Art Institute of Chicago
Solidus (Coin) of Basil I with Christ Enthroned
Byzantine, minted in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey)LinkedCulture matchlcp-6c5c620f14da
- Date
- 868–870
- Medium
- Gold
- Culture
- Byzantine Empire
- Department
- Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 36654
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
The imagery of Byzantine coins, as well as their use—or not—of religious imagery, reflects the different attitudes toward representation of divine figures as a result of the Iconoclastic (from the Greek eikon, or image, and klao, to break) Controversy, a fierce debate among Byzantine theologians over the appropriate role of images in religious worship that raged in Byzantium for over 100 years from about 730 to 843. In a radical departure from the numismatic imagery of iconoclast emperors, the coin of Basil I (reigned 867-886) has an image of Christ Enthroned on its front, along with an inscription proclaiming the heavenly ruler “King of Kings.”
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Gift of Emily Crane Chadbourne
- Provenance
- Emily Crane Chadbourne (1871- 1964), Paris, London, and Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1940.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300037334
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