Samuel, patrikios (?), 6th century. Seal (Lead, 18 mm, 7.00 g, 6 h). The Annunciation: on the right, the Mother of God seated left, holding distaff in right hand; on the left, the archangel Gabriel raising his right hand in a gesture of speech; star above.
Rev. Block monogram CAMOVHΛ ΠATPIKIOV (?). Apparently unpublished, but cf. Laurent, Vatican 218; Laurent, Corpus V.2 1083 bis; Zacos/Veglery 2951 and J. Cotsonis: Narrative Scenes on Byzantine Lead Seals (Sixth-Twelfth Centuries): Frequency, Iconography, and Clientele, in: Gesta Vol. 48, No. 1 (2009) pp. 55-86 (for other pre-Iconoclastic seals depicting the Annunciation). A very rare narrative scene on a splendid pre-Iconoclastic seal. Extremely fine.
From a European collection, formed before 2005.
In his study of narrative scenes on Byzantine seals, John Cotsonis records 54 seals with the imagery of the Annunciation. Of these, only nine can be dated to pre-Iconoclastic times. The figures on these early Annunciation seals are shown standing, with the angel on the observer’s right. Thus, our seal presents a rare iconographic variant in which Mary is seated on the right. Some researchers have suggested that Mary's righthand position reflects a position of higher importance and prestige, and that the reversal of the positions of Mary and Gabriel in early Christian art therefore may reflect her growing prestige within Christian orthodoxy. Indeed, in post-Iconoclastic times, the position of Mary to the right of the observer became the norm. Another prominent feature in early Annunciation scenes is the narrative element that Mary was spinning at the time of her encounter with Gabriel (which is absent in the Canonical gospels but is instead known from the protoevangelion of James). Most early depictions of the Annunciation prominently feature the distaff, thread and a basket of purple yarn. This seal does not show the basket, but Mary indeed appears to be holding a distaff
