HE SACRED IMAGE EAST AND WESTILLINOIS BYZANTINE STUDIES IV The Sacred Image East and West “3 EDITED BY ROBERT OUSTERHOUT AND LESLIE BRUBAKER UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS URBANA & CHICAGOPublication of this book was supported by a grant from the Research Board of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. © 1995 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Manufactured in the United States of America cs4321 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ‘The Sacred image East and West / edited by Robert Ousterhout and Leslie Brubaker. p. cm, —(lllinois Byzantine studies : 4) Includes papers presented at a session of the International Congress on Medieval Studies entitled The sacred image: East and West, sponsored by the Byzantine Studies Conference, held in Kalamazoo, Mich. in 1991. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-252-02096-0 (alk. paper) 1, Icons—History. 2. Icons, Byzantine—History. 3. Icons—Cult— History of doctrines—Middle Ages, 600-1500. 4. Christian art and symbolism—Medieval, 500-1500. 5. Orthodox Eastern Church and art— History. 6. Catholic Church and art—History. I. Ousterhout, Robert G. I. Brubaker, Leslie. III. Series. BX380.5.S23 1995 246'.53'09—dc20 93-43343 CIP Contents Preface ROBERT OUSTERHOUT Introduction: The Sacred Image LESLIE BRUBAKER ‘The Byzantine Panel Portrait before and after Iconoclasm JEFFREY C. ANDERSON Text and Image on an Icon of the Crucifixion at Mount Sinai KATHLEEN CORRIGAN A Murderer among the Angels: The Frontispiece Miniatures of Paris. Gr. 510 and the Iconography of the Archangels in Byzantine Art HENRY MAGUIRE Icon and Narrative in the Berlin Life of St. Lucy (Kupferstichkabinett MS. 78 A 4) CYNTHIA HAHN The Virgin of the Chora: An Image and Its Contexts ROBERT OUSTERHOUT Images East and West: The Ascent of the Cross ANNE DERBES Reflections on St. Luke’s Hand: Icons and the Nature of Aura in the Burgundian Low Countries during the Fifteenth Century JEAN C. WILSON The Liber miraculorum of Unterlinden: An Icon in Its Convent Setting JEFFREY HAMBURGER Roger van der Weyden’s Escorial Crucifixion and Carthusian Devotional Practices ANNE D. HEDEMAN Conclusion: Image, Audience, and Place: Interaction and Reproduction LESLIE BRUBAKER 45 63 72 91 110 132 147 191 204The Virgin of the Chora: An Image and Its Contexts ROBERT OUSTERHOUT Of all the sacred images preserved from Byzantium, icons of the Virgin are perhaps the most common and the most multivalent. Like the strings of metaphors in a Byzantine hymn, an image of the Virgin, when contemplated, could unlock a labyrinth of meaningful associations in the mind of the beholder. Yet in its original context, certain associations ‘would have been given precedence over others. This paper will exam- ine an image of the Virgin whose setting is preserved and will attempt to reconstruct its meanings within its original context. The decoration of the church now known as the Kariye Camii in Istanbul was a part of the large-scale renovation of the Chora Monas- tery undertaken by the statesman and scholar Theodore Metochites, ca. 1315-21 (figs. 40-41).! The Chora was one of the oldest and most im- portant monasteries of the city, and Metochites spared no expense on its behalf. The church was carefully reconstructed and enlarged; it was lavishly outfitted with marble wall revetments and flooring. It is best known today for its decoration in mosaic and fresco, the finest and most complete interior program to have survived from Byzantine Constanti- nople. The product of an educated and involved patron, the decoration of the Chora sets the standard by which late Byzantine monumental art is evaluated. The surviving program is extensive; only the mosaics of the naos have not come down to us (fig. 42). Mosaics of the Infancy of the Virgin, the Infancy of Christ, and the Ministry and Miracles of Christ fill the narthex vaults (fig, 43). The parekklesion, a funeral chapel to the north of the church proper, is decorated with frescoed scenes of Old Testament pre- figurations of the Virgin and an extensive cycle of the Last Judgment (fig. 44), In addition to the narrative scenes, there are numerous representa-Robert Ousterhout tions of individual figures: Christ and the Virgin are depicted several times, including large framed mosaics flanking the templon (fig. 42) and a monumental Deesis image in the inner narthex (fig. 45); these relate to the dedication of the Monastery to Christ and the Virgin. In addition, standing saints line the walls of the parekklesion (fig. 44), framed panels of standing saints decorate the pilasters of the outer narthex, and numer- ous roundels with busts of holy figures are interspersed with the narra- tive scenes in the vaults (fig. 43). More attention has been given to the narrative cycles than to the iconic images that punctuate the decorative program. With rare exceptions, the two have been considered separately, as representing two different categories of art, and the interrelationship of iconic and narrative has not been explored.? The mosaics and frescoes of the Chora were probably planned in con- junction with the design of the fourteenth-century additions to the building. Architectural forms seem to have been adjusted in response to the necessities of the decorative program. The viewer is encouraged to understand the program spatially: the architectural framework estab- lishes meaningful links between the individual elements—links that extend in three dimensions. Throughout the building, the interaction of setting and image adds a new level of interpretation—one that is absent when the images are considered in isolation. The density of meanings in the programs of decoration suggests that the learned patron Metochites had a hand in the layout. For the major- ity of the faithful, the decoration could have been read as a relatively straightforward presentation of scenes from the holy books. However, the educated elite—that is, Metochites and his circle—would have ap- preciated the sophisticated iconographic interconnections layered into the decorative programs. The focus of this paper will be the image of the Virgin positioned in the lunette above the western entrance to the church, in the central bay of the exonarthex (figs. 46-47). She is shown frontally, in bust form, with hands raised in the orans position. She is relatively small because the arch of the portal fills the lower portion of the lunette, and the avail- able space is correspondingly limited. Her blue robe cascades downward and outward, forming an equilateral triangle that rests atop the arched opening. Positioned before her breast in an egg-shaped mandorla is a bust of Christ Emmanuel holding a scroll in his left hand and making a ges- ture of blessing with his right. To either side, angels are represented as if in the process of kneeling before the Virgin, and these fill out the ir- regularly shaped panel. This type of representation of the Virgin is usually termed a Blacher- 92 The Virgin of the Chora nitissa, named after the venerated image housed in the Blachernae Monastery, which was located nearby in Constantinople. The appella- tions Episkepsis and Platytera are also used.‘ An inscription identifies the Virgin as M(jr)np O(€0)0 4 xcipa Tod dxwprtov: Mother of God, dwell- ing place or container (chora) of the Uncontainable. The epithet is a play on the name of the monastery, and its use here probably derives from the popular Akathistos Hymn, although the formula itself is certainly older.s The Virgin, with her manifold associations in Byzantine religious thought, was a powerful and evocative image in Byzantine art, and to isolate the most significant meanings of a particular image is often a difficult process. In this instance, however, the architectural setting may provide the best context for interpretation. The image should be under- stood as a part of an architectural experience, with chains of relation- ships extending through space and in several directions. The three-di- mensional framework of the Chora, as well as the activities it housed, gave priority to certain iconographic interpretations. The architecture should thus be regarded as an interactive frame, one in which several interrelated themes could resonate, rather than an iconographic “cage” to capture and fix a specific meaning. Consequently, the Chora representation of the Virgin Blachernitissa may be understood in several ways. Most importantly, it is a devotion- al image, and the prayerful positions of the angels instruct the viewer in the proper demeanor to assume before the Blessed Virgin, to whom— along with Christ—the Chora monastery was dedicated. The image repeats one of the most potent icons worshipped in the city of Constan- tinople, and the historic importance of the Blachernitissa helps to ex- plain why this particular image was included in the decoration of the Chora. There are also several ways in which the image of the Virgin can be interpreted within the context of the Chora. First, it must be understood as a dedicatory image placed at the entrance to the church. Second, the relationship between the iconic dedication image and the narrative scenes of the narthexes is also important. We shall see that the image of the Virgin provides a key to deciphering a sophisticated system of symbolism evident throughout the decorative programs of the Chora. Third, it is particularly significant that the mosaic of the Virgin has a special relationship to its setting within the building and to the mon- astery’s position within the city of Constantinople. Ultimately, it is the way in which the architecture frames the image that may provide the best means of interpretation. 93Robert Ousterhout The Blachernitissa In Byzantium, special properties were attributed to icons, properties that were derived only in part from the holy person they represented. Their location and incidents in their history, such as miracles of healing or protection, added to their venerableness. Often these special properties led to the repetition of the pictorial formula, and a copy of a sacred image could gain significance through its association with the prototype and the properties attributed to it.6 Several icons of the Virgin were venerated in the monastery of the Blachernae, and the history of that shrine and its sacred contents served to empower its images. There seem to have been several variations of the manner in which the Virgin was represented at the Blachernae, judging from the written sources.” None of the original icons survives, but the most important image may be reflected in several surviving works. For example, coins of the eleventh century issued under Constantine IX Monomachus, Theodo- ra, and Michael VI portray the Virgin orans inscribed Blachernitissa.* In addition, marble reliefs that present the Virgin in a similar pose cor- respond to an image described in the hagiasma of the imperial bath at the monastery. Several surviving marble icons of the Virgin orans have pierced hands reflecting an original that served as a fountain, and one version has a bust of the Christ Child in a clipeus at the Virgin’s breast (fig. 48).° The medallioned infant seems to be a later variation in the iconography: the earliest surviving version of such an image is on a gold coin of Zoe and Theodora of 1042 (fig. 49).!° Although there may be no certainty in the matter, it is thought that the primary Blachernae im- age was an orans figure of the Virgin without Christ, perhaps represented in the apse.!! The variation of this image showing the Virgin orans with a bust of Christ Emmanuel in a medallion on her breast is perhaps a conflation of several images. An eleventh-century seal bearing this image is labeled Blachernitissa, although on another it is called Episkepsis, and it is occasionally called Platytera.!2 As Annemarie Weyl Carr has noted, the image only became popular in the late eleventh and twelfth centuries when it seems to have become a “device of preference” on the seals of persons in the circle of the imperial family of Comnenus.'* The popularity of the image in this period may correspond with the adoption of the Blachernae Palace as the primary imperial residence of the Comnenes.'* There has been some discussion concerning the meaning of the im- age of the orans Virgin with the medallion of Christ at her breast. Cer- tainly the context of the image must play a role in determining the 94 The Virgin of the Chora specific meanings to be associated with it, but in general we can fol- low the recent summary by Carr, based on the interpretations of the terms Episkepsis and Platytera.'S Episkepsis either means “visit,” de- riving from the weekly miracle that occurred at the Blachernae Mon- astery in the late eleventh and twelfth centuries—when divine powers “visited” an icon of the Virgin, causing its veil to lift unaided—or it is an epithet derived from the word skepé meaning shelter.'* The latter would relate to the protective role of the Virgin’s robe, or maphorion, the most important relic housed at the Blachernae Monastery, as will be discussed below. Both interpretations may be linked to the shelter- ing protection of the Virgin and her robe. The term Platytera means “one who is wider [than the heavens],” and this refers to the Virgin as the vessel of the Incarnation. Taken together, the two themes express the position of the Virgin as intermediary between God and humankind. She is the passage by which God came to earth, and she is the merciful pro- tector, an instrument of divine grace.!” Both of these meanings were absorbed into the Blachernae type, and both themes were developed at the Chora. The image of the Virgin Blachernitissa was associated with the relic of the maphorion of the Virgin, venerated in the Soros (reliquary] chap- el of the Blachernae Monastery, which had been brought from Palestine in the fifth century.'® By the seventh century, the Virgin was clearly established as the pro- tector of the city, and both the icon and the robe were regarded as phys- ical manifestations of this protection, as sacred palladia.'? The Virgin was credited with the salvation of the city on several occasions, check- ing the Avar attack of 626 and the Arab siege of 717. In each instance, apparently, a procession bearing the Virgin’s robe around the walls pre- ceded the victory. The robe was similarly credited with the suppression of a revolt in 822, and in 860 a procession preceded the destruction of the Russian fleet that had besieged the city.” The protection provided by the maphorion of the Virgin during the Russian attack of 860 is vividly described by Photios in Homily 4: the mantle was carried around the walls and the Russians fled, or, in the words of Photios, “the city put it [the robe] around itself and bedecked itself with it.”2! The robe is called the skepé (refuge) and the peribolé (covering) of the people, and these epithets are carried over to the Vir- gin as protectress.” Such language is found in the Akathistos hymn, which, according to tradition, was sung to celebrate the lifting of the Avar siege in 626.4 The Blachernitissa was thus a potent protective image, and the theme of the Virgin as a refuge is one often referred to by Theodore Metochites 95Robert Ousterhout as he discussed the Chora monastery: “I have made thee, Oh most pure Lady, my hope and the chora for the refuge (kataphygé) of my life.” But the selection of the image may also be related to a subtext devel- oped in Metochites’ decorative program. Like the Christ Chalkides shown in the Deesis (fig. 45), the Blachernitissa was an imperial image: the monastery of the Blachernae was intimately connected with the imperial residence near the Chora, and an icon of the Virgin Blacherni- tissa had been carried into battle by the emperors in the eleventh cen- tury. The Chora image was yet another expression of Metochites’ imperial pretensions. The patron of the Chora ambitiously attempted to connect himself with the imperial family of Andronicus II Palaeolo- gus through intermarriage and through his increasingly powerful posi- tion at court. At the Chora he was the first nonimperial ktétor of a basiliké moné, and his well-known dedicatory image appears proudly next to the Deesis panel, which includes portraits of the previous two imperial benefactors of the monastery (fig. 45).?* In the language of the Chora’s decorative program, Metochites joined the ranks of the impe- rial family and placed himself under the same spiritual protection. The Dedicatory Image The Chora was dedicated to Christ and the Virgin, although it is not entirely clear how this dedication related to the individual elements of the monastery.?” The dedication is reflected in the Virgin's inscription, as well as that in the lunette panel opposite, which contains a monu- mental bust of Christ, inscribed 'I(q008)s X(piotd)s xwpa Tay CovTww: Jesus Christ the Dwelling-Place (chéra) of the Living (fig. 50). The in- scription refers to Psalm 116:9 and, like that accompanying the Virgin panel, contains a play on the name of the monastery.¥ Although the name Chora must have originally meant “in the country,” both epithets reinterpret the name in a mystical sense, and they are repeated several times in the church decoration. Theodore Metochites referred to dedications to both Christ and the Virgin in his discussions of the church and monastery,?® although the monastery proper may have been dedicated just to the Virgin. Meto- chites indicates this several times in a poem to her: “To thee I have dedicated this noble monastery which is called by thy precious name of Chora”; a single reference to a dedication to Christ is unspecific.*° If we can trust the evidence of the decoration, however, the church itself was likely dedicated to Christ: directly above the entrance to the naos is the image of Metochites presenting the church to Christ.! But this 96 The Virgin of the Chora dedication may have been limited to the naos: the parekklesion, with its Marian and Temple imagery, was more likely dedicated to the Vir- gin.*? In any event, the two figures appear in pendant images through- out the church decoration, and the programs of the narthexes are divided between the Lives of the Virgin and Christ. The dual dedication is also reflected in the confrontation of events concerning men with those concerning women in the narratives.** Equality is stressed: Christ heals, raises from the dead, and resurrects men and women simultaneously. The epithet associated with the Virgin, } xupa tod dxwpritou, is sim- ilar to a variety of metaphorical images used in Byzantine hymns. One might wonder, in fact, just how much Byzantine hymnography informed the decorative program of the Chora. For example, it has been suggest- ed that the Akathistos Hymn influenced the cycle of the Infancy of Christ in the exonarthex—indeed, the entire program is imbued with liturgical significance, as was common in late Byzantine church deco- ration.“ The Virgin appears in the dome of the parekklesion, and in the pendentives are four hymnographers (fig. 51), taking the positions that would be occupied by the evangelists if Christ were represented in the dome. The implied message is that the hymnographers revealed the role of the Virgin in the same way the evangelists told of the mission of Christ. Because the parekklesion was a funeral chapel decorated with Old Testament prefigurations of the Virgin and scenes of the Last Judg- ment, Underwood has suggested a twofold relationship between the writings of the hymnographers and its iconography: their works address funerary concerns, and they are infused with Old Testament typology of the Virgin.*s It may be added that the four, John of Damascus, Cos- mas of Jerusalem, Joseph the Hymnographer, and Theophanes Graptos, all wrote hymns to the Virgin, and, significantly, all employed the epi- thet chéra or a variation of it. In Byzantine hymnography, the Virgin was frequently called chéra, but usually the meaning is “field”: unplowed, unsown, and unfarmed fields refer to her virginity. The Akathistos Hymn, on which the Cho- ra inscription was based, is unusual in this respect: the Virgin is called “xupa Geod Tod dxwpryrov”—" dwelling (or container} of the uncontain- able God.”37 However, the related words chdrésasa (has contained) and chorion (dwelling place, estate) are used more frequently, often in for- mulas similar to the monastic epithets. For example, Andrew of Crete or Jerusalem wrote “she has contained in her womb the uncontainable Logos.”38 In his Canon for the Mid-Pentecost, Joseph the Hymnographer began each verse with a different play on the word chorésasa.® Such wordplays were the very essence of Byzantine hymnography.*° With chorion, the diminutive of chéra, the wordplays are similar: “chdrion 97