Anonymous (eleventh century)
Obverse
Half-length figure of St Prokopios in military costume holding a lance in his right hand and a shield in his left. Inscription in two columns: ||Ρ̣Ο̣|Ο|Ι|Ο : ὁ ἅ(γιος) Προκόπιο(ς). Border of dots.
Reverse
Half-length figure of St Theodote holding a small cross in her right hand, the left hand is indistinct, possibly raised before her breast. Inscription in two columns: Η|Α|ΓΙ|ΑΘΕ̣|Ο̣|Ο|Τ, : ἡ ἁγία Θεοδότ(η). Border of dots.
Obverse
Half-length figure of St Prokopios in military costume holding a lance in his right hand and a shield in his left. Inscription in two columns: ||Ρ̣Ο̣|Ο|Ι|Ο : ὁ ἅ(γιος) Προκόπιο(ς). Border of dots.
Reverse
Half-length figure of St Theodote holding a small cross in her right hand, the left hand is indistinct, possibly raised before her breast. Inscription in two columns: Η|Α|ΓΙ|ΑΘΕ̣|Ο̣|Ο|Τ, : ἡ ἁγία Θεοδότ(η). Border of dots.
| Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.3550 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 27.0 mm; field: 23.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 7, no. 16.80. |
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 7: The Iconographic Seals (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The depiction of female saints in general is less common than that of male saints on seals and that of Theodote is extremely rare. Among the major published collections, of 11,506 seals with religious figural imagery, she appears only once: Jordanov, Bulgaria 3, 2586A. On our seal, Theodote holds a small cross indicting her status as a martyr. The SynaxCP, 1093, records twelve saints named Theodote, eight of which are martyrs. In his alphabetical listing of Orthodox saints, Eustratiades, Ἁγιολόγιον, 176-177, lists nine saints named Theodote, eight of which are martyrs. None of these are connected to Saint Prokopios so it is impossible to determine which Theodote is represented. In the hagiographical literature, the mother of Prokopios is named Theodosia, and she, too, died as a martyr along with her son. Possibly the owner of our seal erroneously confused the names Theodote and Theodosia. The letter T at the end of the right-hand column of her inscription is clearly present, thus properly identifying the figure.