The New Monastery of Kosmas Tzintziloukios (eleventh century)
Obverse
The Virgin seated on a throne, holding medallion of Christ before her and resting her feet on a suppedion. The throne, made entirely of cannonball design, with its legs visible, has a high back and a round cushion with triple tassel at the end(s). Inscription: ̅ΘΥ̅ : Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. Border of dots.
Obverse
The Virgin seated on a throne, holding medallion of Christ before her and resting her feet on a suppedion. The throne, made entirely of cannonball design, with its legs visible, has a high back and a round cushion with triple tassel at the end(s). Inscription: ̅ΘΥ̅ : Μήτηρ Θεοῦ. Border of dots.
Reverse
Inscription of six lines (preceded and?) followed by an ornament. Border of dots.
ΣΦΡΑΓ,
.ΗΣΝΕΑΣ
.ΟΝΗΣΤ
...ΣΜΑΤ
...ΝΤΙ
ΛΚΙΟΥ
Σφραγὶς τῆς Νέας Μονῆς τοῦ μοναχοῦ Κοσμᾶ τοῦ Τζιντζιλουκίου
Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.2894 |
---|---|
Diameter | 23.0 mm; field: 20.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 1, no. 60.1a. |
Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
Σφραγὶς τῆς Νέας Μονῆς τοῦ μοναχοῦ Κοσμᾶ τοῦ Τζιντζιλουκίου.
Seal of the New Monastery of the monk Kosmas Tzintziloukios.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of the Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and at the Fogg Museum of Art, Vol. 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea (Open in Zotero)
- Actes du Prôtaton (Open in Zotero)
- Le Corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin (Open in Zotero)
- Actes d’Esphigménou (Open in Zotero)
- Byzantine Lead Seals, Vol. 2 (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
This seal comes from a different boulloterion than the smaller BZS.1955.1.5074 and BZS.1955.1.5073.
A monastery of the Virgin Tzintziloukiotissa, situated in the Rhodopes, close to Mosynoupolis, is attested in 1294, probably founded in the mid-eleventh century by the monk Kosmas Tzintziloukes, presumably the same one who tonsured Michael IV (1041) and drafted the second typikon of Mount Athos in the name of Constantine IX Monomachos (1045): see Prôtaton, 101 ff. We also know the personal seal of this Kosmas Tzintziloukes (Laurent, Corpus V/2, no. 1271). It is probable that the image of the Virgin represented on both boulloteria reproduced the icon of the Virgin Tzintziloukiotissa, mentioned in a document of 1294: Esphigménou, app. E.