Anonymous (Justin I [519 or 522?–27])
Obverse
Bust of an emperor turned three-quarters to the right, wearing a plumed helmet with a diadem and a cuirass. One can discern the fingers of the right hand grasping what should be the shaft of a spear held transversely behind the head. In the left hand the figure holds a shield decorated with a stylized representation of a horseman striking a fallen enemy. No epigraphy. Wreath border.
Obverse
Bust of an emperor turned three-quarters to the right, wearing a plumed helmet with a diadem and a cuirass. One can discern the fingers of the right hand grasping what should be the shaft of a spear held transversely behind the head. In the left hand the figure holds a shield decorated with a stylized representation of a horseman striking a fallen enemy. No epigraphy. Wreath border.
Reverse
An angel wearing a long chiton, standing, facing forward, on a horizontal line and holding in the right hand a globus cruciger and in the left a long staff. No epigraphy. Wreath border.
Accession number | BZS.1955.1.4234 (formerly DO 55.1.4234) |
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Diameter | 21.0 mm; field: 18.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 6 no. 3.1; Zacos-Veglery, no. 1 bis (Justin I?) |
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 6, Emperors, Patriarchs of Constantinople, Addenda (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 1 (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Coins (Open in Zotero)
- Catalogue des monnaies byzantines de la Bibliothèque nationale (Open in Zotero)
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Vol. 1, Anastasius I to Maurice (491–602) (Open in Zotero)
- Money of the Incipient Byzantine Empire (Anastastius I–Justinian I, 491–565) (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
The representations on the obverse and reverse of our seal very closely resemble the iconography found on gold coinage of Constantinople issued under Justin I between 519 (or 522) and 527. During the reign, the characteristic identifying the reverse female figure as Victory, a high girdle below the breasts, was substituted by a tunic, therefore identifying the figure as an angel. See the remarks of Grierson, Byzantine Coins, 52; cf. BNC 1:35. The change reflects, as Hahn observes, the transformation of a pagan representation into a Christian one. Bellinger dated this change to 519; Hahn (Money, 32) prefers a date of 522. In addition to this, that the angel on the reverse of this seal stands on what can only be considered an exergual line is a further reflection that the seal’s design is coin inspired.