Representations of Early Byzantine Empresses Image and Empire

This book reconsiders a wide array of images of Byzantine empresses on media as diverse as bronze coins and gold mosaic from the fifth through seventh centuries A.D. The representations have often been viewed in terms of individual personas, but strong typological currents frame their medieval context. Empress Theodora, the target of political pornography, has consumed the bulk of past interest, but even her representations fit these patterns. Methodological tools from fields as disparate as numismatics as well as cultural and gender studies help clarify the broader cultural significance of female imperial representation and patronage at this time.

Anne McClanan is Assistant Professor of art history at Portland State University. She is the co-editor of Personal Objects, Social Subjects: The Material Culture of Sex, Procreation, and Marriage in Pre-Modern Europe, forthcoming from Palgrave.