Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/04/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Greetings! In 692 AD at the Quinisext Council in Constantinople, Canon LXXXII established, according to the epitome, "Thou shalt not paint a lamb for the type of Christ, but himself." The Byzantine emperor was Justinian II, and the empire's coinage consequently depicted Christ as a human figure. <http://photos.csd.net/justinian_ii.html> was minted during Justinian II's first reign. This portrait of Christ misses the mark "himself" as it is likely based on the Greek sculptor's, Phidias's statue of Zeus from Olympia, made about a millennium before and one of the wonders of the ancient world. Mouse over the coin's image to see the reverse, or click for a larger image. This coin and the next are about 19mm diameter, 4gms mass. The coin's reverse depicts Justinian II. The Phidias image of Christ appears to have become the standard as one can see from a WP image of a wall painting at Hagia Sophia made centuries later, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Byzantinischer_Mosaizist_um_1020_001.jpg> During Justinian II's second reign another coin was minted, perhaps a more realist depiction of Christ, <http://photos.csd.net/justinian_ii_2a.html>. On the reverse, Justinian II is on the left, Tiberius on the right. Similar mouse functions on the image. C&C welcome! Best, John