Item 2006/2 - Four letters from Michael Metcalf with two attachments

6 items, paper

Four letters from Michael Metcalf with two attachments:
(a) letter, in manuscript, three pages on two folios, dated 28 September 2006, observing that the sceatta article is taking shape nicely, but he questions the emphasis given to imitations of Byzantine coin types in 11th & 12th centuries. He sees Justinian's gold bust of Christ as a direct response to the Quinisext Council [at Constantinople in 692], which conditioned the development of Byzantine coin iconography for a long time afterwards. He then tells the story of his recent visit to the parish church in Wirksworth, where there is tomb-slab with a crucifixion showing the Lamb of God that is conventionally dated to the 8th century. The Quinisext Council nevertheless forbade this kind of thing, which leads him to think that the tomb-slab must date from the 7th century, associating it with the founder-saint who brought the Church to Wirksworth in the 650s. He concludes with a few more specific suggestions.
(b) letter, in manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated 29 September 2006, in reply a letter of IS that arrived the same morning. MM refers to Ann [Gannon]'s letter; he is doubtful about some of her ideas but agrees that other are worth exploring. He doesn't know Belting (see the first attachment) but promises to look at it when he has the opportunity. He suggests moving the "11th-12th century parallels" from the first paragraph to "somewhere at the end". He thinks that Anna Gannon makes a valid point about the possibility of the sceatta design having "been taken from some other portable prototype". He also thinks it would be difficult to prove that the coin is from a different mint than other QI-III coins, noting that the iconography on these coins is much more varied than on the QIV coins.
(c) letter, in manuscript, single page, dated 22 October 2006, saying that he has looked at Belting's book and doesn't think there is any need for changes to the text.
(d) letter, in manuscript, single page, dated 16 December 2006, saying that the typescript is looking good and that he is happy to be associated with it. He also comments that the coin must be among the interesting sceattas.
(e) excerpt of pages from Hans Belting, Likeness and presence: a history of the image before the era of art, trans. Edmund Jephcott (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), pp. 134-135, 137-138.
(f) photograph of the Anglo-Saxon sceatta with the bust of Christ.

For additional material relating to the paper on "The Bust of Christ on an early Anglo-Saxon coin", by Lord Stewartby and D. M. Metcalf, see the following:

• JCPP/Stewartby/1/1/GANNON/2006/1
• JCPP/Stewartby/1/1/PHILLIPS/2007/1