★ An exceptional bust of St. Theodore ★

Theodosios, kastresios, 11th century. Seal (Lead, 31 mm, 22.40 g, 12 h). Θ / ΘV/ΔO-PV Nimbate facing bust of Saint Theodore, holding spear over his right shoulder and resting shield on his left arm. Rev. +AΓIЄ T૪ ΘY (?) ROIΘI ΘY/ΔOCIOC KA/CTPICIⲰ in four lines, decorations above and below. Unpublished in the standard references. An exceptional bust of St. Theodore on an impressive and intriguing seal. Good very fine.

The workmanship of this seal is "provincial" and leads to some problems in reading the legends. Firstly, the invocation in the first lines is uncertain. The name of the saint in a vocative is expected here ("O Saint Theodore"), but the legend seems to read AΓIЄ T૪ ΘY ("O Saint of God"). Furthermore, "Theo" in the names of Theodore and Theodosios is spelled ΘV, and there is a change in grammatical case from nominative "Theodosios" to dative "kastrisio". This office designated an official in the patriarchate who was responsible for the offerings. It is extremely rare on Byzantine seals.