In a predominantly bureaucratic state as the Byzantine, the use of seals was widespread. However, sealing is not a practice introduced by the Byzantines since seals have existed from very ancient times with the earliest known samples dating back to the Neolithic Period. Minoans and Mycenaeans used seals to validate financial transactions and administrative documents and seals were also worn as amulets.
The discovery of boulloterion has been a turning point in the history of sealing. Boulloterion is a pliers-like instrument with two cylindrical heads on which the craftsmen engraved the depiction they wanted to print on the metal. Seals or boulles (from the latin bulla) were pressed on blank circular lead discs; this is where the name molyvdoboullon (lead seal) originates.
Along the lead discs there was a channel to close around myrinthos, the cord which attached the seal to the document. In that way, whoever wanted to read the document had to break the seal. Thereby, the most important function of seals in byzantine society was assured: the confidentiality of the sealed document. Moreover, seals functioned as a guarantee of the identity of the sender (seals were a type of identity card since the name, title or office of the owner were stated on their surface) and as a means of accreditation of the quality of commercial goods. For example, we know that the Byzantines checked, lumped and sealed the silk fabrics.
Byzantine lead seals are mainly embossed with religious depictions such as Christ, Holy Mary, saints, hierarchs and evangelical scenes, apart from the iconoclast period, when they were replaced by the cross or cross-shaped monograms. In secular depictions the eagle and other animals dominate. Often, stereotypical portrayals of the emperor or the empress are depicted on the circular discs (imitating those of coins) which were working as a medium of propaganda throughout the empire. Names, offices, titles and geographic names engraved on the seals inform us about the social, religious and administrative organization of the empire, making seals a reliable primary source. Furthermore, they are an important source of studying byzantine portraits and inscriptions.
In the meantime, the first holy bread seals, which are used for printing religious symbols and figures of saints on bread, are created. The ritual, which continues nowadays, dates back to the Early Christianity Period. Initially, seals were made of stone or clay but during the Post Byzantine Period the type of wood circular stamp, still used today, was established.
The unchangeable through the centuries use of the seal as a signature is highlighted by the items of the Exhibition which examines the historical and artistic evolution of seals from the Byzantine to the Modern era and is composed by byzantine lead seals, signet rings, roof tiles with stamps, holy bread seals, monastery seals and wood seals for fabrics. Among the items of the Exhibition there are three patriarchate sigillion letters which preserve the myrinthos and molyvdoboullon and seals of the New Greek State and others belonging to historical figures of Modern Greece.
The exhibition contains items from the following institutions:
