BEFORE Constantine the Great in the4th century became the first Christian

to rule the Roman Empire Christianswere persecuted and needed to maintaina low profile. In the following centuriesthey were free to make pictures of JesusChrist and other characters in the Christ-ian story including Mary, the mother of

Jesus. These icons became very popularespecially during the Byzantine Periodfrom about 500 AD to the fall of Constan-tinople in 1453. But during the reign ofthe Byzantine emperor Leo III (717-741)there was a reaction against them. Itwas felt that by making icons they weredisobeying the Second of the Ten Com-

mandments which forbad the making ofimages of anything in heaven or on earth.During this Iconoclastic Period icons

COINS and ICONSHow ancient coins influenced Christian images

by Peter E. Lewis

Icon of Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai, Egypt. Tempura. Author Iacovos Moskos. Image Wikimedia Commons.

Figure 1 – St Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Desert.(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Joonas Plaan)

Figure 2 – Icon of Christ in St Catherine’sMonastery. Painted wooden panel, 6th century.(Wikimedia Commons)

were destroyed everywhere except inremote parts of the empire such as themonastery of St Catherine in the SinaiDesert. (Figure 1) The destruction oficons lasted on and off until 842 whenTheophilus, the last iconoclastic emperor,

died. The result of all this is that thereare very few icons in existence today thatwere made before 842.

The oldest of these early icons datesfrom the 6th century. It was found in StCatherine’s monastery and shows Jesusholding a book of gospels with his lefthand and blessing with his right hand.(Figure 2) The image is similar to thaton the obverse of a gold coin issued dur-

ing the first reign (685-695) of the Byz-antine emperor Justinian II. (Figure 3)As the icon was made before the coin theimage on the icon must have influencedthe image on the coin. In other cases it ismore likely that the image on the coinsinfluenced the image on the icons. A good example of a coin influencing an

icon is the bronze coin of Theodora, thestep-mother of Constantine the Great.

Figure 3 – Gold solidus of Justinian II (1st

reign, 685-695) showing Christ on the obverseand the emperor on the reverse. (Numismat-ica Ars Classica, Auction 29, Lot 700)

Figure 4 – Bronze coin of Theodora minted at Trier. (Inumis Mail Bid Sale 28, lot 296) Figure 5 – Ivory plaque in the Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht. (Wikimedia Commons)

(Figure 4) It was issued by Constantine’sthree sons during the period 337-340. Itshows a bust of Theodora on the obverse,and on the reverse a woman standsholding a child. The legend on the rev-erse is PIETAS ROMANA (Roman Piety).The image on the reverse is similar tothe icon known as the Virgin Hodegetria.‘Hodegetria’ means ‘she who points theway’. This icon was very popular in theByzantine Empire. It was said that theoriginal was painted by St Luke in the

Holy Land and brought to Constantinopleby Eudocia, the wife of the emperor Theo-dosius II (418-450). Unfortunately it hasnot survived but an ivory plaque fromthe period 940-960 and a metal plaquefrom the 12th century show a full-lengthfigure of Mary, which was probably howshe appeared on the original paintedicon. (Figures 5 and 6) The full-lengthfigure appears on a silver miliaresion ofthe Byzantine emperor Romanus III(1028-1034). (Figure 7) Later copies ofthe Virgin Hodegetria show only a half-length figure of Mary. (Figure 8)When the image on the reverse of Theo-

dora’s coin is compared with the otherimages there are some striking similar-ities. The woman holds her right forearmalmost horizontally and seems to begesturing towards the child on her left

arm. It could well be that Theodora’s coinwas the prototype of the icon of theVirgin Hodegetria.

Figure 6 – Copper plaque foundin the loft of Torcello Cathedral in Venice.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 7 – Silver miliaresion ofRomanus III showing the Virgin Hodegetriaon the reverse. (Classical Numismatic Group,

Triton VIII, Lot 1441)Figure 8 – Madonna and Child icon by Berlinghiero of Lucca

made in about 1230. (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 9 – Gold medallion of Fausta.(Photocopy of Figure 641 in Roman Coins

by J.P.C. Kent)

Medallions could also influence icons.There is a beautiful gold medallion ordouble-solidus issued by Constantinethe Great that has the bust of Fausta,his second wife, on the obverse. On thereverse Fausta sits on a throne andholds an infant in her arms. Felicitasstands on her right holding a caduceus,and Pietas stands on her left. Below themtwo small figures hold wreaths. (Figure9) The medallion was probably minted inabout 321 on the occasion of the birth ofFausta’s youngest son, Constans. Whenthe medallion is compared with a 6th

century icon of Mary holding the infantJesus, which is in St Catherine’s Monas-tery, the similarities are obvious. (Fig-ure 10) Fausta and Mary both have halosand both are holding the infant in thesame way. The figures on either side of

Mary are Christian saints and the twosmall figures have become angels movedup above the saints. The legend on thereverse of the medallion is PIETASAVGUSTAE (The piety of the Augusta,i.e. Fausta). Although PIETAS is usuallytranslated as piety, the word had aslightly different meaning at the time.It was a word with a range of meanings,but in general it meant a sense of duty.As this involved all aspects of Romanlife, the word was virtually equivalentto Roman religion. Because of this leg-end and the Christian triumphalismthat pervaded the Roman world at thetime, Christians who later saw one ofthese medallions would have thoughtthat the woman and child were Mary andthe infant Jesus. On the obverse Faustais named in full: FLAVIA MAXIMA

FAVSTA AVGVSTA, and she was, ofcourse, married to the Christian emperor. There is also an ivory diptych that

was made in Constantinople in the mid-sixth century. (Figure 11). It must havebeen influenced by Fausta’s medallion(Figure 9) and by the image that pre-dated the gold coin of Justinian II (Fig-ure 3) because in the left panel Christappears as on the coin, and in the rightpanel Mary and the infant Jesus appearas on the medallion. The diptych is inthe Bode Museum in Berlin. The Egyptian goddess Isis was very

popular throughout the Roman Empire.In Egypt she was worshipped togetherwith her husband Osiris (god of theUnderworld) and her son Harpocrates,also known as Horus. Isis nursing Har-pocrates was common in Egyptian stat-uary and they appear on coins of Hadrian(Figure 12) and Antoninus Pius (Figure13). On coins Isis was often paired withthe Ptolemaic god Sarapis (Serapis) ason a coin minted at Colossae in Phrygiain about 200 AD. (Figure 14) AlthoughSt Paul wrote a letter to the Christiansin Colossae in the 1st century Isis wasapparently still being worshipped therein the 3rd century. The image of Isis nursing Harpocrates

was influential in Palestine because dur-

Figure 10 – Icon known as ‘The Theotokos and Child with Saints and Angels’ in St Catherine’s Monastery. Painted wooden panel, 6th century. (Wikimedia Commons)

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Continued overleaf

ing the reign of the Roman emperorGordian (238-244) it appears on a coinof Nysa-Scythopolis, an important cityin the region, but on this coin the seatedwoman is Nysa and she is nursing theinfant Dionysus, the god particularly wor-shiped in Nysa-Scythopolis. (Figure 15)After the Jewish Revolt and the destruc-tion of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70AD Rome became the centre of Christi-anity in the Roman Empire, and everyyear on 5th March there was a festival ofIsis in Rome. The goddess arrived byship from Alexandria, and we see hersailing towards Rome on a coin of Con-stantine the Great. (Figure 16) She wascarried in procession with much cele-bration, and some scholars consider thatthis event was appropriated by Chris-tians in the religious processions thatstill occur in Spain and Portugal. SpecialFestival of Isis coins (or tokens) wereminted even into the reign of the Chris-tian emperor Valentinian II (375-392).From the time of Constantine the Great(307-337) the portrait of the emperorappeared on the obverse of these coins.Also there were festival coins with Isison the obverse and Isis suckling Har-pocrates on the reverse. (Figure 17)There is a detailed account of Festivalof Isis coinage in Coinage and Historyof the Roman Empire by David L. Vagi,beginning on page 566 of Volume Two.The numismatists of the Classical Numis-

Figure 12 – Bronze diobol of Hadrian (117-138) minted in Egypt. It shows Isis nursing Harpocrateson the reverse. The amphora in the background looks like a cross. Hadrian visited Egypt in 130AD. (Classical Numismatic Group, Electronic Auction 199, Lot 382)

Figure 13 – Bronze drachm of Antoninus Pius (138-161) minted in Egypt. It shows Isis nursingHarpocrates on the reverse. For Christians the bird on the top of the throne could have repre-sented the Holy Spirit. (Classical Numismatic Group, Auction 94, Lot 933)

Figure 11 – Ivory diptych in the Bode Museum in Berlin. (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 14 – Bronze coin of Colossae showingSarapis on the obverse and Isis on the reverse.Isis holds a sistrum and a bucket called a sit-ula. (Author’s Collection)

matic Group commented that followingAlexander’s conquest of Egypt, the cultof Isis spread across the Mediterranean,with its popularity reaching its zenithin the Roman period when the “goddessof a thousand names” became one of theMediterranean’s principle deities. Theywent on to say that it is generally ass-umed that the iconography of Isis nursingHarpocrates influenced Christian rep-resentations of the Madonna and Child,particularly the Virgo Lactans type popu-lar in Medieval Europe.The Virgo Lactans icon is known in

Greek as the Virgin Galaktotrophousa,and the name refers to Mary actually

breast-feeding Jesus. (Figure 18) Thisimage of Mary, however, did not becomepopular in Byzantine art, probablybecause exposing her breast seemed outof place in that religiously charged envir-onment. But the image of Mary holdingthe infant Jesus close to herself becamevery popular especially in OrthodoxChristianity. (Figure 19) The image ofMary with the infant Jesus does notrelate to any particular passage in thegospels and it is reasonable to concludethat its source was the Egyptian Isis cult.All things considered it is likely thatChristian icons were influenced by coinsand medallions.

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Figure 15 – Bronze coin of Nysa-Scythopolis showing Nysa, the nurse of Dionysus, breast-feed-ing him. She wears a turreted crown representing the city. (Author’s Collection)

Figure 16 – Bronze coin of Constantine the Great (307-337). Diameter 14 mms. Isis stands holdinga sail. The reverse legend is VOTA PVBLICA. (Numismatik Lanz München, Auction 100, Lot 541)

Figure 17 – Bronze Festival of Isis coin minted in Rome in the mid-fourth century. Diameter 18mms. On the obverse Isis holds a sistrum, and the legend ISIS FARIA refers to the lighthouse atAlexandria called the Pharos. (Classical Numismatic Group, Triton VII, Lot 1053)

Figure 18 – Icon known as ‘Madonna of theMilk’ made in 1283 by Gentile da Rocca. It is inthe Church of Santa Maria ad Cryptas at Fossain Italy. (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 19 – Icon of the Madonna and Child inthe Byzantine style by Rico de Candia, 16th cen-tury, in the Church of All Saints, Trani, Italy.(Wikimedia Commons)