The monastery of Kokkinobaphos (eleventh/twelfth century)
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding Christ in her right arm. On left side the sigla: υ|̣ : [Θ(εο)]ῦ Μ(ήτη)ρ. Indecipherable traces of a circular inscription visible at right. Indeterminate border.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
ηκυρια
SκτSτορι
σατSστκ.
κκινοRαφ
μονSσ
ἡ κυρία (καὶ) κτητόρισα τῆς τοῦ Κ[ο]κκινοβάφ(ου) μονῆς
Obverse
Bust of the Virgin holding Christ in her right arm. On left side the sigla: υ|̣ : [Θ(εο)]ῦ Μ(ήτη)ρ. Indecipherable traces of a circular inscription visible at right. Indeterminate border.
Reverse
Inscription of five lines. Border of dots.
ηκυρια
SκτSτορι
σατSστκ.
κκινοRαφ
μονSσ
ἡ κυρία (καὶ) κτητόρισα τῆς τοῦ Κ[ο]κκινοβάφ(ου) μονῆς
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.1596 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 20.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 3, no. 51.1. See also Laurent, Corpus V/2, no. 1259. |
| Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
ἡ κυρία καὶ κτητόρισα τῆς τοῦ Κοκκινοβάφου μονῆς.
The sovereign and foundress of the monastery of Kokkinobaphos.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 3: West, Northwest, and Central Asia Minor and the Orient (Open in Zotero)
- La géographie ecclésiastique de l’empire byzantin, vol. 2, Les églises et les monastères des grands centres byzantins (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Le miniature delle omilie di Giacomo monaco (Open in Zotero)
- Codices Vaticani Graeci, Vol. 2, Codices 330-603 (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
Note that in the second, third, and fifth lines, the engraver produced S instead of Η, an error which we have tacitly corrected in transcribing the inscription. The first S of line 2 could also be read as an eta, resulting in the reading: ἡ κυρία ἡ κτητόρισσα. We assume that "Lady and Foundress" of the monastery refers to the Virgin.
The location of this monastery is unknown. It is listed here because C. Stornajolo (Le miniature delle omilie di Giacomo monaco [Rome, 1910], 5) and R. Devresse (Codices Vaticani Graeci II [Rome, 1937], 10) have postulated that it was located near Proussa in Bithynia. The monastery is well known due to a group of six sermons that the monk James of Kokkinobaphos authored and were illustrated in the 1130s (J. Anderson, "The Illustrated Sermons of James the Monk: Their Dates, Order and Place in History," Viator 22 [1991] 85). See Laurent, Corpus V/2, 178; Janin, Grands centres, 163.