Talk:Apion family

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 * In ALT1, Constantinople should be capitalized. The same goes for Sasanian in ALT2. GuardianH (talk) 18:53, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

Consular diptych
I'm interested in the history of letterforms. The consular diptych image is definitely not ancient-I would put it at late eighteenth to early nineteenth century. It's written in lowercase, which didn't exist in the modern form at all at the time of the Apion family. It uses modern letterforms, the two-storey 'a' and especially the level crossbar on the 'e', that weren't popularised until c. 1500. Its style with strong verticals, vertical stress on the letterforms and quite bold strokes looks very like the Didone styles of the second half of the eighteenth century onwards, what Professor James Mosley calls the "pointed pen" style. You'll see it looks very similar to these signboards from an English chapel, probably early nineteenth century. Compare with the consular diptych images on that article, which do look authentic, the lettering is totally different.

I can give more details and sources if you want, but basically my point is the lettering on these boards is Flintstones-level anachronistic. It could not possibly have been made to pass off as a fake. Maybe it was made to commemorate the family by some antiquarian? I'm planning to contact the uploader. Blythwood (talk) 14:51, 26 December 2022 (UTC)


 * @Blythwood There would need to be a source that definitively backs up its authenticity (or lack thereof) before removing it. It could just be a transcription of Strategius' actual consular diptych, in which case the image would likely still be appropriate. GuardianH (talk) 02:09, 9 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I have got back to it and checked the image source. The uploader probably didn't check the German text describing the picture, it's marked as the inner side, and the text on the previous page says (rough translation with Google translate, I've forgotten most of the German I learned in school) "Later inscriptions: on the inside ...Luke 2:21 in two layers, the lower handwritten, the later layer stencilled". The later of the two overpaints must be what this image is most clearly showing. I checked the Bible quote and it indeed matches the text of Luke 2:21 in the Vulgate. I presume the diptych was repurposed as a devotional aid or something like that.
 * Evolution of minuscule.svg
 * Here's a picture of the history of letterforms (not vouching for the accuracy of all of this, but it matches my general understanding) which is what raised red flags for me. I guess we need an image of the outside of the diptych (apparently still in the cathedral's collections) which do show the Roman-period designs. Blythwood (talk) 01:54, 2 July 2023 (UTC)
 * [[File:324 Catedral de San Salvador (Oviedo), Museo de la Iglesia, díptic consular bizantí d'ivori (cropped).jpg|thumb|324 Catedral de San Salvador (Oviedo), Museo de la Iglesia, díptic consular bizantí d'ivori (cropped)]]
 * Found it! Here's an image of the outside. (I've requested the photo to be rotated to upright.) Blythwood (talk) 02:24, 2 July 2023 (UTC)