Histamenon of Constantine X Ducas, Constantinople c. 11th century

Curator: Isn't it curious how such a small thing, this Histamenon of Constantine X Ducas, can hold so much history? It's at the Harvard Art Museums, if you want to see it up close. Editor: It feels weighty, doesn't it? More than its 4.35 grams would suggest. All that golden surface seems almost…serious. Curator: Right, and consider what it represents: power, faith, the Byzantine Empire all captured in a tiny golden circle. Look at the detail, the figures are quite stylized. Editor: Stylized indeed. Note the flatness of the figures and the use of line—it removes all sense of individual personality, turning them into ciphers of authority. Curator: It's a far cry from modern currency, which is often more about the abstract value than symbolic representation. Editor: Precisely. It's like holding a miniature sermon, isn't it? All this distilled power in the palm of your hand. Curator: Absolutely, and something about holding an object like this really makes the past feel graspable and real. Editor: Yes, though its cold semiotic precision keeps it forever distant, it will always remain a representation, not a thing of the present.