c.7th century A.D. A sheet-gold plaque displaying the bust of Christ surrounded by a cross within a roundel at the centre, triangular pediment above with central Christian cross, flanked by Greek letters '??', roundels above to the sides, columns delineated with X-motifs below, horizontal lines of enigmatic Greek and Latin text repeating various letters; mounted in a glazed frame. Cf. Sannazzaro, M., Giostra C., Petala Aurea, Gold-Sheet-work of Byzantine and Lombard Origin from the Rovati Collection, Truccazzano, 2014, nos.18, 19, 21. 78 grams total, 10.1 x 10.1 cm including frame (4 x 4 in."). With Christie’s, London, 20 May 1981, lot 115. Property of a London gentleman. According the Roman Bishop Isidore of Seville, the bractea were 'Very thin sheets of gold.called bractea from the Greek term bremetos, which is onomatopoeic for clanging or the action of bratun (shaking or beating) the sheet of gold'. Roman and medieval manuals describe in great detail the work of the bractearii or gold beaters, capable of producing fine sheets of metal only one millimetre thick. They were used in goldsmithing or covering less noble materials, or thinned to produce foil for gold mosaic tiles, threads for precious embroidery or gold leaves for various techniques of gilding.Condition Report: Fine condition.