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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. Asymmetrical crosses potent at left and right. Wreath border.

Reverse

Three emperors standing: in center, Constantine IV, bearded; at left, Tiberios; 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. Asymmetrical crosses potent at left and right. Wreath border.

Reverse

Three emperors standing: in center, Constantine IV, bearded; at left, Tiberios; 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.1955.1.4259 (formerly DO 55.1.4259)
Diameter 27.0 mm
Previous Editions

DO Seals 6, no. 22.2; Zacos–Veglery, no. 14e (reign of Herakleios). Mentioned by Seibt, Bleisiegel, 77 and note 1.

Commentary

Although this seal could belong to Herakleios, Herakleios Constantine, and a relatively mature Heraklonas, Seibt is inclined to assign this specimen to Constantine IV and his brothers (as with BZS.1955.1.4260 and BZS.1955.1.4261), which this entry follows. The imperial faces are not oblong as BZS.1955.1.4260, but we see the same deeply etched beard hairs on the central figure’s face, and the obverse bears the same clumsy representation of the Mother of God.

The cross flanking the Mother of God at right is larger and is set higher than the one at left.

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)