Leo Semnos archithytes (=metropolitan) of Naupaktos (twelfth century)
Obverse
The Virgin standing holding Christ. On either side, the sigla: ̅ΘΥ̅: Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of six lines, decorations above and below. Border of dots.
ΑΡΧΙΘΥΤ
ΛΕΟΝΤΑΝΑΥ
ΠΑΚΤΟΥΣΚΕΠΟΙΣ
ΣΕΜΝΗΜΕΣΕΜΝΟ
ΝΗΠΑΝΥ
ΤΟΣΚΟΡΗ
Ἀρχιθύτην Λέοντα Ναυπάκτου σκέποις, σεμνή με Σεμνόν, ἡ πανύμνητος Κόρη.
Obverse
The Virgin standing holding Christ. On either side, the sigla: ̅ΘΥ̅: Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of six lines, decorations above and below. Border of dots.
ΑΡΧΙΘΥΤ
ΛΕΟΝΤΑΝΑΥ
ΠΑΚΤΟΥΣΚΕΠΟΙΣ
ΣΕΜΝΗΜΕΣΕΜΝΟ
ΝΗΠΑΝΥ
ΤΟΣΚΟΡΗ
Ἀρχιθύτην Λέοντα Ναυπάκτου σκέποις, σεμνή με Σεμνόν, ἡ πανύμνητος Κόρη.
| Accession number | BZS.1958.106.1 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 37.0 mm; field: 33.0 mm |
| Previous Editions | DO Seals 2, no. 6.1. Laurent, Corpus V/1, no. 680. Cf. Wassiliou-Seibt, Siegel mit metrischen Legenden I, no. 145. |
Translation
Ἀρχιθύτην Λέοντα Ναυπάκτου σκέποις, σεμνή με Σεμνόν, ἡ πανύμνητος Κόρη.
Revered and all-hymned Virgin, may you watch over me, Leo Semnos, metropolitan of Naupaktos.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, vol. 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, south of Asia Minor
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin, vol. 5, L’Église
- Les regestes des actes du patriarcat de Constantinople
- Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae
- Nikopolis und Kephallenia
- Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden Teil 1: A - M
Commentary
The inscription consists of two dodecasyllabic verses. Note the play on words in the owner's name, Semnos ("revered," "august," "holy") and the epithet used of the Virgin.
Laurent rightly identified the owner as the metropolitan of Naupaktos Leo who signed a synodic letter of 5 May 1172 (Grumel, Regestes, no. 1125). He had not deciphered the family name, Semnos, which is also attested in an inscription set up in Naupaktos by this same metropolitan Leo (cf. Νέον Ἀθήναιον 4 [1963] 153). The metropolitan church of Naupaktos was dedicated to the Virgin and this may explain the choice of iconography of the obverse: cf. B. Katsaros, in Byzantina 13/2 (1985) 1522-26.