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Constantine IV, Herakleios, and Tiberios (668–81)

 
 

Obverse

The Mother of God standing, wearing a chiton and maphorion, and holding Christ, who is framed by an oval mandorla, before her. Her left leg is bent at the knee. Small, asymmetrical crosses potent at left and right. Wreath border.

Reverse

Three emperors standing: in center, Constantine IV, bearded and with mustache; at left, Tiberios, beardless; and at right, Herakleios, beardless. Each figure wears a crown with a cross and a chlamys, and holds a globus cruciger in his right hand. Each emperor wears his hair long at the sides and curled, and his sidelocks are combed downward and outward. No inscription. Wreath border.

Obverse

The Mother of God standing, wearing a chiton and maphorion, and holding Christ, who is framed by an oval mandorla, before her. Her left leg is bent at the knee. Small, asymmetrical crosses potent at left and right. Wreath border.

Reverse

Three emperors standing: in center, Constantine IV, bearded and with mustache; at left, Tiberios, beardless; and at right, Herakleios, beardless. Each figure wears a crown with a cross and a chlamys, and holds a globus cruciger in his right hand. Each emperor wears his hair long at the sides and curled, and his sidelocks are combed downward and outward. No inscription. Wreath border.

Accession number BZS.1955.1.4261 (formerly DO 55.1.4261)
Diameter 27.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 6, no. 22.3; Zacos–Veglery, no. 14d (reign of Herakleios). Mentioned in Seibt, Bleiseigel, 77 and note 1.

Commentary

Although this seal could belong to Herakleios, Herakleios Constantine, and a relatively mature Heraklonas, this entry follows Seibt in assigning it to Constantine IV and his brothers (as with BZS.1955.1.4260 and BZS.1955.1.4259). Christ appears within a well defined oval mandorla. The modeling of the Mother of God’s figure is crude. The faces of the imperial trio are oblong. The central figure’s visage is severe and has well defined facial hair.

The cross flanking the Virgin at right is set higher than the one at left, which has an elongated central shaft.

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)
  • Die byzantinischen Bleisiegel in Österreich, Vol. 1, Kaiserhof (Open in Zotero)