From the Harvard Art Museums’ collections Solidus of Michael III and Theodora, Constantinople

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1951.31.4.1209
People: Issued by Michael III, Byzantine (r. 842 - 867)
Augusta Theodora, Byzantine (r. 830 - 856)
Title: Solidus of Michael III and Theodora, Constantinople
Classification: Coins
Work Type: coin
Date: 843 (?) -856 CE
Places: Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Constantinople (Thrace)
Period: Byzantine period, Early
Culture: Byzantine
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/168614

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Gold

Metal

Technique

Struck

Dimensions

4.42 g

Die Axis

Denomination

solidus

Inscriptions and Marks

Obverse Inscription: IhSYSX RISTOS*
Reverse Inscription: +MIXAHLSThetaE OdeltaORA

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number: DOC 3.1, 2.2 (p. 463)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore
Accession Year: 1951
Object Number: 1951.31.4.1209
Division: Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact: am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu; The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description: Obv.: Bust of Christ (Type Vc) facing, bearded, with cross behind head, wearing tunic and himation; r. hand raised in gesture of blessing in front of body, l. hand holding a book from beneath.

Rev.: Two busts facing, Michael on l., bearded, wearing chlamys and crown with cross; Theodora on r., larger, wearing loros and crown with pendilia, two pinnacles and cross. Above, cross.

Publication History

Alfred R. Bellinger, ed., Catalogue of Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection (Washington, D.C, 1992), vol. 3, part 1, 463, cat. 2.2, pl. 28

Ioli Kalavrezou, Byzantine Women and Their World, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2003), p. 96/figs. 37a, 37b

Exhibition History

Byzantine Women and Their World, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/25/2002 - 04/28/2003

Subjects and Contexts

Collection Highlights

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu