Seal matrix of Lviv

Lviv. 1694
Bronze; engraving, carving
d 42 mm, h 82 mm
Depicted in the central part is a city gate with three towers. There is a lion at the gate, wearing a crown and heading to the left. Leaning to the right is another crowned lion, who holds three hills and a star above them in his front paws. The date “AD1694” (Anno Domini 1694) can be seen under the corded horizontal line below. Legend: “● SIGILLUM ● CIVITATIS ● LEOPOLIENSIS ●”(Seal of the City of Lviv).
The oldest matrix of a seal of Lviv in the sphragistic collection of Lviv Historical Museum. It was used in 1694—1746. As an item of heraldry it demonstrates two coats of arms of Lviv simultaneously, both variants being in use concurrently at that time: the older, traditional one (“lion in the city gate”), and the so-called papal emblem (coat of arms of Pope Sixtus V, which was allowed to be used by the city by the Pope in 1586).
The item was brought to Lviv Historical Museum in 1940 from the former Lviv City Historical Museum, where it was sent from the City Archive.