Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GinoLR, post: 8096459, member: 128351&quot;][ATTACH=full]1407338[/ATTACH] </p><p>Byzantine Empire, anonymous follis (Constantinople, late 10th - early 11th c.). </p><p>Obv. +ЄMMA-NOVHΛ, facing bust of Jesus holding a book, in field IC - XC</p><p>Rev. +IhS<font size="6">u</font>S / XRISt<font size="6">u</font>S / bASILЄ<font size="6">u</font> / bASILЄ&#039;. (in a mixture of Greek and Latin letters).</p><p>The portrait of Jesus on the obverse is not fully frontal, there is more hair visible on the right side of his neck, and is the reproduction of an icon type called the <b>Pantocrator</b>. </p><p><br /></p><p>In the New Testament there is no physical description of Jesus Christ. In the early 3rd c. Tertullian even thought Jesus was ugly, that his beauty was inside (like Socrates). The oldest graphic depiction of Jesus we know is a drawing from Dura Europos (Syria) in the first half of the 3rd c.: Jesus is a young man with no beard and short hair. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1407341[/ATTACH] </p><p><font size="3">Dura Europos, wall-painting of the baptistry : healing of a paralytic. “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” (Mark 2:11). First half of the 3rd c.</font></p><p><br /></p><p>In the 4th c. Jesus was depicted the same way on Roman catacombs mural paintings, teaching among is disciples. Such depictions are influenced by traditional images of philosophers teaching. But, unlike Plato or Aristotle, Jesus looks young, younger than some of his pupils. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1407342[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">Rome, Catacomb of Domitilla. Jesus teaching (4th century).&nbsp; </font></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In the late 4th c. new images of Jesus show him with long hair and a beard. Why Jesus grew a beard is a matter of debate, for in 360-363 it was the emperor Julianus who had done it and was represented bearded on coins. The beard was the attribute of pagan philosophers, free spirits opposed to the dogmatic Christians, and in one of his speeches Julianus even called the Christian people of Antioch &quot;<i>misopogon</i>&quot;, &quot;enemy of the beard&quot;. The Christian emperors who succeeded Julian were all shaved. Despite this, in the 5th and 6th c., most of Jesus representations were bearded. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1407349[/ATTACH] </p><p><font size="3">Rome, Catacomb of Commodilla, bust of Christ. Specialists date this painting of the late 4th c. </font></p><p><br /></p><p>In the early 6th c. a new icon appears, which is called the <i>Pantocrator</i>: it is a bust of Jesus holding a codex. The bust is not 100% frontal, there is more of Jesus&#039; long hair visible on the right side than on the left. This not fully frontal facing portrait was perhaps influenced by the standard facing imperial bust on solidi from Constantius II to Anastasius. The name of the icon type comes from Revelation 1:8 : &quot; <i>I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty</i>&quot;, in original Greek &quot;<i>Pantocrator</i>&quot;, literally the universal lord. What the codex he holds may be is not clear : the Bible? The Gospels? The Book of Revelation? The book with the names of the saved?</p><p><br /></p><p>The oldest specimen of this icon is in St Catherine in Sinai and dates from the early 6th c. It was surely painted in Constantinople and may have been offered to the monastery by the emperor Justinian. </p><p><br /></p><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><p>[ATTACH=full]1407350[/ATTACH]</p></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p><font size="3">The <b>Pantocrator</b>, icon of the early 6th c. (according to most art historians). St Catherine Monastery, Sinai, Egypt. The dissymmetry of Jesus&#039; face is interpreted by some as symbolizing Jesus&#039; double nature, divine and human. It is one of the oldest known icons, predating the Iconoclast Crisis when all icons were destroyed in the Byzantine Empire. Ironically, the iconoclasts could not access churches and monasteries in lands already under Muslim domination, this is probably why this icon avoided destruction.</font></p><p><br /></p><p>In the following centuries the prototype of this icon would become Jesus&#039; official portrait, reproduced on coinage. The same Christ is seen with Abbot Mina on another one of the oldest known icons (6th-7th c.) from the Monastery of Baouit in Egypt. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1407351[/ATTACH] </p><p><font size="3">Jesus Christ and Abbot Mina, icon from the Monastery of Baouit, Egypt, 6th or 7th c. (Louvre). The bust of Jesus holding a book, not fully frontal, is inspired by the <i>Pantocrator</i>. </font></p><p><br /></p><p>In the late 7th c. this icon is represented on the obv. side of solidi of Justinian II (first reign, 685-695). Curiously, some time after, during his 2nd reign (705-711) Justinian II tried another icon on which a fully frontal Jesus had a short beard and a completely different hairstyle, but this alternative portrait was not very successful.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1407352[/ATTACH] </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1407353[/ATTACH] </p><p><font size="3">Solidi of Justinian II, first and second reign (not my coins)</font></p><p><br /></p><p>From the 10th c. until the present days the not fully frontal <i>Pantocrator</i> with long hair, like on the Sinai icon, has been the standard portrait of Jesus. We find it on Byzantine gold coins of the 10th c. and on the anonymous folles, later on mosaics of St Sophia and on innumerable frescoes and icons. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1407355[/ATTACH] </p><p><font size="3">The Pantocrator, mosaic of St Sophia basilica, Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey). 12th c. </font></p><p><br /></p><p>Please post your coins showing Jesus ![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in