete surviving leaf of an imperial diptych, each leaf of which was made up of five attached ivory units; centrepiece shows the triumph of a Roman Emperor, Anastasius (491-518) or Justinian (527-565) who is associated in the upper section, with the glorification of Christ; the horse rears over the female personification of the Earth, a winged victory reaches out to crown the rider, and an Asiatic prisoner is in tow; beneath, barbarians cower under the horse and in the side panels, generals carry miniature victories;