Editing Hagia Sophia (section)

===Empress Zoe mosaic===

The Empress Zoe mosaic on the eastern wall of the southern gallery dates from the 11th century. Christ Pantocrator, clad in the dark blue robe (as is the custom in Byzantine art), is seated in the middle against a golden background, giving his blessing with the right hand and holding the [[Bible]] in his left hand. On either side of his head are the ''nomina sacra'' ''{{overline|IC}}'' and ''{{overline|XC}}'', meaning ''Iēsous Christos''. He is flanked by [[Constantine IX Monomachus]] and [[Empress Zoe]], both in ceremonial costumes. He is offering a purse, as a symbol of donation, he made to the church, while she is holding a scroll, symbol of the donations she made. The previous heads have been scraped off and replaced by the three present ones. Perhaps the earlier mosaic showed her first husband [[Romanos III|Romanus III Argyrus]] or her second husband [[Michael IV the Paphlagonian|Michael IV]]. Another theory is that this mosaic was made for an earlier emperor and empress, with their heads changed into the present ones.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hagiasophia.com/listingview.php?listingID=15 |title=Empress Zoe |author=Hagia Sophia |work=hagiasophia.com |access-date=27 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220112021/http://www.hagiasophia.com/listingview.php?listingID=15 |archive-date=20 December 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>