ABSTRACT
Anyone who investigates the iconography of the Virgin soon realizes the importance that lead seals contribute to this line of inquiry. Literally thousands of examples of Marian sphragistic images survive over a span of many centuries. In the early years of this century, the two great Russian savants Lihačev 1 and Kondakov 2 turned to this rich body of material for their monumental classifications of the iconographic types of the Virgin. Since their fundamental publications, numerous scholars, such as Galavaris, 3 Oikonomides, 4 Cutler, 5 Kalavrezou, 6 124and Seibt, 7 have employed sphragistic representations of the Theotokos in their studies related to images of the Virgin.
