★ The Monastery of Hosios Loukas (?) ★

The Monastery of Hosios Loukas (?), 2nd half of 11th century. Seal (Lead, 24 mm, 14.58 g, 12 h). MHP - ΘV Nimbate Mother of God “Episkepsis”, raising both hands in prayer, medallion of Christ in front. Rev. O O/[C]C / ΠHP / H-M/Ⲱ/N / Λ૪/K/A ("Our father, the Saint Loukas") Saint Loukas facing, nimbate, wearing monastic garments, holding a cross in his right hand. Unpublished in the standard references. A highly interesting iconographic seal. Pierced and minor surface roughness, otherwise, very fine.

From an important collection of Roman and Byzantine seals, tesserae and amulets, formed before 2021.

The saint on the reverse is depicted in monastic attire and may be identified as either St. Luke of Steiris, also known as Luke the Wonder-worker, who founded the monastery of Hosios Loukas approximately 20 km southeast of Delphi in Greece. This monastery, still standing today, is renowned for its remarkable Byzantine mosaics. Alternatively, the figure may represent St. Luke the Stylite, an ascetic who spent 45 years on a pillar near Chalcedon. This seal likely belonged to an institution dedicated to one of these saints, perhaps in fact to the monastery of Hosios Loukas.