[SeeSharp]

I am no expert but to me the art work looks Byzantine, not French.

[OldDeckHand]

"I am no expert but to me the art work looks Byzantine, not French. "

If it's not on crushed velvet with either Elvis or Dogs Playing poker as the subject, then I really have no idea what it is or when it was made.

[ArmyTeach]

I’m no expert, but it reminds me of a lot of European early midieval art. The colors , however, seem almost too vivid to be 900 years old. Just my ignorant observation ...

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

I agree, it does look Byzantine.

The bottom figure does indeed to be wearing the garb of a Roman legionnaire, and I wonder if that is not intended to be Constantine. The problem, though is that the figure under the horse looks moorish to me, which would be anachronistic.

Here is a statue of Constantine:

The top figure appears to be Christ.

The second row could be a bishop on the left, and a Christian King on the right (Charlemagne?)

[BlackVeil]

Thanks for posting the pic, and I agree - it looks Byzantine, or, as suggested in the article, Russian.

Maybe they are pushing a Templar connection in order to gin up interest in the sale.