Romanos Ivory

Discoveries of other carved relief works in the 20th century led researchers to think that it represents the earlier Romanos II and his wife Eudokia, changing the date of creation to somewhere between 945 and 949.

Basilis (and Basilissa) was a title commonly used by women who were regents for their minor sons, which Eudokia Makrembolitissa was at the time of her marriage to Romanos IV.

The image of this double coronation was also used on seals and the coinage of the realm to both promote Eudokia’s power and legitimize Romanos IV as emperor.

[2] Contemporary scholarship on this piece asserts that this work represents the coronation of junior emperor Romanos II and his child bride, Bertha (the daughter of King Hugh of Italy), who was renamed "Eudokia" on her arrival at court.

[2] A gold solidus of Romanos II found in 1936 makes it even more probable that he is the emperor depicted in the Ivory, as it shows that he actively attempted to replicate the portraiture of his father, Constantine VII.