I just received a handsome
Byzantine seal from the chancery of
Justinian I. It measures approximately 21.22 mm and weighs 9.88 g. On the
obverse, the is a
nimbate bust of Justinian, a partial incription including NI to the left of the
bust and ANVSPPA to the right of the
bust. On the
reverse is Winged
Victory advancing, wearing a long
chiton and holding a
victory wreath in each hand. Crosses to the right and left.
Border of dots.
It is similar to several in the
Dumbarton Oaks collection - modestly I think that my example is a
bit better preserved.
Dumbarton Oaks commented about this series of
seals as follows
One could argue on the basis of the depiction of Justinian as a
nimbate facing
bust that this seal and others were issued after 538. A facing
bust first appears on solidi issued by Justinian between 538 and 545. On issues of earlier date the emperor’s
head is turned slightly to the right; he holds a spear behind the
head. But this criterion has problems. To our knowledge, there are no
seals of Justinian with this design. Accordingly we must admit the possibility that none were ever struck and that from 527 onward the chancery regularly employed
seals bearing a representation of the emperor as a facing
bust. Then there is the matter of Justinian’s
nimbus. On solidi issued during the joint reign of
Justin I and Justinian (4 April 527–1 August 527) the two emperors are shown seated and
nimbate (see, for example,
DOC 1:1a [pl. 12]). One could maintain that Justinian’s
nimbus is rooted in a tradition stemming from gold emissions of April to August of 527 and that the use of the
nimbus for decoration on
seals was present early in Justinian’s reign. A
nimbate Justinian is not unknown among coins struck during
his sole reign. Although
rare, there is the case of the famous
medallion with triumphal scene stolen from the
Paris Collection in 1831 (see
MIB 1: p. 46, and pl. 14, no. 1. In addition there is a special issue of silver coinage struck at
Constantinople after the issuance of silver was reorganized in 537. On these specimens the emperor is shown
nimbate standing with a spear (see
MIB 1: p. 55 and pl. 18, nos. 42–45; also BNC 1:4/Cp/AR/3–4; pl. 10). If the
nimbus on
seals is linked to coin decoration, one could point to these silver issues and reasonably suggest that their influence took hold after 537, but such an argument is hardly conclusive. Finally, Justinian is depicted with a
nimbus on
glass weights. See, for example,
Schlumberger, “Poids de verre,” 333, no. 39. The image of Winged
Victory holding a
wreath is encountered on tremisses issued by Justinian between 527 and 565. With the addition of crosses the
reverse of this seal has become somewhat more “
Christian” than the
reverse of the
tremissis.
Pogh_poor
