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Anonymous (eleventh/twelfth century)

 
 

Obverse

The Mother of God standing on a suppedion, turned in three-quarters towards the left with her hands raised in prayer towards the manus Dei. Illegible remains of an inscription or sigla, and possibly of an epithet. Border of dots.

Reverse

St Theodore in military dress, standing, holding a sword upright in his right hand and the sheath (resting on the ground) in his left. Inscription in two columns: ̣|Θ|.Ο||̣|Ρ̣,: ὁ ἅ(γιος) Θ[ε]όδωρ(ος). Border of dots.

Obverse

The Mother of God standing on a suppedion, turned in three-quarters towards the left with her hands raised in prayer towards the manus Dei. Illegible remains of an inscription or sigla, and possibly of an epithet. Border of dots.

Reverse

St Theodore in military dress, standing, holding a sword upright in his right hand and the sheath (resting on the ground) in his left. Inscription in two columns: ̣|Θ|.Ο||̣|Ρ̣,: ὁ ἅ(γιος) Θ[ε]όδωρ(ος). Border of dots.

Accession number BZS.1947.2.1787
Diameter 17.0 mm; field: 10.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 7, no. 6.3.

Commentary

Usually when a standing military figure is depicted, he is shown holding a lance in his right hand and supporting a shield on the ground with his left. Of the 17 published examples of military figures holding a sword in the right hand and a sheath in the left, the majority belong to the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

Similar to Konstantopoulos, Βυζαντιακὰ Μολυβδόβουλλα, no. 727β.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 7: The Iconographic Seals (Open in Zotero)