Asper of Manuel I of Trebizond c. 1237 - 1263

Editor: This is a coin, an Asper of Manuel I of Trebizond, from the Harvard Art Museums collection. The figures seem rigid, almost iconic. What cultural memories do you think this coin evokes? Curator: These images, repeated on coinage, become powerful symbols of continuity and legitimacy. Note the stylized figures – they echo Byzantine artistic traditions, linking Manuel to a powerful past, and to a visual language understood across a wide geographic area. Editor: So, the imagery serves to reinforce his authority? Curator: Exactly! Each element, from the clothing to the gestures, would have communicated specific ideas about power and divine right to the people who used this coin. Think of how a flag operates today. Editor: I never considered the visual weight a coin could carry. Curator: Coinage operates as a cultural artifact, a pocket-sized symbol of collective identity and the ruler’s power.