Nomos 24

BYZANTINE SEALS, Ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople. Jeremias III, 1716-1726 or 1732-1733. Seal or Bulla (Lead, 58 mm, 160.00 g, 12 h), from a Patriarchal Sigillion. MHP-ΘΥ /ΙC XC Nimbate and draped half-length bust of the Mother of God, her right hand raised in blessing and holding the nimbate and draped infant Christ, seated within the crook of her left arm, holding the Gospels with his left hand, and stretching out his right towards his mother; in the fields to left and right, flowers and tendrils. Rev. IEPEMIAC EΛΕΩ ΘΥ/ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙCΚΟΠΟC : ΚΩ/ΝCΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥΠΟΛΕΩC : ΝΕΑC / ΡΩΜΗC Κ ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙ/ΚΟC ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΗC / [AΨ??] = Jeremias by the Will of God, Archbishop of Constantinople the New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch in six lines; above, branch flanked by flowers. Extremely rare. An impressive piece with a rough, brown-grey patina. Minor rough area on reverse, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

From a Swiss collection.

Seals of the 110 Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople who were elected after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by the Ottomans are rare. How rare? So rare that the Vatican archive has only one (Laurent, Vatican, 155 of Patriarch Neophytos VII), and not a single example has been on the market for more than thirty years. As a matter of fact, due to the absence of comparable material, it can be very difficult to assign seals of patriarchs with the same name to the specific patriarch who issued them. For example, there were several possible Jeremias who could have issued this seal: Jeremias I (1522-1524 and 1525-1546), Jeremias II Tranos (1572-1579, 1580-1584 and 1587-1595), Jeremias III (1716-1726 and 1732-1733), and Jeremias IV (1809-1813). Luckily, however, while the artistry and inscriptions on patriarchal seals was more-or-less stylised, it did change over time: thus, it seems clear that this seal was produced neither in the 16th nor the 19th centuries, we can actually be sure it was made in the 18th. While the fact that this seal was dated would obviously help, the problem is that the date is mostly off the flan and illegible; however, the palaeography of the inscription is so close to that of a published seal of Patriarch Gabriel III (1702-1707), preserved in the Soteras Monastery on the Greek island of Skopelos, that it is clear that this piece can only be of the patriarch Jeremias III.