The representation of the eagle on lead seals and its provenance


Published: Jul 6, 2011
Keywords:
Early Byzantine period 6th-8th centuries sceptre eagle lead seals semiotics consular office Zachos Collection Numismatic Museum of Athens
Ιωάννα ΚΟΛΤΣΙΔΑ-ΜΑΚΡΗ
Abstract

The representation on the eagle with its wings opened and towards the sky on sceptres is fairly common for a large number of lead seals that are dated between the 6th and the 8th century. The consultation of the sources, pictorial, archaeological and historical connects the eagle with the consular office. The depictions of birds, an iconographic subject that was linked with special connotations from Antiquity to the Early Byzantine period attest to the survival of an old Roman emblem. The representation of the eagle retained its semiotics as a symbol of divine will and imperial power during the Early Byzantine period.

 

 

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