Theodosius Missorium
The Theodosius Missorium is a silver plate from the 4th century AD and is therefore assigned to the Theodosian era . It was discovered in 1847 in a hoard southeast of the Spanish city of Almendralejo . The Missorium is now in the Gabinete de Antigüedades of the Real Academia de la Historia in Madrid .
Missorium is the name for the large, round, flat middle plate of a sumptuous tableware in late antique literature. The term is probably derived from missus Latin = mission or mensa Latin = table, whereby both the meaning as a gift or only its use as application plates is echoed.
Find history
The Missorium of Theodosius I was found during fieldwork. In Alemdralejo, a town 29 km from Mérida , the missorium and two small silver cups were found in 1847. However, these cups are lost today. However, there are contradicting statements about the condition of the find. Helmut Schlunk and Theodor Hauschild describe in their book that it was hit by a plow while working in the field and thus split into two parts. Richard Delbrueck, however, writes that it was found folded. When you tried to work the missorium with a chisel, it broke and small pieces of the missorium were lost. In the book about the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst edited by Martin Guggisberg , it is said that the plate was already divided in two by chisel cuts in ancient times.
Technical data and state of preservation
The circular Theodosius Missorium has a diameter of 74 cm and is 4-8 mm thick. Based on the Roman pound, it weighs 15.350 kg. Both the diameter and the weight information are in Greek script on the back. If you look at the state of preservation, you can see that the broken missorium is also missing the foot. A hanging device mentioned in the literature is also no longer available. The back and frame are separated. It is also stained as an electroforming copy was made for the Victoria and Albert Museum . The gilding is only preserved in the letters. The Theodosius Missorium is slightly oxidized.
Place of manufacture and manufacturing technology
The artist and the workshop are not exactly known. The most likely place of manufacture for the Theodosius Missorium is Thessaloniki , the capital of the Macedonian Dioecesis . It was here that Theodosius celebrated his decennial celebration for the tenth anniversary of the reign on January 19, 388 AD. The silversmiths, responsible for the manufacture of the Largitio , accompanied the emperor everywhere. It can therefore be assumed that they were with Theodosius I in Thessaloniki.
Chisels of various strengths, gouges and point punches were used to make the Theodosius Missorium . Circular marks result in semicircles when placed at an angle. The casting technique was also used, which suggests that the Theodosius Missorium was produced in a series. However, the inscription was not cast, but stamped individually.
The iconographic program
The Theodosius Missorium has the inscription D (ominus) N (noster) THEODOSIVS PERPET (uus) AVG (ustus) OB DIEM FELICISSIMUM X., d. H. "Our Lord Theodosius constant Augustus because of the day of his (happy) ten-year jubilee." With this inscription, the Theodosius Missorium can be dated to the year 388 AD, the year of the ten year jubilee of Theodosius I's reign.
The Theodosius Missorium is divided into two zones, a larger upper one and a smaller lower one. Theodosius I, Roman Emperor from 379 to 395, sits enthroned in the middle of the upper zone in the center of the plate. He sits on an armchair and rests his left hand on it. He hands an object to a person standing in front of him with his right hand. His head is surrounded by a nimbus . Theodosius has a narrow, beardless face and a broad forehead, the nose is quite long, slightly curved and delicately shaped. His mouth and chin are almost delicate. The hair is combed and hangs loosely on the nape of the neck. He wears a tiara on his head , a wide ribbon studded with pearls. The forehead jewel is a convex stone set with pearls. He is dressed in a chlamys , which is held together over the shoulder by an oval splendid fibula . The convex stone has a pearl setting. Underneath, he wears a short tunic with long sleeves and very wide trimmings decorated with pearls, a loose belt, stockings and shoes, the so-called campagi . These are closed over the instep, on which there is also an oval gemstone, a so-called hump.
The people sitting to the left and right of Theodosius are also surrounded by a nimbus. According to the conventions of the perspective of meaning , they are represented smaller than the emperor. They tilt their heads slightly towards Theodosius. Your hair is also embellished with a diadem. They wear the same type of clothing, a chlamys with inserts held together by a fibula. The short tunic has long sleeves, they also wear stockings and campagi. Overall, her clothes are simpler than those of the emperor.
To the right of Theodosius I is Valentinian II , one of his two co-regents. He sits a little further back. His left hand holds a globe almost the size of a head, on which triangles can be seen. He rests his right hand on a large scepter. It has a broad head and a shorter nose. The use of his chlamys is a network pattern of intersecting circles. The Campagi do not have pearl braids.
To the left of Theodosius is the second co-regent, his eldest son Arcadius , who was only eleven at the time . He is also holding a globe in his left hand. He raised his free hand in a gesture of speech. In the late 4th and early 5th centuries, this gesture of speech was a hallmark of childhood emperors. This representation is positive because it is used as an education and competence formula. Because there were often doubts about the competence of the child emperors. Arcadius sits even further back and is even smaller. He resembles Theodosius, his face is more pointed, shorter and above all younger. The insert of his chlamys contains a rotated square and in it you can see, for example, a small round disc.
That all three are Augusti can be determined from the fact that they wear the tiara reserved for the Augusti. All three of them sit on chairs without backrests, but with a so-called footstool. The official depicted on the Theodosius Missorium receives a so-called diptych from Theodosius . Theodosius thus gives him a codicillus , which means that the official is given an office. However, it remains questionable whether the granting of an office presented here is an isolated case or a permanent function of the emperor. The diptych is held together by a transverse ribbon. The officer's hands are covered and he stands in step position. The literature has described what the face may have looked like since it is almost completely destroyed. Round and beardless. The hair similar to that of the emperors. He too wears a short tunic with a chlamys over it. His fibula is a typical onion button fibula for civil servants . Two bodyguards each can be seen on the left and right of the picture. They have full, straight hair and no beard. The faces appear Germanic and soldiery. They too wear a short trimmed tunic. They hold short lances and shields in their hands. Behind the people you can see the imperial tribunal , which among other things consists of four Corinthian pillars.
In the lower half of the Theodosius Missorium there is a large female figure, an allegory of the "Terra Mater" or Tellus . She is propped up on her right elbow and a horn is stuck in the crook of her arm. It is located between plants, fruit and ears. She is only clothed with a cloth that covers her legs. She directs her gaze to the emperors. On her hair she wears a wreath of pods, grapes, leaves and a forehead jewel of a round shape.
In the lower part of the missorium, three geniuses float . These four-year-old boys also appear in the upper section of the missorium. In both corners of the pediment. Those in the lower section carry towels or a basket of fruit. One of the geniuses holding the flower looks up at Theodosius. The geniuses and also Tellus or Terra stand for the so-called "Happy Age" . The geniuses occurring here embody the four seasons in male form. The genii, also called kairoi or tempora anni , are the male version of the Latin seasons. However, they are only mentioned frequently in imperial literature. Genii and Tellus are often depicted in conjunction with one another. Her cult is closely linked to that of the emperor. The Theodosius Missorium is typical of Byzantine antiquity, as there is a peculiar receding and disappearing of the picturesque landscape. The picture also has no floor line and was therefore placed directly on the background.
In 1929 Richard Delbrueck published groundbreaking insights into the interpretation of the Theodosius Missorium . This is still widely accepted today and other works are based on it, such as Wulf Raeck's text . Friedrich Wilhelm Deichmann and Jutta Meischner suggested a different interpretation for the iconographic program of the Theodosius Missorium, which not only led to a temporal re-dating of the Missorium, but also to the fact that the people depicted now represent different Augusti.
Deichmann relates the Missorium to the year 393 AD. He justifies this with the fact that the X on the inscription of the Theodosius Missorium has a circle at the top and therefore the X should be interpreted as 15 instead of 10. Thus the missorium was referring to the fifteenth anniversary of the reign and not the tenth. Valentinian II could no longer be one of the co-rulers, since he died as early as 392 AD.
Meischner, however, relocates the Theodosius Missorium to the 5th century, to the year 421 AD. She argues that the emperor in the middle is Theodosius II , Honorius on his right and Valentinian III on his left . acts. This interpretation is justified, among other things, by the fact that Meischner regards the Theodosius Missorium as a work of different quality compared to the quality and execution of other art objects of the Western Roman Empire. This would not fit into Theodosius I's time.
Arne Effenberger spoke out resolutely against this interpretation . As an argument against the dating of Meischner, he states, for example, that Theodosius II became the sole ruler in 408. His 10th anniversary of reign would have taken place 418 and not 421 AD. He therefore considers it unlikely that the jubilee indicated in the inscription refers to the reign of Theodosius II. Jutta Meischner, however, points out that the inscription, which mentions a ten-year jubilee, is intended to highlight the ten-year rule of Theodosius II in AD 418 after his father Arcadius died in AD 408. Based on this (as described by Alicia Canto, see below), Meischner believes that the Missorium was probably commissioned by Galla Placidia and was made in Ravenna around AD 421 as a gift for her nephew Theodosius II. She admits, however, that the interpretation of the Roman numerals on the missorium in the work of Alicia Canto (which was presented at the same Madrid conference) is described as 'quindecennalia', the fifteenth anniversary of the reign, in contrast to the popular reading as 'decennalia'. This allows for a re-evaluation of the history of the missorium, the role of Galla Placidia, its functions and its unknown origins. Meischner's argument that government anniversaries were postponed once, he sees as not applicable.
The Theodosius Missorium: A Largition Plate and a Representation Image
The Theodosius Missorium is also known as the Largitionsplatte , as it was used for representation. Honorable awards are also displayed with such items. There are the valuable versions made of silver or less valuable material, on which things are often depicted that refer to an emperor. Such items are also given away by the Kaiser himself on the occasion of government anniversaries or New Year's receptions. But also other people, for example personalities who wanted to show their loyalty to the emperor, gave away large plates or bowls, which are often decorated with figurative figures and which mostly related to the occasion of the donation. So the plates or bowls were part of the so-called largitio.
The Theodosius Missorium can be described as a representative picture, as the main character is shown frontally and turns his gaze out of the picture space. The viewer's attention is drawn entirely to Theodosius I.
Art historical significance
In addition to the Theodosius Missorium, there are other smaller and larger largition bowls that can be used as comparison objects. The silver imperial plate from the treasure trove of Großbodungen has a diameter of 26 cm. From the fragments of this plate it could be concluded that a seated emperor, as in the Theodosius Missorium, is depicted.
The largition bowl of the Valentinian in Geneva is almost a centimeter larger than the silver imperial plate from Großbodungen . In the middle of the bowl the standing emperor is depicted as a soldier, accompanied by three armed escorts on the left and right.
The Missorium des Aspar has a diameter of 42 cm. The main character is the enthroned consul Aspar , accompanied by his son. Image shields of Aspars' ancestors are also shown here. This missorium is an example that the giving away of largition objects was not reserved for the emperor alone, but that consuls also had this option. Another example that comes closer to the Theodosius Missorium in diameter is the Decenalia plate of Constans from the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst, 56 to 57 cm. Finally, the Missorium of Anastasius , the so-called Anastasius plate, should be pointed out. At 72 cm, it is just 2 cm smaller in diameter than the Theodosius Missorium. It comes from the ship's grave at Sutton Hoo .
literature
- Richard Delbrueck : The consular diptychs and related monuments , studies of late antique art history. Vol. 2, de Gruyter, Berlin / Leipzig 1929, pp. 235–242.
- Theodor Hauschild , Helmut Schlunk: The monuments of the early Christian and Visigoth times , Hispania Antiqua. Zabern, Mainz 1978, ISBN 3-8053-0276-2 , p. 109.
- Jutta Meischner: Das Missorium des Theodosius in Madrid , In: Yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute 111 (1996) pp. 389-432. [different dating of the Theodosius Missorium]
- Wulf Raeck : Doctissimus Imperator. An aspect of the ideal of rulers in late antique art. With an appendix on the dating of the Theodosius missorium , In: Archäologischer Anzeiger 1998, pp. 507-522.
- Martin Almagro-Gorbea (ed.): El Disco de Teodosio , Estudios del Gabinete de Antigüedades. Vol. 5. Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid 2000, ISBN 84-89512-60-4 . Partial view on Google Books
- Arne Effenberger : The Theodosius Missorium of 388. Notes on political iconography in late antiquity, In: Novum Millennium. Studies in Byzantine History and Culture Presented to Paul Speck, Ashgate, Aldershot 2001, pp. 97-108. [critical examination of Meischner's interpretation of the Theodosius Missorium]
- Markus Beyeler: Gifts from the emperor. Studies on the chronology, the recipients and the objects of the imperial gifts in the 4th century AD , Klio. Booklets. New episode. Vol. 18. Berlin 2011.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Definition of terms (PDF; 144 kB)
- ↑ Martin A. Guggisberg (ed.): The late Roman treasure of Kaiseraugst. The new finds. Silver in the field of tension between history, politics and society in late antiquity , research in Augst. Vol. 34. Augst 2003, p. 335.
- ↑ See Max Martin: On the weight of the Roman pound , in: François Baratt (ed.): Argenterie romaine et byzantine , Paris 1988, pp. 211–225.
- ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Deichmann : Ravenna. Capital of the Late Antique West, Volume II, Commentary, Part 3, History, Topography, Art and Culture, Stuttgart 1989, p. 349.
- ↑ See Kairoi / Tempora Anni representations in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae Vol. V 2: Herakles-Kenchrias. Zurich / Munich 1990, pl. 578–579.
- ↑ Typical characteristics for Byzantine antiquity shows: Leonid Matzulewitsch: Byzantinische Antike. Studies on the basis of the silver vessels in the Hermitage , archaeological reports from Russian collections. Vol. 2. Berlin / Leipzig 1929, p. 55.
- ↑ Canto, Alicia M .: Las quindecennalia de Teodosio I el Grande (19 de enero del 393 d. C.) en el Gran Clípeo de Madrid, op. Cit (El Disco de Teodosio), 289-300.
- ↑ Wilhelm Grünhagen : The treasure trove of Gross Bodungen , Roman-Germanic research. Vol. 21 Berlin 1954.
- ↑ Mention the Theodosius Missorium as the most famous comparative object: Achim Arbeiter : The Kaiser with the Christogram nimbus to the silver largition bowl Valentinians in Geneva , in: Antiquité tardive 5 (1997) pp. 153–167.
- ^ Richard Delbrueck: The consular diptychs and related monuments , studies of late antique art history. Vol. 2. Berlin / Leipzig 1929, pp. 154–156.
- ↑ Martin A. Guggisberg (ed.): The late Roman silver treasure from Kaiseraugst. The new finds. Silver in the field of tension between history, politics and society in late antiquity , research in Augst. Vol. 34. Augst 2003, pp. 117-125. 164-165. 247, 178-179. 182-183. 190-191; for other largition plates see: Ibid., pp. 165–170; For extensive image material on the Constans plate, see: Ibid .; Panels: 42-51.2.
- ↑ Josef Engemann : A Missorium of Anastasius. Reflections on the iconographic program of the "Anastasius" plate from the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, in: Marcell Restle (Ed.): Festschrift for Klaus Wessel on his 70th birthday. In memorian . Munich works on art history and archeology. Vol. 2, Munich 1988, pp. 103-115.