Solidus (Coin) of Leo V

Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

813–820

Byzantine, minted in Constantinople

The imagery of Byzantine coins, as well as their use—or not—of religious imagery, reflects the different attitudes toward representation of divine figures as a result of the Iconoclastic (from the Greek eikon, or image, and klao, to break) Controversy, a fierce debate among Byzantine theologians over the appropriate role of images in religious worship that raged in Byzantium for over 100 years from about 730 to 843.

On both sides of his coin, Leo V (r. 813–20) holds a small cross. Christian imagery is downplayed, not surprising given the emperor’s stance as a staunch opponent of the use of images in religious worship.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Byzantine
Title: Solidus (Coin) of Leo V
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 813 CE–820 CE
Medium: Gold
Inscriptions: Obverse: LE OhbASILEy Reverse: COnSt AntIdESPIE
Dimensions: Diam.: 1.8 cm (3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Emily Crane Chadbourne
Reference Number: 1940.22
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/36651/manifest.json

Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 29.
Larry J. Feinberg, Suzanne Folds McCullagh, Christina M. Nielsen, “Western Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 30, 2 (2004), pp. 22-23, cat. 4.

Emily Crane Chadbourne (1871- 1964), Paris, London, and Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1940.

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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.

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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.

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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.