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Home , Constantine V, Hand of God (art)

‘The Creation of Adam’ by . Image courtesy Wikipedia.

HE hand of appears on a com - the top of the picture, but exactly what it influential was the idea of the sun-god Tmemorative coin struck after the means is unclear: it might signify God’s driving his chariot across the sky. Coins death of the Great in 337 approval of , it might be indi - with this image had appeared previously . AD. It was issued by his sons, and it was cating the ram caught in the bush, or it (Figure 4) Although Constantine was the first time that the hand of God had might simply represent God speaking to baptized just before his death there is appeared on the coins of Christian rulers. Abraham. In any case it shows that the nothing specifically Christian about his On the coin Constantine drives a char - hand of God on Constantine’s coin had a commemorative coin. His life fitted more iot drawn by four horses and he reaches precedent in Jewish art. easily with the Old Testament, which up with his right hand to the hand of God A similar hand appears on a Christian emphasized war. A chariot drawn by who reaches down to receive him into sarcophagus. (Figure 3) In the panel the four horses used to be driven by Roman heaven. (Figure 1). As a symbol in relig- prophet Elijah is being carried up to emperors in the triumphal procession ious art the hand of God had appeared heaven in a chariot, as recorded in 2 that occurred when they returned to earlier in a wall-painting (Figure 2) in Kings 2: 11-13. With his upraised right after victory in battle. (Figure 5) the synagogue at Dura-Europos, which hand he is giving his cloak to his suc - Another symbol of victory was a laurel was a town in the Syrian desert on the cessor Elisha. Although the sarcophagus wreath, and many ancient coins show banks of the Euphrates River. The town is known as the sarcophagus of Stilicho, the emperor wearing a wreath or the was destroyed by the Sasanians in about who died in 408 AD, it was probably made goddess Victory holding a wreath. (Figure 257 AD but excavations in 1932 revealed in about 385 AD. Therefore it could not 6) The hand of God holding a wreath first the wall-painting. In it Abraham stands have been the prototype for Constan - appears on a gold medallion issued by with a knife in his hand ready to sacri - tine’s ascension coin, although the idea on the occasion of fice his son, , as recorded in Gene - of Elijah ascending to heaven could well his son, Constantius, becoming a sis 22: 1-19. The hand of God appears at have had an influence. Perhaps more in 323 AD. (Figure 7) The hand comes out of a cloud to put a wreath on Con - stantine’s head while the goddess Victory

Figure 1 – Reverse of a bronze coin issued after the death of Constantine the Great Figure 2 – Wall-painting in the synagogue at in 337 AD. It is 16 mms in diameter. Sear 3889. Dura-Europos. (Wikimedia Commons) Figure 3 – Cast of the so-called Sarcophagus of Stilicho. The original is in St Ambrogio Basilica in Milan. It was made in the 4 th century for a high ranking Christian. (Wikimedia Commons) crowns Constantius in the old pagan tions depending on the design on the Figure 4 – Antoninianus of (276-282 way. coin. For example, on a coin of , AD) showing the sun-god in his chariot. Sear The hand of God holding a wreath the brother of , the hand reaches 3370. Probus wears a radiate crown, which appears regularly on coins of the em - in from the side (Figure 9) because if identifies him with the sun-god. peror Arcadius and his family. (Figure 8) the hand came from above, the size of of particular significance, and there was Arcadius ruled at from the figure would have to be reduced, and therefore no need for a separate hand of 383 to 408 AD, and his son, Theodosius emperors did not like to be reduced. On God. On the coin Christ has his index II, until 450 AD. The wreath is held above many coins of Christian emperors the and middle fingers almost straight, but Arcadius’s head, but on other coins God’s old pagan image was retained, as on the others are bent. This was a gesture of hand has to reach in from various direc - another coin of Honorius. (Figure 10). speech (Word) and blessing (power), but When a new dynasty came into power the Church also perceived it theologically: with (518-527 AD) the hand the two almost straight fingers symbol - holding a wreath does not appear on ized the human and divine natures of their coins except in rare instances, but Christ while the other three symbolized during the reign of Justinian II (685- the (Father, Son and ). 695 and 705-711 AD) an image of Christ In the 7 th century a new religion, Islam, appeared on a gold coin. (Figure 11) His rose out of Arabia, and the Muslims did hand and the position of his fingers were not tolerate images of any kind. Images had also been forbidden in Jewish law. Since the Muslim armies were success - ful in battle the Christian emperors in Constantinople thought that this might

Figure 6 – An antoninianus of (249-251 AD). On the reverse the goddess Vic - tory holds a wreath. Sear 9387.

Figure 7 – Gold medallion of Constantine the Great issued on the occasion of his son, Con - stantius II, becoming a Caesar in 323 AD. (This is a coloured photocopy of the image on page 160 of Rivista Italiana di Numismatica Figure 5 – Denarius of (14-37 AD) e Scienze Affini, Vol. XCIV, 1992. The image showing him driving a quadriga. Sear 1762. Figure 6a – Detail of Figure 6. The skill of the is reproduced with the permission of the So - This year is the two thousandth anniversary die-engraver is evident on this coin, which is cieta Numismatica Italiana. The medallion is of his accession. only 20 mms in diameter. in the Vienna Museum.) Figure 9 – of Honorius (393-423 AD). RIC 1310. (Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 67, lot 396) have been because the Christians had was minted in Rome where the so many images, especially of Christ, and approved of religious images. Constan - a period of ensued. During tine himself was, of course, far away in this period, which lasted (with a few Constantinople. interruptions) from 726 to 843 AD, a After the period of iconoclasm the great number of religious images were image of Christ reappears on coins, e.g. on destroyed, and neither Christ nor the a solidus of III (Figure 13), and hand of God appeared on the coins. An the hand of God also reappears. Michael exception was a solidus of Constantine V V is shown on a solidus with the Arch- (741-775 AD), which shows a hand above angel Michael (Figure 14), but he did Figure 8 – Bronze coin of Arcadius (383-408 busts of Constantine and his co-emperor, not want to be reduced in size and the AD). Notice the sleeve on God’s hand as in Leo IV. (Figure 12) The hand probably hand comes up from below. The emperor Figure 1, and the Christian cross on the re - indicates divine approval. Although Con- considered himself to be Christ’s repre - verse. Sear 4229. stantine V was an iconoclast this coin sentative on earth and he is wrapped in LINDNER Synonymous with Quality Coin & Philatelic Accessories Always used by the discerning collector b page our We Visit .au ner.com local ww.lind m your w ilable fro are ava directly roducts ntact us NER p may co lity LIND k it, you Top Qua n’t stoc f they do Banknote Album dealer. I

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Lindner Publications Australia Send for our 19 Dellamarta Road, Wangara WA 6065 92 page coloured TEL: (08) 9309 9942 FAX: (08) 9309 2699 catalogue EMAIL: [email protected] Figure 11 – Solidus of Justinian II (685-685 and 705-711 AD). Sear Byz. Coins 1248. (Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung, Auction 207, Lot 815)

Figure 10 – Solidus of Honorius (393-423 AD) showing Honorius being crowned by the goddess Victory. Sear 4244. (ArtCoins Roma, Auction 6, Lot 1269) Figure 12 – Solidus of Constantine V (741-775 AD). Sear Byz. Coins 1573. This is a photocopy of the image in Sear. It is reproduced with the permission of Spink & Son Ltd, London. the loros, which symbolized the shroud in which Christ’s body was enveloped, and were actually translated by Alfred . he would not want to be shown smaller Like King David, the supposed original than a mere angel, albeit the Archangel composer of the Psalms, Alfred was suc - Michael. The hand coming from below cessful in battle, and the first fifty psalms might have been an omen because he contain several passages that stand out was apparently rather wicked. On a gold in their emphasis on the hand of God as hyperpyron of Alexius I (Figure 15) God a metaphor for his almighty power. For has to stretch out so far that his whole example, Psalm 20:6,7 reads: arm is seen. Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed, The hand of God without a wreath is he answers him from his holy heaven prominent on coins minted in England with the saving power of his right hand. from 899 to 1016 AD, during the late Some trust in chariots and some in horses, Anglo-Saxon period. An open hand ex - but we trust in the name of our God. (NIV) tends down out of a cloud as on the So Alfred could well have provided the solidus minted at Rome by Constantine motivation behind the symbol of the V. Alfred the Great, the Christian king hand of God that appeared on the coins of of Wessex, (871-899 AD) visited Rome Edward and Aethelred II. Edward, like and he might have seen Constantine’s his father, was successful in battle, and coin. But the hand of God does not appear is ranked with the greatest of England’s on Alfred’s coins although it does on those warrior kings. In the warrior culture of his son, Edward (899-924 AD) and of Anglo-Saxon England the hand that especially on those of his descendant appeared on the coins would have rep - Aethelred II (978-1016 AD). Alfred was resented the power of God that was with a scholar and he founded the Palace these Christian kings as they defeated School, which his son attended. Accord - the Danes and other pagan invaders. ing to William of Malmesbury, a 12 th cen - Christopher Blunt, Ian Stewart and tury historian, Alfred was translating Stewart Lyon, the authors of Coinage in the Psalms from Latin into West-Saxon Tenth Century England, list six moneyers at the time of his death. Surprisingly who issued ‘hand coins’ during Edward’s there is a manuscript known as the Paris reign. The king’s name and title appear Psalter (Manuscript 8824 in the Biblio - in a circular legend on the obverse of thèque Nationale in Paris) that contains these coins with a small cross in the Figure 13 – Solidus of Michael III (842-867 the Psalms in a West-Saxon version, and centre. On the reverse there is a hand AD). Sear Byz. Coins 1688. (St James’s Auc - many scholars believe that the first fifty with the moneyer’s name (Figure 16). tions, Auction 23, Lot 78) Edward’s ‘hand coins’ are rare, but a large proportion of the coins of Aethelred II are ‘hand coins’. Unlike Edward’s coins Aethelred’s coins usually show the hand between the Greek letters, Alpha and Omega. (Figure 17) These are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet and they refer to saying in the Book of Revelation that he is the Alpha and the Omega (Rev. 1: 8). The addition of these letters to the coins leaves no

Figure 16 – Reverse of a penny of Edward the Elder (899-924 AD). Moneyer: Athulf. (Photo - Figure 18 – Double centenionalis of Magnen - copy of Coin 17 on Plate 5 in Coinage in tius (350-353 AD). Sear 4017. Tenth-Century England from Edward the Elder to Edgar’s Reform [Oxford, 1989] by C. Blunt, B.H.H. Stewart and C.S.S. Lyon. © The British Academy.) doubt that the hand should be seen in a Christian context. The idea of showing these Greek letters would have come from Roman coins issued in about 353 AD by and Constantius II. (Figure 18) In catalogues and books the hand of God on all these coins is often called manus Dei, which is simply ‘hand of God’ in Latin. As we no longer live in the Figure 19 – The hand of God in Michelan - Roman Empire or in an age when Latin gelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine was spoken, its use should be avoided. Chapel. (Wikimedia Commons) Similarly the term, ‘hand of Providence’, NOTE: This is an abbreviated version of which appears frequently, especially in a talk given by the author in Brisbane on reference to Anglo-Saxon coins, should the 9 th November 2013 at the biennial be avoided. Providence is divine activity conference of the Numismatic Association in the world, but the more direct term, of Australia. Unless otherwise stated the ‘hand of God’, is preferable. The hand of illustrated coins are from the author’s God as a Christian symbol on coins has collection. After researching for and writ - Figure 14 – Solidus of Michael V (1041-1042 had a chequered history since it first ing the original version of this article an th AD). Sear Byz. Coins 1826. (Classical Numis - appeared in the 4 century. article with rather similar content (except matic Group) concerning Anglo-Saxon coinage) was found in the Italian journal, Rivista Ital - iana di Numismatica e Scienze Affini, (Vol. XCIV, 1992, pp. 143-61). The article is in French and is entitled, ‘La main de Dieu: son origine Hébraïque, son symbolisme monétaire durant le bas empire Romain’. The author is Guy Lacam. $ $ $ You can buy the new (21st Edition) GREG MCDONALD’S POCKET GUIDE TO AUSTRALIAN COINS AND BANKNOTE S directly from CAB Figure 15 – Gold hyperpyron of Alexius I (1081-1118 AD). Sear Byz. Coins 1912. (Numis - Figure 17 – Penny of Aethelred II (978-1016 (see coupon on page XX ) matik Lanz München, Auction 135, Lot 1013) AD). SCBC 1144.