When was the Relief with Addorsed Ducks made?
This relief panel is thought to have been carved around the 9th or 10th centuries. Southern Italy at this time was under the rule of Lombard dukes of the principality of the Duchy of Benevento. The Holy Roman Empire ruled over much of Europe, including the rest of Italy, at this time. In 800, Pope Leo III, the head of the Roman Catholic church, crowned Charlemagne emperor. Charlemagne was known to have made the journey on Crusade to the Holy Land, and his reverence of luxury silks is infamous. Goods such as silks are the types of items Charlemagne and other crusaders would have returned home with from the Holy Land with the intention of displaying them for status or giving them as gifts.
The main trade routes from the eastern world passed through the Byzantine Empire or the Holy Land and onwards to coastal Italian port cities. Luxury goods from these foreign lands such as spices, dyes, and silks, were imported to Italy and then resold throughout Europe.
