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Persistent image types

Over the centuries, secular and ecclesiastical dignitaries presented themselves with a remarkably recurrent set of image types on seals. These included frontally enthroned rulers, such as emperor Charles IV, whose counter-seal depicts the imperial eagle, or the profile image of the knight on a horse, such as the seal of Tebaldo de’ Prefetti di Vico. This latter bronze seal matrix with traces of gilding is one of the earliest examples of this type in Italy. It shows the rider with a lance and a shield distinguished by a marked plasticity and refined details, in which the implied movement is achieved by the displacement of the rider from the central axis and the way in which the represented figures overlap the framing circumscriptions. Two hundred years later, the impression of the seal of Baldassarre degli Ubriachi of Florence still shows the same pictorial formula in a more symmetrical and flattened formal language, exhibiting decorative forms, which allude to the contemporary style of the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti. Bishops and abbots also present themselves on seals, most often with their own effigies: enthroned or standing, though always in hieratic frontality. Examples include the seal impression seen here of the bishop of Chiusi or the seal matrix of Radulfus of the Benedictine abbey of St. Mary in the Holy Land, which depicts a half-length portrait of the abbot. Since the 13th century devotional seals have experienced enormous diffusion and seal bearers in this genre, such as Bishop Guido Tarlati of Arezzo, present themselves in profile, kneeling in adoration of the holy image, which is pictured above them.
Seal of emperor Charles IV (impression, obverse), 1355-78, brown wax, 110 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 7, II) Seal of emperor Charles IV (impression, obverse), 1355-78, brown wax, 110 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 7, II)
Seal of emperor Charles IV (impression, reverse) with impression of the counter-seal, 1355-78, red wax, 40 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 7, II) Seal of emperor Charles IV (impression, reverse) with impression of the counter-seal, 1355-78, red wax, 40 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 7, II)
Seal of Teobaldo De’ Prefetti di Vico (matrix, obverse), late 12th/ early 13th century, gilded bronze, 58 mm (Bargello, inv. no. 1079) Seal of Teobaldo De’ Prefetti di Vico (matrix, obverse), late 12th/ early 13th century, gilded bronze, 58 mm (Bargello, inv. no. 1079)
Seal of Teobaldo De’ Prefetti di Vico (matrix, reverse), late 12th/ early 13th century, gilded bronze, 58 mm (Bargello, inv. no. 1079) Seal of Teobaldo De’ Prefetti di Vico (matrix, reverse), late 12th/ early 13th century, gilded bronze, 58 mm (Bargello, inv. no. 1079)
Seal of Baldassare di Simone degli Ubriachi from Florence (impression, obverse), 1399, red wax, 60 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 148) Seal of Baldassare di Simone degli Ubriachi from Florence (impression, obverse), 1399, red wax, 60 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 148)
Seal of Baldassarre di Simone degli Ubriachi from Florence (impression, reverse) with impression of the counter-seal, 1399, red wax, 30 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 148) Seal of Baldassarre di Simone degli Ubriachi from Florence (impression, reverse) with impression of the counter-seal, 1399, red wax, 30 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 148)
Seal of Petrus, bishop of Chiusi (impression), 1288, brown wax, 50x31 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 33) Seal of Petrus, bishop of Chiusi (impression), 1288, brown wax, 50x31 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 33)
Seal of Radulphus, abbot of Josaphat (matrix), ca. 1220, bronze, 37 mm (Florence, Bargello, inv. no. 1603) Seal of Radulphus, abbot of Josaphat (matrix), ca. 1220, bronze, 37 mm (Florence, Bargello, inv. no. 1603)
Seal of Guido Tarlati, bishop of Arezzo (impression), 1320, red wax, 66x43 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 75) Seal of Guido Tarlati, bishop of Arezzo (impression), 1320, red wax, 66x43 mm (ASFi, Sigilli staccati, inv. no. 75)