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ASV, Fondo Domenicani I, 263 |
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ASV, A.A. Arm. I-XVIII, 5477 |
Sigillography is the science that studies the manifold aspects of the seals.
It is not easy to give to a seal - an object so commonly used in the juridical reports and in daily life since the dawn of civilization, long before writing appeared - a definition that can give an idea of all the meanings, functions and, at times, the artistic greatness, contained in what has rightly been called a “microcosm of culture” .
Found in the great Mesopotamian civilizations, in ancient Egypt, in the Jewish, the Greek-Roman worlds, as well as in the Chinese and Japanese and the American Pre-Columbian civilizations, the seal has its period of maximum splendour in the Middle Ages.
However, still today, in the technology era, it is still universally used with the same practical and juridical aims, which have not changed throughout the centuries: to guarantee the integrity or the secrecy an object or a deed, to confirm the property to who affixes it, to authenticate a written document in order to certify it corresponds with the author’s will.
Obtained with the impression of an incised matrix on a sufficiently malleable substance, the seal is made of a rather limited variety of materials, mainly poor materials: clay during the Mesopotamian Age, metal, above all lead in the Byzantine world and also in the Mediterranean basin due to its influence, wax the most widely used material during the Middle Ages, paper and sealing wax during the Modern Era, up to the latest evolution of dry stamp and ink stamp, that all of us know and use.
But in spite of the fragility of the seal materials, the seal contains an extraordinary set of information that makes it one of the richest sources for historians among their vast range of interests.
For the use of figures that is typical to them, seals have always been one of the most proper means, not only to express the will of a person, but also to symbolize the idea that person had of himself and the consequent image that person wanted to transmit to others. This, at least in part, explains the richness of the messages that the seals offer through the great variety of figures, even with little amount of space available.
The study, the appreciation and, in particular, the preservation and restoration of the seals are part of the tasks of the archives, to which great part of this immense patrimony of culture and beauty is entrusted, aware of their fascination, but also of their inevitable destiny if we do not take care of them urgently.
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ASV, A.A. Arm. I-XVIII, 657, f. 4 |
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ASV, A.A. Arm. C, 540r |
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ASV, A.A. Arm. I-XVIII, 2187 |
MAJOR INFORMATION
A seal can be defined as an imprint obtained on a malleable medium by imprinting an incised matrix which transfers on it the characteristic signs of a person or an institution.
It can have one or two different impressed faces (retro-verso).
The legend is the epigraphic part of it that allows to identify its holder; it is usually found around the figure that occupies the central part of the seal, usually separated by a border.
The most widely used materials for medieval and modern seals were metal (lead, gold and silver), wax (virgin or coloured with different kinds of additives), sealing wax and paper.
The most common shapes are round, spindle-shaped, oval, shield-shaped; sizes vary between only a few millimetres and 10-15 cm.
The iconographic typology of the figures is very varied and complex: from the holder’s half bust or full effigy (sitting on the throne, standing, on a horse) to the images of saints, monuments, heraldic coats of arms, scenes inspired to a trade or drawn from the religious iconographic repertory.
In relation to the written document, seals can be adherent (directly on the document) or hanging (with threads or parchment strips).
One of the most important roles of the seal was the juridical-diplomatic one, because the seal was used, especially in the Middle Ages, as the most well-known and solemn form of corroboration of a document produced in the chancelleries. As the use of documents spread, seals were also used by all the social classes, as a means to express the author’s will and to confer credibility to the written document.
