Nomos AG
obolos 25 23 Oct 2022
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Anonymous, time of Romanus IV, circa 1068-1071. Follis (Bronze, 26 mm, 8.39 g, 6 h), Constantinople. IC - XC Nimbate bust of Christ Pantokrator facing, raising right hand in benediction and holding scroll in left. Rev. (MHP) - ΘV Bust of the Virgin Mary, orans, facing. DOC G.1-28. SB 1867. A lovely, high-grade example of the type. Nearly extremely fine.
The iconography of the types on this coin has specific meaning beyond the simple statement that the Byzantine Empire was a Christian state. Christ Pantokrator (Greek: the Almighty) was the heavenly patron of the emperor, extending him the sacred right to rule. The Virgin Mary was the divine protectress of Constantinople. Her icon located at the Church of Blachernae, which was painted in encaustic and had mixed with the pigmented wax the ashes of several sixth century saints, was considered miraculous in that it had on several occasions saved the city from destruction by the Sasanian Persians and the Muslim Arabs.
The iconography of the types on this coin has specific meaning beyond the simple statement that the Byzantine Empire was a Christian state. Christ Pantokrator (Greek: the Almighty) was the heavenly patron of the emperor, extending him the sacred right to rule. The Virgin Mary was the divine protectress of Constantinople. Her icon located at the Church of Blachernae, which was painted in encaustic and had mixed with the pigmented wax the ashes of several sixth century saints, was considered miraculous in that it had on several occasions saved the city from destruction by the Sasanian Persians and the Muslim Arabs.