This page is meant to exhibit ancient images depicting the elements relating to the Septuagint. Should there be a relevant image published, but missing from this list, please e-mail me.
The two images below come from the only two extant Greek manuscripts known (according to Weitzmann) to feature depictions of the creation of the Septuagint. The tradition of such a cycle is thought to date from the 5th or 6th c. CE.
The first image comes from Codex G. I. 8 of the Topkapi Sarayi Library, folio 21r and depicts the 72 translators receiving gifts from Ptolemy.
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This second image comes from Vat. gr. 747, an 11th c. ms., folio 6r., and depicts the group of elders with Andreas and Aristeas of Alexandria giving a letter to Eleazar, the High Priest (seated right on a cushioned throne). In the lower pane an attendant stands by Ptolemy with shield and lance. Ptolemy receives the letter from Andreas and Aristeas, who are accompanied by Jewish envoys.
For further information, plates, and details, see Weitzmann, Kurt; Bernabò, Massimo, and Tarasconi, Rita. The Byzantine Octateuchs. The illustrations in the manuscripts of the Septuagint, v. 2. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.