The Offering Figure on the Imperial Pyxis at Dumbarton Oaks: Origin and Legacy of the Gift of the Urban Model

The Byzantine ivory pyxis at Dumbarton Oaks shows a procession of musicians and dancers culminating in a youth offering the model of a city to an imperial group. Among the main interpretations of the scene, Kurt Weitzmann proposed the offering of Constantinople to the Kantakouzenos family, whereas Nicolas Oikonomides opted for the donation of Thessaloniki to John VII Palaiologos as the reflection of the political agreement with Manuel II in 1403. These readings aside, the gift of a fortified element alludes to the tribute of a city to a sovereign, who takes over its defense. Coins and sculptures of the 3rd century AD reveal the origin of the iconographic theme in a broader sense, showing images of tychai and other personifications holding architectural models. In the Byzantine world, besides literary occurrences and the mosaic of Constantine the Great in Hagia Sophia, 13th century coins struck in Thessaloniki took on the visual legacy of the type. The further step was the codification of the iconic portrait of the saint holding the urban model and acting as the city’s patron, as testified by Western medieval art and numismatics. The scene on the Dumbarton Oaks pyxis attests the survival of a widespread image that has its roots in antiquity, as revealed also by the insertion of a peacock under the architectural model.