Termin gammadia w Liber Pontifi calis
The term gammadia in Liber Pontificalis

Summary/Abstract: This paper touches upon the subject of the signs that one may fi nd on mantles of the human fi gures occurring in Roman and Early Christian art. These representations are generally considered to be letters and are called gammadia. Most scholars focus on their symbolic dimension and do not foster the research on the meaning of this term. The outcome of my study is exactly to show the origin of the term gammadia and the earliest examples of its use, both in the sources and in the secondary literature. My investigation proves that in all probability the only extant source that includes the term gammadia is Liber Pontifi calis. It occurs in the hagiographies of six popes who occupied the Holy See during a very narrow period of 63 years; the fi rst time in the description of the gifts made by the Pope Leo III (795–816), and the last time in the life of the Pope Benedict III (855–858). The textual analysis shows that the term gammadia was used to denote decorations of altar clothes and curtains as well as to name name fabrics hung around an altar. These conclusions are also substantiated by a number of instances in iconographic and archaeological sources. The paper concludes with a strong call not to use the term gammadia to name different signs appearing on mantles of some fi gures represented in Roman and Early Christian art.

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