Byzantine sigillography

Head of project :Prof. Dr. Werner SEIBT
werner.seibt@assoc.oeaw.ac.at

In co-operation with the Commission for Byzantine Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, a systematic photo library of preserved Byzantine seals - primarily lead seals, whereas gold, silver, wax and clay seals are less important in numerical terms - has been established and continuously expanded. Of an estimated 80,000 bullae, more than half have been photographed in Vienna (this is by far the largest relevant photo collection in the world!), of which more than 24,000 have already been analysed. Some of this material has been edited, but much of it has only been published inadequately or not at all. On this basis, methodological studies are being carried out (e.g. on the question of increasingly precise dating or the attribution of different seal types to a single person) as well as the historical, administrative-historical, historical-geographical and art-historical evaluation of these primary sources. A very high percentage of the seals have Greek legends, very often also pictorial representations. The legends can follow certain forms (ideally invocation, name, rank title, office or command, area of office and surname) or can also be metrically composed as twelve verses (whereby up to five verses appear on a single seal). In addition to larger and smaller publications (partly in international co-operation), the bibliography on Byzantine seal studies is also part of the project's agenda. Last but not least, the organisation of special exhibitions should be mentioned (the exhibition ‘The Byzantine Seal as a Work of Art’ was shown in the Bode Museum in Berlin in 1997/98 and is also to be presented in other cities).