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Seal XL 32
- Record Id:
- 040-002208854
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 036-002208850
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000140.0x00011a
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100147472520.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Seal XL 32
- Title:
- Seal of the empress Theodora Ducaena Palaeologina
- Scope & Content:
-
Lead seal, on the obverse the Mother of God seated on a low backless throne (thokos) covered with cushion, wearing a tunic (chiton) and a veil (maphorion), and holding the Child, nimbate, on her lap; traces of sigla on either side; border of dots (?). On the reverse, the empress Theodora Ducaena Palaeologina standing, wearing a high crown with pendants and a long scarf (loros), and holding a scepter in the left hand; a very few traces of Inscription in two columns on either side; border of dots. The state of preservation of the seal hinders the description of the iconography in greater detail and the reading of the inscription on the reverse: the comparison between the modern photo and the image published by W. de Gray Birch shows a dramatic decay of the seal. The reading of the inscription has been established on the basis of Birch's catalogue.
Obverse: Μήτηρ Θεοῦ.Reverse: Θεοδώρα εὐσεβεστάτη αὐγούστα Δούκαινα ἡ Παλαιολογίνα.
Translation: Obverse: Mother of God. Reverse: Theodora Ducaena Palaeologina, most pious empress (augusta).
For a specimen of the same issuer see also Seal CXLVI 52 in this collection.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Detached Seals and Casts
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002207963
036-002208850
040-002208854 - Is part of:
- Seal XXXV.196-CCIX.1 : Detached Seals
Seal XL.29-33 : LEADEN bull of-Heraclius I. and Heraclius Constantine [613-641]. Michael VII. Ducas [1067-1078]. Constantine Lakapinus…
Seal XL 32 : Seal of the empress Theodora Ducaena Palaeologina - Hierarchy:
- 032-002207963[0110]/036-002208850[0004]/040-002208854
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Seal XXXV.196-CCIX.1
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 seal
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- Greek, Ancient
- Scripts:
- Greek
- Start Date:
- 1259
- End Date:
- 1282
- Date Range:
- 1259-1282
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Lead.
Diameter: 35 mm.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Nicaea or Constantinople.
Provenance:
Theodora Ducaena Palaeologina, empress (augusta), c 1240 (?)-1303.
Transferred from the Department of Coins and Medals in 1864.
- Publications:
-
Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum in the Years 1854-1875, 2 vols (London: British Museum Trustees, 1877), II, p. 821.
Walter de Gray Birch, Catalogue of Seals in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum, 6 vols (London: British Museum Trustees, 1887-1900), V (1898), p. 5, no. 17,463 (with photo at the end of the volume, plate I).
George Zacos, and Alexander Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals (Basel: J. J. Augustin 1972), pp. 114-115, no. 122.
Erich Trapp, Rainer Walther, and Hans-Veit Beyer (eds), Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, 12 vols and 2 Addenda (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1976-1995), IX (1989), no. 21380.
Werner Seibt, and Marie Louise Zarnitz, Das byzantinische Bleisiegel als Kunstwerk: Katalog zur Ausstellung (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1997), pp. 61-62, no. 1.3.3.
John Nesbitt, Catalogue of Byzantine seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, 6, Emperors, patriarchs of Constantinople, Addenda (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2009), pp. 195-196, no. 105.
Dumbarton Oaks, Online Catalogue of Byzantine Seals, , nos. BZS.1947.2.370, BZS.1951.31.5.1701, BZS.1958.106.641, BZS.1955.1.4359 [accessed: 27 April 2021].
Metadata provided by the cooperation among Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR8167 – Orient & Méditerranée, équipe Monde Byzantin, and the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at the Institute of Classics of the University of Cologne. The publication of this item is currently in preparation by the abovementioned team.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Related Archive Descriptions:
- Seal CXII 23
Seal CXII 24