The Hidden Legacy. Byzantine Seals of the Exarchal Age in Italian Museum Collections: a Digital Approach with SigiDoc.
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Date
2025
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Eurographics Association
Abstract
Byzantine sigillography is an interdisciplinary field of study that examines seals once affixed to official documents within the Eastern Roman Empire and its provinces, including Italy during the so-called Exarchal period (584-751 AD). These objects offer valuable insights into various aspects of Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean history and culture, including language (Greek and Latin), palaeography, administrative history, onomastics and prosopography, religious history, and iconography. Most scholarly editions of Byzantine seals remain in print format, often scattered into journals and miscellaneous volumes, while editions of comprehensive corpora are still limited. This project aims to conduct a systematic study and compilation of the Byzantine sigillographic heritage from the late sixth to the first half of the eighth century, focusing on material discovered in Italy or preserved in Italian museum collections. A key objective is the digitization of these objects, accompanied by the creation of metadata in accordance with the SigiDoc standard for Byzantine seals. Developed over the past decade by researchers in Paris and Cologne, SigiDoc is poised to play a crucial role in enhancing the accessibility and analysis of this rich cultural heritage. By employing SigiDoc, the project aligns with the principles of accessibility, interoperability, and reusability as defined by Digital Humanities (DH) standards. This research is supported by the CHANGES partnership, which seeks to "Cultivate Cultural Heritage Active Innovation for Next-Generation Sustainable Society.
Description
CCS Concepts Information System → Data management systems; Applied computing → Arts and Humanities; Applied computing → Document management and text processing → Document preparation → Markup languages → Extensible Markup Language (XML)
@inproceedings{10.2312:dh.20253109,
booktitle = {Digital Heritage},
editor = {Campana, Stefano and Ferdani, Daniele and Graf, Holger and Guidi, Gabriele and Hegarty, Zackary and Pescarin, Sofia and Remondino, Fabio},
title = {{The Hidden Legacy. Byzantine Seals of the Exarchal Age in Italian Museum Collections: a Digital Approach with SigiDoc.}},
author = {Pomero, Margherita Elena},
year = {2025},
publisher = {The Eurographics Association},
ISBN = {978-3-03868-277-6},
DOI = {10.2312/dh.20253109}
}