Caption

Denarius, Boleslaw III Krzywousty (prince of Poland; 1086–1138). Obverse: in the beaded border, a knight in chain mail thrusting a spearhead into the jaws of an upside-down dragon. Reverse: in a triple beaded border, an isosceles cross topped with balls (one with a dot); between its arms, a ball (three of them with a dot); one arm intersects the other at approximately 1/3 of its length. Allegorical imagery (martyrs, dragons, knight), Romanesque style, themes of Middle Ages, fight between good and evil, St. Adalbert (ca. 956–997), fight against pagans. Issue mark: spearhead. Date: c. 1125–1138. Place: Poland, Kraków. Material: coin (denarius). Diameter: 13.1–13.6 mm. Weight: 0.51 g.

Credit line

Photo12/Liszt Collection

Reference

LZT26A63_025

License type

Rights managed

Available size

29.3Mb (1.3Mb) / 10.7in x 10.7in / 3200 x 3200 (300dpi)

Keywords

Denarius Boleslaw III Krzywousty prince Poland 1086–1138 Obverse beaded border knight chain mail thrusting spearhead jaws upside-down dragon Reverse triple beaded border isosceles cross topped balls dot arms ball three them arm intersects approximately 1 3 length Allegorical imagery martyrs dragons Romanesque style themes Middle Ages fight good evil St Adalbert ca 956–997 pagans Issue mark Date c 1125–1138 Place Kraków Material coin denarius Diameter 13.1–13.6 mm Weight 0.51 g small round metallic object worn textured surface sits white background object silver-gray darker gray shadows faint brownish tones raised central area embossed scene standing human- figure indistinct shapes contained within slightly raised rim.