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(The monastery) of (Christ) Philanthropos (twelfth century)

 
 

Obverse

Bust of Christ holding a book. At left and right: ΙΣ̅ΧΣ̅ : Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς Χ(ριστό)ς. Circular inscription: οφιλανθρπος: Ὁ Φιλάνθρωπος. Border of dots.

Reverse

Half-length representation of the Mother of God holding her hand, palm outward, before her. At left and right: ̅ΘΥ̅ : Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.

Obverse

Bust of Christ holding a book. At left and right: ΙΣ̅ΧΣ̅ : Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς Χ(ριστό)ς. Circular inscription: οφιλανθρπος: Ὁ Φιλάνθρωπος. Border of dots.

Reverse

Half-length representation of the Mother of God holding her hand, palm outward, before her. At left and right: ̅ΘΥ̅ : Μή(τη)ρ Θ(εο)ῦ. Border of dots.

Accession number BZS.1955.1.4936
Diameter 33.0 mm; field: 22.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 5 no. 56.4a; Laurent, Corpus 5.3: no. 1909 (accession no. misidentified). For another similar specimen, see Sig., 139–40 (= Laurent, Corpus 5.2: no. 1183 = Shandrovskaia, "Sfragistika," 811).

DO Seals 7, no. 1.14.

Commentary

Epithets accompanying images of Christ and the Mother of God in various media begin to appear in the eleventh century. The published collections contain eight known specimens with an image of Christ Philanthropos, all of them dated to the twelfth century. These seals have traditionally been connected with the monastery of Christ Philanthropos, situated near the Blachernae Church, which was founded about the year 1107 by the empress Irene, the wife of Alexios I Komnenos: Janin, Églises: 525–27. The attribution of this seal to the monastery is not certain, however, and it may have been issued by an individual with a particular devotion to the images of Christ and the Mother of God engraved on the obverse and reverse respectively.

Bibliography

  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 5: The East (continued), Constantinople and Environs, Unknown Locations, Addenda, Uncertain Readings (Open in Zotero)
  • Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Sigillographie de l’Empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
  • Sfragistika (Open in Zotero)
  • Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 7: The Iconographic Seals (Open in Zotero)