1st Edition

The Religious Figural Imagery of Byzantine Lead Seals I Studies on the Image of Christ, the Virgin and Narrative Scenes

By John A. Cotsonis Copyright 2020
340 Pages
by Routledge

340 Pages
by Routledge

340 Pages
by Routledge

The articles republished in this volume are ground-breaking studies that employ a large body of religious figural imagery of Byzantine lead seals ranging from the 6th to the 15th century. A number of the studies present tables, charts and graphs in their analysis of iconographic trends and changing popularity of saintly figures over time. And since many of the seals bear inscriptions that include... Read more

Introduction

I: IMPERIAL & PATRIARCHAL SEALS

1. To Invoke or Not to Invoke the Image of Christ on Byzantine Lead Seals. That is the Question

2. The Imagery of Patriarch Methodios I’s Lead Seals and the New World Order of Ninth-Century Byzantium

3. The Imagery of Patriarch Ignatios’ Lead Seals and the Rota Fortunae of Ninth-Century Byzantine Ecclesio-Political Policies

4. A Seal of Patriarch Nicholas II

II: VARIOUS RARE IMAGES OF THE VIRGIN ON SEALS

5. The Virgin with the 'Tongues of Fire' on Byzantine Lead Seals

6. The Virgin & Justinian on Seals of the Ekklesiekdikoi of Hagia Sophia

7. The Virgin Aigyptia (the Egyptian) on a Byzantine Lead Seal of Attaleia

8. The Image of the Virgin Nursing (Galaktotrophousa) and a Unique Inscription on the Seals of Romanos

9. The Virgin Lysiponos ("The Deliverer from Pain") on a Byzantine Lead Seal and the Transformation of a Marian Epithet

III: NARRATIVE SCENES ON SEALS

10. Narrative Scenes on Byzantine Lead Seals (Sixth-Twelfth Centuries): Frequency, Iconography, and Clientele

11. An Early Byzantine Lead Seal with the Image of the Incredulity of Thomas

Biography

John A. Cotsonis is Director of the Archbishop Iakovos Library at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA, a Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and a Byzantine art historian specializing in the iconography of Byzantine lead seals. He is the author of Byzantine Figural Processional Crosses which is regarded as the standard work on the subject.