Benefactor Simon Posted December 25, 2022 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted December 25, 2022 Following @TheTrachyEnjoyer post on his Palaeologan Christmas, I was given a gift last night, a work of art that encompassed a half stravraton of Manuel II (1391-1425). I picked the coin and my wife; she picked the artist. I ended up with a beautiful gift. I work and sell art for a living, and it has made me very attracted to the late style of Byzantine Art, In the last few years I became attracted to the philosophy of Spiritualism. Byzantine coinage with its many abstract portraits are created under this philosophy, its Apex of the artform was during the Palaeologan period (1259-1453) " The essence of Spiritualism is that all physical things hinder the Cosmic connection." Another way to look at it is all beauty is from within. so all beauty is the ultimate simplicity, the Eastern Romans perfected the art, Abstraction is beauty and a channel to the soul. The original teachings of Spiritualism are not Christian, the earliest writings date to Plotinus around 250 AD. The basic philosophies of his teachings have been added to many faiths, Judaism, Christianity, Gnostic and Islam. For more on Spiritualism on coinage I recommend these works, the second from Christopher T Connell, he diagramed the ultimate portrait of Christ in a Spiritualist nature. He broke the portraits of Christ to 3 circles, 2 semicircles and 30 lines. (He assisted me when I first started collecting Byzantine coinage, I think of him fondly now.) Vol 03 No. 11 November 1989 - The Celator - VCoins Community Vol 05 No. 12 December 1991 - The Celator - VCoins Community I chose to write up a bit more on the concept of the art of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) empire and put this in the general section, to explain why those blobs of figures you see on their coinage was not due to lack of skill but a basic philosophy that was incorporated on the coinage from the early years of the empire. If you have anything to add on Byzantine or other abstract portraits please feel free. I wish you all a very Happy Holiday Season. By the way, the reverse was left open, so the other side can be appreciated as well. 8 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniard Posted December 25, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted December 25, 2022 @Simon..What a wonderful looking piece!...Love the design!❤️ You & your wife communicate well.. I'm an avid reader of Krishnamurti.. This was the first quote of his that I read many years ago... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Collector Posted December 25, 2022 · Patron Share Posted December 25, 2022 That was a very thoughtful and beautiful gift! 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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