Publisher's description:
Dumbarton Oaks houses the largest collection of Byzantine lead seals in the world, with approximately 17,000 specimens. Volume 7 of the ongoing series of Dumbarton Oaks catalogues presents a distinct part of the collection: 572 anonymous seals bearing sacred images on both sides. The seals, almost all previously unpublished, are fully illustrated and accompanied by a detailed commentary that provides transcriptions of the identifying sigla. This volume represents the first attempt to analyze this group of seals chronologically and typologically.
The depictions of Christ, the Virgin, and a remarkably wide array of saints and narrative scenes offer rich and untapped material for scholars interested in Byzantine piety and culture. Discernible trends within this body of seals help to track the popularity of various saints and the changes in devotional images over time. The variety of these images, enhanced by reference to examples in other collections, will also enable scholars to compare the renderings of holy figures on lead seals to those appearing in other Byzantine religious images.

Contents:
page XI Acknowledgments
XIII Abbreviations of Works Cited
XVIII Critical Signs and General Abbreviations
1 Introduction
1 1. Why Anonymous Seals with Bilateral Religious Images?
3 2. The Corpus and Its Relationship to Byzantine Seals in General
6 3. "Selectivity"
8 4. Iconographic Types and Their Distribution
17 5. Determining Obverse and Reverse
18 6. Organizing Principles of the Catalogue Entries
19 7. Dating
22 8. Historical Trends
28 9. Case Studies
47 Chapter I: Christ or Narrative Scene
47 1. Obverse: Christ
58 2. Obverse: A Narrative Scene
73 Chapter II: The Virgin
73 3. Obverse: Bust of the Virgin without Her Hands Showing
74 4. Obverse: The Virgin with Her Hands Raised before Her
74 A. Reverse: Archangel Michael
77 B. Reverse: John the Baptist
78 C. Reverse: A Church Hierarch
79 D. Reverse: A Military Saint
80 E. Reverse: Various Other Saints
81 F. Reverse: The Cross
81 5. Obverse: The Virgin Orans
82 A. Reverse: The Virgin
82 B. Reverse: Archangel Michael
84 C. Reverse: John the Baptist
85 D. Reverse: An Apostle
89 E. Reverse: A Church Hierarch
105 F. Reverse: A Military Saint
112 G. Reverse: Various Other Saints
115 H. Reverse: An Uncertain Saint
116 I. Reverse: The Cross
117 J. Reverse: A Blank
117 6. Obverse: The Virgin Turned in Prayer
120 7. Obverse: The Virgin with Christ Held Before Her
124 8. Obverse: The Virgin Holding Christ on Her Arm
132 9. Obverse: The Virgin Holding a Medallion of Christ
132 A. Reverse: Archangel Michael
134 B. Reverse: John the Baptist
135 C. Reverse: An Apostle
136 D. Reverse: A Church Hierarch
138 E. Reverse: A Military Saint
138 F. Reverse: Various Other Saints
140 9a. Obverse: The Virgin Enthroned Holding a Medallion of Christ
140 A. Reverse: Archangel Michael
141 B. Reverse: A Church Hierarch
141 10. Obverse: The Virgin Orans with a Medallion of Christ
142 A. Reverse: The Virgin
142 B. Reverse: An Archangel
151 C. Reverse: John the Baptist
155 D. Reverse: An Apostle
158 E. Reverse: A Church Hierarch
175 F. Reverse: A Military Saint
187 G. Reverse: Various Other Saints
190 H. Reverse: An Uncertain Saint
191 I. Reverse: The Cross
193 11. Obverse: The Virgin Accompanied by Epithets
201 Chapter III: Archangel Michael
201 12. Obverse: Archangel Michael
201 A. Reverse: An Archangel
202 B. Reverse: A Church Hierarch
208 C. Reverse: A Military Saint
214 D. Reverse: Various Other Saints
217 Chapter IV: John the Baptist
217 13. Obverse: John the Baptist
217 A. Reverse: A Church Hierarch
221 B. Reverse: A Military Saint
244 C. Reverse: Various Other Saints
227 Chapter V: An Apostle
227 14. Obverse: An Apostle
233 Chapter VI: A Church Hierarch
233 15. Obverse: A Church Hierarch
234 A. Reverse: A Church Hierarch
239 B. Reverse: A Military Saint
251 C. Reverse: Various Other Saints
254 D. Reverse: An Uncertain Saint
255 E. Reverse: The Cross
257 F. Reverse: An Apotropaic Device
257 G. Reverse: A Blank
259 Chapter VII: A Military Saint
259 16. Obverse: A Military Saint
260 A. Reverse: A Military Saint
289 B. Reverse: Various Other Saints
293 C. Reverse: The Cross
297 Chapter VIII: Various Other Saints
297 17. Obverse: Various Other Saints
301 Chapter IX: An Uncertain Saint
301 18. Obverse: An Uncertain Saint
307 Chapter X: Iconographic Tokens
307 19. Iconographic Tokens
313 Index of Proper Names and Terms
317 Index of Iconography
323 Index of Seals with Inscriptions (in Addition to Identifying Inscriptions)
325 List of Seals Published
331 Glossary