The Ciborium of Proconsul Grgur

Circa 1030
Zadar Archeological Museum, Zadar, Croatia

A ciborium stands over an altar, marking off the sacred space in which Christ is believed to manifest himself in the liturgy. Inside the ciborium, thus, is the space of safety and salvation. Outside is the space of worldly perils, here symbolized by lions attacking their prey.

This ciborium was originally in the Cathedral in Zadar. It has an inscription: "O Peter, prince of princes / keeper of the gates of Heaven / of my devotion accept the modest / gift that I have promised / proconsul Grgur the insignificant / by that name I go / give me with a gentle heart / for so little, so many gifts in return"

Here is a detail photograph of the upper left corner:
View the ciborium photograph in full resolution.
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Photographed at the museum by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.