An early Byzantine silver plate with a portrait of St. Theodore

Abstract

In 1977 an early Byzantine silver plate was purchased by the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz. It is part of the group of silverware marked with five Imperial stamps. According to these stamps it was manufactured during the reign of Emperor Justinian I. (527-565), probably in the period between 527 and the middle of the 6th century and perhaps during the tenure of the comes sacrarum largitionum Flavios Strategios (532-539).
Owing to the specific head type the saint depicted in the central medallion of  the plate can be identified as Theodore Tiron. The iconography of this image very probably originated during the first half of the 6th century. The type of image with the small cross held in front of his chest represents a novelty in the art of the 6th century, an image which would become well-established in the iconography of the saints in Byzantine art. The silver plate in Mainz seems to be the earliest securely dated example for this trend-setting iconography with the attribute of the small cross held in the hand.