ABSTRACT
Amongst the ‘wonderful things’ exhibited at the Royal Academy’s Byzantium 330-1453 exhibition in 2008-2009 were two ivory diptychs on loan from the Liverpool Collection: the Asclepius-Hygieia diptych dated to AD400-430; and the sixth-century Clementinus consular diptych (Figs 8.1, 8.2).1 Our knowledge of and interest in these two diptychs has focused on an examination of their historical value within their original historical context, as is apparent in the exhibition catalogue where the Asclepius-Hygieia diptych is described as an apotropaic object associated with a Roman religious cult of health and healing; and the Clementinus consular diptych is discussed as commemorative of the appointment in 513 of Clementinus to the office of consul to the city of Constantinople.2 However, the age and the history of these two diptychs, which has ensured the attachment of diverse and significant biographies, has allowed them to be repeatedly reinterpreted, redefined and ultimately reused over many centuries.3 The continuous recontextualisation and the rich transactional history of these two diptychs offers an opportunity to study not only changing attitudes to these objects but also earlier academic assessments which, arguably, still affect contemporary responses to Byzantine art.
