Eastern or Western - that is the Question. Some Notes on the New Evidence concerning the Eastern Origin of the Halberstadt Diptych

Abstract

The Halberstadt diptych is a prominent example of late-antique official court art and of various kinds of expression of legitimation and power. In an article written in 1998, Alan Cameron attributed the diptych to Consul F1. Constans of 414, contradicting those who judged ita s having been commissioned by the western consul Fl. Constantius, who became consul only three years later. What may seem like a negligible difference in years is of significant consequence in that Cameron’s suggestion not only assigns the diptych a new date but, more importantly, postulates an eastern origin for it and raises wider questions in the history of art. In the following paper Cameron’s main argument will be refuted, while other arguments will be rehabilitated in favour of a western origin of the Halberstadt diptych.