Anonymous (twelfth century, first half)
Obverse
Τhe Virgin orans with a medallion of Christ before her. Sigla: Μ̅Θ̣̅ : Μ(ήτηρ) Θ(εοῦ). Indeterminate border.
Reverse
St Sabbas the Bishop, blessing with his right hand and holding a gospel book with his left. Inscription in two columns: |Σ|Α|Α|Σ : ὁ ἅ(γιος) Σάβας. Indeterminate border.
Obverse
Τhe Virgin orans with a medallion of Christ before her. Sigla: Μ̅Θ̣̅ : Μ(ήτηρ) Θ(εοῦ). Indeterminate border.
Reverse
St Sabbas the Bishop, blessing with his right hand and holding a gospel book with his left. Inscription in two columns: |Σ|Α|Α|Σ : ὁ ἅ(γιος) Σάβας. Indeterminate border.
| Accession number | BZS.1955.1.1904 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 23.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals, no. 10.78. |
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 7: The Iconographic Seals (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
This figure of Sabbas on this seal (and on BZS.1955.1.1906), is clearly wearing an omophorion and holding a gospel book, the two attributes of episcopal iconography. Hence he is not to be confused with the more popular St Sabbas the Sanctified, the late fifth-early sixth-century monastic leader, whose image is found on a number of seals. St Sabbas the Bishop, represented here, may depict Sabbas, the bishop of Daphnousia, an island in the Black Sea. Nothing is known about him except that by the time of the compilation of the tenth-century Synaxarion of Constantinople, he is commemorated in the Byzantine Church on 2 May (SynaxCP, 650) (see also AASS, Maii, 1, 282). These two seals are very rare images of this saint. He is not found on any seals among the published collections.