Vittoriano
Seal matrix of Benedict, minister of the church of Santissimi Giovanni e Ciro (the Most Holy John and Cyrus)
Italian production 13th century
Pointed oval seal matrix with hook at top, whose perimeter contains the legend “sigillum Benedicti Sanctorum Ciri et Iohannis ministri.” The field is occupied by the standing figures of the Wonderworking Unmercenary physicians Cyrus and John. Each of the two saints holds a box containing unguents and curatives.
Pointed oval seal matrix with hook at top, whose perimeter contains the legend “sigillum Benedicti Sanctorum Ciri et Iohannis ministri.” The field is occupied by the standing figures of the Wonderworking Unmercenary physicians Cyrus and John. Each of the two saints holds a box containing unguents and curatives.
Details of work
Denomination: Seal matrix of Benedict, minister of the church of Santissimi Giovanni e Ciro (the Most Holy John and Cyrus) Milieu Italian production Object date: 13th century Material:
Bronze
Technique:
Casting
Dimensions: height 5 cm; width 2.5 cm; thickness 0.6 cm
Typology:
Seals
Acquisition: 1903–1905 Place: Palazzo Venezia
Main inventory number:
9529/1689
Other numbers: CR 53
Catalog entry
Pointed oval seal matrix with hook at top, whose perimeter contains a legend enclosed between two thin lines: “+S’BENEDCI SCORVM CIRI ET IOHIS MINISTRI,” which can be expanded to “sigillum Benedicti Sanctorum Ciri et Iohannis ministri.” The field contains the standing figures of the Wonderworking Unmercenary physicians Cyrus (Abbas Cyrus or Abbot Cyrus) and John who is solemnly dressed in a long tunic and whose head is encircled by a halo defined by small spheres. Each of the two saints holds a box containing unguents and curatives. A church dedicated to the two saints was located in Rome’s Trastevere district (the remains of a commemorative inscription were found during excavations of the building of the Gregorian College in Trastevere): their bodies had been translated from Alexandria and then transferred in the ninth century to Santa Passera on the Via Portuense, formerly Sant’Abbaciro (that is, Saint Abbas Cyrus). However, four other churches in Rome were also dedicated to the two physicians (Benocci 1998), so it is not possible to clearly identify the original seal owner. The iconography of the two Wonderworking Unmercenary physicians is similar to the ninth-century paintings from the atrium of Santa Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum and the thirteenth-century murals in the apse of the church of Santa Passera, where the two saints are also identified by the boxes containing medicinal substances. Benocci (1998) posits that it is likely that the matrix holder must have belonged to the latter church.
Chiara Paniccia
State of conservation
Good.
Inscriptions
«+S'BENEDCI SCORVM CIRI ET IOHIS MINISTRI»
Provenance
Roman Collezione Corvisieri, 1903-1905.
Exhibition history
Roma, Castel Sant'Angelo, Esposizione internazionale di Roma, February 1911.
References
Inventario dei sigilli Corvisieri, catalogo dell'Esposizione internazionale di Roma 1911. Mostre retrospettive in Castel S. Angelo, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Castel Sant'Angelo, febbraio 1911), Roma 1911, p. 10
Benocci Carla, Benedetto, ministro della chiesa dei SS. Ciro e Giovanni, in Balbi De Caro Silvana, Benocci Carla (a cura di), La collezione sfragistica. Il Medagliere del Museo del Palazzo di Venezia, Roma, Museo nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, I, Roma 1998, p. 23, n. 10.
Related objects
