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The mosaic of Christ, Empress Zoe and Emporer Constantine IX Monomachus has an interesting story attached to it. Zoe had three husbands in her lifetime, and it is said that each one was featured on the mosaic. After she had her first husband, Emporer Romanus III, drowned in his bath with the help of her second husband, Emporer Michael IV, in 1034, Zoe had the former's head replaced with the latter's on the mosaic. Michael died of natural causes in 1041, and the following year Zoe married Constantine IX Monomachus and had the head on the mosaic changed again. Constantine's head remains only because he outlasted Zoe, who died in 1050.
Detail of the unique mosaic
A. The left side:
B. The right side of the mosaic:
