Abstract
This article discusses the relatively rare sphragistic images of the Virgin and various saints depicted with theirhands raised before their breast. It outlines their chronological frequencies and percentile values among the corpus of publishedseals bearing sacred figures. The literature dealing with this Marian iconographic type is also reviewed. An investigation ofmonastic and homiletical texts reveals that the significance of this gesture of intercession is shared for images of the Virgin andprimarily monastic saints based upon their common life of purity. The chronological highpoints for such sphragistic images arethe tenth/eleventh and the eleventh centuries, a period of increased use of sacred figures for seals, reflecting the greater use ofintercessory images in the realm of private devotions.
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