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Irene (1118-1143)

 
 

Obverse

Christ seated on a high-back throne, wearing a tunic and himation and holding the right hand in blessing and a book in the left. His feet rest on a dais, the border of which is ornamented with pellets. He has a nimbus cruciger. Sigla: ΙΣ̅ΧΣ̅ : Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς Χ(ριστό)ς. Border of dots.

Reverse

The empress Irene standing on a dais, wearing a high crown and a loros ornamented with a device in the shape of a triangular shield. She holds the right hand before her and a scepter terminating in a trefoil ornament in the left. Inscription in two columns (with accent marks). Border of dots.

εἸ|ΡΉ|ΝΗ|ἩΕὐ|ΣΕΕΣΆτ,|Αὐ|Γ́|,

Εἰρήνη ἡ εὐσεβεστάτ(η) αὐγούστ(α)

Obverse

Christ seated on a high-back throne, wearing a tunic and himation and holding the right hand in blessing and a book in the left. His feet rest on a dais, the border of which is ornamented with pellets. He has a nimbus cruciger. Sigla: ΙΣ̅ΧΣ̅ : Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς Χ(ριστό)ς. Border of dots.

Reverse

The empress Irene standing on a dais, wearing a high crown and a loros ornamented with a device in the shape of a triangular shield. She holds the right hand before her and a scepter terminating in a trefoil ornament in the left. Inscription in two columns (with accent marks). Border of dots.

εἸ|ΡΉ|ΝΗ|ἩΕὐ|ΣΕΕΣΆτ,|Αὐ|Γ́|,

Εἰρήνη ἡ εὐσεβεστάτ(η) αὐγούστ(α)

Accession number BZS.1951.31.5.43
Diameter 30.0 mm; field: 24.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 6, no. 90.2; Zacos-Veglery, no. 106.

Translation

Εἰρήνη ἡ εὐσεβεστάτη αὐγούστα.

Irene, most pious augusta.

Commentary

Based on the form of the ligature of O and V, this seal and BZS.1958.106.490 must date after the 1130s, and so we may eliminate an attribution to the wife of Alexios Komnenos. Zacos and Veglery preferred an attribution to the wife of John II. Confirming this identification is a mosaic in Hagia Sophia in which this empress is shown with an inscription identical to the one on this seal.

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)