The Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst is housed in the Bode-Museum, part of the ensemble of prestigious museums on the Museuminsel Berlin. Skulpturensammlung is one of the largest collections of ancient sculpture in the world (early Middle Ages to the late eighteenth century), with works from the German-speaking countries, France, the Low Countries, Italy and Spain. The collection includes works by legendary sculptors such as Donatello, Tilman Riemenschneider, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini and Andreas Schlüter.

The Museum für Byzantinische Kunst is a collection of Late Antique sarcophagi and sculpture from the Eastern Roman Empire, and ivory carvings from post-pharaonic, early Byzantine Egypt.

The works presented in this volume are amongst the most prized by the museum's director, who combines expertise with a refreshingly personal perspective to invite the reader to experience them through new eyes.