★ The Baptism of Christ ★

Damianos, 6th-7th centuries. Seal (Lead, 22 mm, 9.10 g, 12 h). The Baptism of Christ: Christ, wearing nimbus cruciger, kneeling in center, being baptized by John the Baptist, nimbate, standing left; to left, angel standing right; above, dove flying downwards. Rev. Cruciform monogram ΔAMIANOV. Unpublished in the standard references. A well preserved seal with an extremely rare biblical scene. Good very fine.

From an American collection, ex Leu Web Auction 15, 27-28 February 2021, 2659.

Depictions of the Baptism of Christ are extremely rare on Byzantine seals. Zacos/Veglery 2938 is a seal contemporaneous to ours that belonged to a person named Johannes. It has the same scene on its obverse, but the figures of John and the angel are reversed. Another anonymous seal with the Baptism scene was published by Jordanov, Corpus III, 2388.