Aymar, the Monk. Patriarch of Jerusalem – The Anastasis (Resurrection)

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 1199. Estimate $7500.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $9000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Aymar the Monk. Patriarch of Jerusalem, 1194-1202. PB Seal (39mm, 38.60 g, 12h). [H A]/N[A]/CT[A]/CI[C], the Anastasis (Resurrection): Christ advancing right, head turning to left, holding patriarchal cross in left hand, pulling Adam out of his tomb with right hand; above Adam, Eve; in right field, busts of Kings David and Solomon / [M]OnAChVS / S C E RESURREC/TIONIS ECCLE/[SIAE] PATRIAR/[CHA] in six lines; ornamented + above. BLS I -; DOCBS -; Seyrig 389; Vatican -; Orghidan -; Jordanov -; Zacos II 148 (varying identification of subsidiary figures). VF, gray patina, minor roughness. Very rare.

From the Robert E. Hecht Collection.

This obverse design was regularly placed on seals of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, who were headquartered at the Church of the Holy Resurrection, otherwise known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Begun under Constantine the Great, the site was, and remains, a major pilgrimage destination and the main liturgical center in Jerusalem.