1999.60: Seal of Athanasius I, Oecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1999.60

Title

Seal of Athanasius I, Oecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople

Classification

Seals

Work Type

seal

Date

1289-1309 CE

Places

Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Constantinople (Thrace)

Period

Byzantine period, Late

Culture

Byzantine

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/195087

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Lead

Metal

Pb

Technique

Struck

Dimensions

4.1 cm (1 5/8 in.)
unspecified: 42.05 g

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

George Zacos, Istanbul, Turkey, Collector.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, David M. Robinson Fund

Accession Year

1999

Object Number

1999.60

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

Obverse: Virgin Platytera seated facing on a large throne with high back, holding the Christ child on her knees.
left and right of Virgin's head, text in Greek (Mother of God)
Reverse: Greek inscription (Athanasios, by the grace of God Archbishop and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the New Rome)

Publication History

• Spink Auction 127: Byzantine Seals from the Collection of of George Zacos, Part 1., auct. cat., Spink & Son Ltd. (London, England, October 7, 1998), 19, cat. 24
• Ioli Kalavrezou, Byzantine Women and Their World, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2003), p. 64/figs. 22a, 22b

Exhibition History

• Byzantine Women and Their World, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/25/2002 - 04/28/2003

Verification Level