Art Institute of Chicago

Solidus (Coin) of Basil I with Christ Enthroned

Byzantine, minted in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey)

Date

868–870

Medium

Gold

Culture

Byzantine Empire

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

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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