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Solidus (Coin) Portraying Heraclius and His Son Heraclius Constantine

A work made of gold.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of gold.

Date:

613-616

Artist:

Byzantine; minted in Constantinople (now Istanbul)

About this artwork

After Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine emperors adopted Christian themes and symbols, most notably the cross, to stand for both the religion and the political state on their coinage. The previously ubiquitous profile portrait head was replaced by frontal or full-body depictions. Christ dominated the iconography, and Greek titles and phrases came to replace the Latin ones.

On the front (obverse) of this coin, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius is shown alongside his son, Heraclius Constantine; there is a cross between them. On the back (reverse) a Greek cross stands on a set of steps.

Status

On View, Gallery 153

Department

Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Artist

Byzantine

Title

Solidus (Coin) Portraying Heraclius and His Son Heraclius Constantine

Place

Byzantine Empire (Minted in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Struck 613 CE–616 CE

Medium

Gold

Inscriptions

Obverse: ddNNhESACNuseth(?)ACONStPPAV Reverse: CONO[B] VICTORIA AVƸh

Dimensions

Diam.: 2.1 cm (7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Emily Crane Chadbourne

Reference Number

1940.13

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/36629/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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