★ A beautiful seal of the Methodioi ★

Niketas Methodios, 11th century. Seal (Lead, 24 mm, 11.70 g, 12 h). MHP -ΘV The Mother of God “Blachernitissa”, nimbate, raising both hands in prayer. Rev. +NIKH/TAN AΓNH / [T]ON MЄΘO/ΔION CKЄ/ΠOIC ("Maiden, may you protect Niketas Methodios") in five lines. Wassiliou-Seibt, Corpus 1474. A beautiful represtentation of the Virgin. Nearly extremely fine.

From the G. Boersema collection.

As Wassiliou-Seibt notes, Methodios usually only occurs as a personal name, since as a family name, it is extremely rare. In fact, our Niketas and a contemporaneous relative of his named Nikolaos are the only attested Methodioi.