File:Medieval seal impression (drawing)n (FindID 453409).jpg

English: A medieval seal matrix, flat. The shank projects from the upper edge and ends in a loop, with internal wear at the apex. Circular, 20mm diameter. Profile of a classical male bust to sinister, with short hair and diadem, with the initial S' from the inscription appearing behind the neck, doubling-up to suggest a ribbon-like tie. The bust probably represents the Emperor Constantine. The inscription reads S' ROBERTI (Seal of Robert) with all apart from the S' in front of the face curving down to meet the edge of the upper chest.

Adrian Marsden comments 'The head appears to wear a diadem composed of two rows of pearls, an innovation that appears in the Age of Constantine. The 'S' and apostrophe seem to form the ties that would normally appear at the back of the neck. Such diademed portraits would recall the vanished grandeur of Rome to the educated viewer and the whole sealing, with a legend surrounding a bust, would have appeared very similar to Roman coins, mute survivors of the Classical Age which was still very much appreciated by the cultural elite. If the bust was interpreted as that of Constantine the Great then the image would have been an appropriate one, Constantine, as the first Christian emperor, furnishing an appropriate exemplar in the medieval period.'

Published in Rogerson and Ashley 2011, no. 19, Fig. 1.