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TALIA
CHRISTIANA
z6u
ANALECTA
'Winkler
1
I
i
:
Studies
n Liturgy
and Patristics
in
Honor of
edited
by
Hans-Jiirgen
Feulner,
lena
Velkovska,
and Robert
F. Taft,
S.J.
PONTIFICIO
STITUTO
ORIENTLE
PIAZZA
.MAruA
MAGGIORE,
I_00185 OMA
2000
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. t 1 a "
e - a f
, ^ r d
- '
Q / '
ANALECTA
*. '
ORIENTALIA
CHRISTIANA
260
CROSSROAD
FCULTURES
Studies
n Liturgy and Patristics
n
Honor of Cabriele
Winkler
edited
by
Hans-Jrgen Feulner, Elena
Velkovska, and Robert F. Taft, S.J.
P O N T I F I C I OS T I T U T OO R I E N T A L E
PIMZAS.MARIAMAGGIORE,
I-OO1B5 OMA
2000
-l
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ORIENTALIA
CHRISTIANA
ANALECTA
EDITOR
RobertF. Taft,
S.J.
ASSISTANT
TO THE
EDITOR
Stefano
Parenti
ASSOCIATE
EDITOR
Edward
G. Famrgia,
S.J.
WITH
The Professors
f the Pontifical
Oriental nstitute
SECRETARY
Bernardo
Armti,
S.J.
MANAGING
EDITOR
Jaroslaw
Dziewicki
All
correspondence
conceming manuscripts
should.
be addressed
o the Ed.itor;
all other con'espond.ence
o the
Mano.ging Ed.itor.
@ 2000 Pontificio
Istituto
Orientale. Roma.
All rights
reserved.
ISBN88-7210-325-8
Acknowledgements:
the Editors
gratefully
acknowledge receiving
from the Karlsruhe
Badische Landesbibliothek
the rights
to reproduce
the illustration
of the l2ll4th
c.
Artiphonale Monasticum,
Karlsruhe, Badische
Landesbibliothek,
AUG
perg.
60, ff. 2', in
Prof. Hansjakob Becker's
paper.
Finito .li sta'1|pare
nel
'tese
di
febbnio 2000 da a
npolitoqrufra 2000 s.a.s.
di De MaEisMs R.
I' C.
Via Tiento,46
-
00046
Grcuafenata
(Rott) -
Te|. e Fu
06.9410423
E. n ui I de n tugis /'is@p elag$. i
, '
|
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r , '
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Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations
Letter
of
Archbishop
Khajag BARSAMTN
Introduction. GabricleWinkler
at Sixty. Vita et opera
Hans-Jrgen FEUTNER,
niversity of Tbingen,
List of Publications
of
Gabiele Winklcr
Luise ABRAMowsKr,
University of Tbingen, Narsai,
Ephrrim und.
Kyrill ber esu Verlnssenheitstuf.Matth. 27 46
Hansjakob BEcKER, University
of Mainz, Aspiciens
-
Aspiciebam.
Tradition
und Trandormation des Antiphonale
Offi.cii im Mittel-
a l t e r . , .
Gabriel BERToNIER,
CSO, St. Joseph'sAbbey,
Spencer Massachu-
setts
(USA),
Foar titurgical Kanons
of Elias I I of Jerusalem
. . . .
Heinzgerd BRAKMANN,
.-J.-Dlger-Institut, Bonn,
'1
ranawrl ro
Kupiou. Christi Lichtmess
im
frhchistlichen
Jerusalem . . . . . . .
Sebastian P. BRocK,
Oxford University, Toward.s
a Typology ol the
Epicleses in the West Syrian Anaphoras
.
Armenuhui DRoST-ABGARjANnd Hermann
GoLTz. Universitv of
Halle,
Eine armenische
bersetzung es Hymnos Akathistos.
Ein-
leitung,
Edition, deutsche bersetzung
und armenisch-griechisches
Glossar .
Hans-Jrgen FEULNER,
University of Ttibingen,
Zu d.en Editionen
orientalischerAnaphoren . .
Michael Daniel FNDIKYAN,
St. Nersess Armenian
Seminary, Ner,"
York,
On the Oigins and Early Evolution
of the Armenian
Office of
Sunrise .
Albert GRHARDS,
niversity of Bonn
,
Akklamationen
im Euchaistie-gebet.Funktion und Gestah m Liturgievergleich
Stephen GERo,University of Tbingen, What Were
he Holy Images of
the
Iconoclasts?
Gregor HANKE,
O,S.B,, Benediktinerabtei Plankstetten, Bavarta,
Der
Odenkanon des Tagzeitenitus Konstantinopels
im Licht der
BeitrdgeH,
Schneidersund O. Strunks
-
eine Relecture
. . . , . . . .
Andreas
HEINZ, Deutsches Liturgisches Institut
and University of
lrier, Sonntq.gsfrmmigkeit
n der heutigen Liturgie der
Syisch-
Maroniischen
Kirche . .
Sebasti JANERAS, arcelona, Saint Jean Chrysostomeet la Glande
Entre . .
7
9
1 l
3 l
43
1 5 1
173
193
z 5 l
3 1 5
33 1
395
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O
TBLE
OF CONTENTS
Maxwell
E. JoHNsoN,
University
of Notre Dame,
Indiana
(USA),
Te
Oigins
of the Anaphoral
Sanctus and.
Epiclesis
Revisited.:
Th.
Contribution
of
GabrieleWinkler
and lts
Implications
-
Franz
KoHLScHETN,
niversity of Bamberg, Konturcn dcr Liturie-wksenschaft. Zur
Bercksichtigung
d.er stlichen
Liturgien
bei
en
Autoren
liturgiewissenschaftlicher
Handbiicher
Franz
Xayer
Schmid
(
1800-1
871 und
Johann Bqptist
Lft
(
80j
-j
870)
Christoph
MARKscHrEs,
University
of lena,
Origenes
und die
Kor-
mentietung
d.es
paulinischen
Rmerbiefs
-
einige Bemerkungen
2ur
ReTeption
von antiken
Kommentarlechniken
im
Christentum
des
d.ritten lahrhunderts
und. ihrer
Vorgeschichte
. ,
Reinhard
MEssNR,
University
of Innsbruck,
Zur
Euchaistie
in
den
Thomasalcten,
Zugleich
ein Beitrag
zur
Friihgeschichte
der euchan-
stischenEpiklese
Marcel METZGER, niversity
of Strasbourg,
pages
fminines
d.esCon-
s t i tu t ionsapos to l iques
. . . .
Stefano PRrNTr,
Pontificio
Istituto
Liturgico
Sant,Anselmo,
Rome,
Mesed. i
Meo( t toy
. . . . .
Thomas
Porr,
O.S.B., Abbaye
Sainte-Croix,
Chevetogne,
Belgium,
Rfortne
monastique
et yolution
litulgique.
La reforme
stoudiie
. -
. 557
Erich RENHART,
niversity
of Graz, Zu
einem
Gebetseinschub
n
der
ingercn
artnenischen
edaktion
erBasiliusanaphora
........
.
591
Charles
RrNoux,
O.S.B.,
Abbaye
d'En
Calcat, Frar'ce,
Le.
Gloria in
excelsis Deo de l'glise armnienne 603
SAMIR
Khalil Samir,
S.J., Pontificio
Istituto
Orientale,
Rome, L'Encr-
clopdie
liturgique
d'Ibn Kabar
(t
1324)
et son
apologie
d'usagLs
coptes
..
619
Hans-Joachim
ScHULz,
University
of Wiirzburg,
Die Spiepelunp
ur-
kirchlicher
Taufmystagogie
und Taufpraxis
ii
tot S,S-
""
Ut
) o t o
657
Robert
F. TAFr,
S.J., Pontificio
Istituto
Orientale,
Rorne,
The
pr|pa-
tivtoy in
the 6/7th
c.
"Nanation
of the
Abbots
lohn and
Sooh-
ronius."
An Exercise
n Comparative
Liturg .
. . .
675
Robert W. THoMsoN,Oxford University, Saint Ephrem and an Arme-
nian Homily
on the
Passion
693
Elena VELKovsKA,
University
of Sien
I
"d.odiciprokcimena"
d.el
mat-
tutino cattedrale
bizantino
.
7Os
Boghos Levon
ZEKTYAN,
niversity
of Venice,
L'Armenia
tra Bizanzio
e I'Iran
dei Sasanidi
e momenti
delln
fondaTione
d.ell'id.eolosia
dell'Atnenia
cistiana
(secc.
V-VII).
Preliminari per
una sintesi
. . . 717
461
5 1 5
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AASS
AB
ACO
L I S T
O F A B B R E V I A T I O N S
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Eduardus Schwrtz,
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Archiv
fur Orientforschung
Archiv fu
r Liturgiewissenschaft
Archives
de l'Orient
Chrtien
Bibliotheca
Ephemerides
Liturgicae. Subsidia
Franois
Halkin,
Biz'liotheca Hagiographica
Gtueca
(SH
8a, Bruxel-
les 1957r):
Auctaium BHG
(SH
47, Bruxelles
1969); Noeum
auctaium B}IG
(SH
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Bruxelles 1984)
Patjj Peeters,
Bibliotheca Hagiogrophica
On.erlalis
(Bmxelles
1910)
Bibliotieca
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1943/44
f.)
Josephus Simonius
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Bibliotheca Oient(iis
Clementi4o-
Vaticana
(Ror'tae
l'119,1721,1725,
1728)
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Hildesheim 1975)
Frank Edward Brightman, Liturges Eastem and Westet'n,L Eastem
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ord
| 896)
Bulletin
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Byzantion
Byzantinische
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Corpus Christianorum,
Series
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The Catholic Historicl
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Clavis
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vols. ed.
M. Geerard, F, Glorie
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Christianorum,
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christianomm
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(Lor"rvain
1903 f
)
Corpus
Scriptorum
Ecclesiasticontm
Latinorum
(Wien
1866 f.)
corpus Scriptorum
Historiae
Byzantinae
(Bonn
1828-1897)
Dictionnaire d'ArchologieChrtienne et de Liturgie
Henricus
Denzinger,
Ritus Orientalium...
I,
(Wuburg
1863-
1864)
Dictionnaire
d'Histoire et
de Gographie
Ecclsiastique
(Paris
1912 f.)
Aleksej
. Dmitrievskij,
opisaftie Liturgieskich
rukopisei
chrania-
Iichsia
bibliotekach
ptut
oslat)nago
ostoka,
I-II
(Kiev
1895,
1901)
III
(Petrograd
917)
Dumbarton Oaks
Papers
Epheme
des Liturgicae
Echos d'Orient
Franciscus
Xavenus
Funk, Didascala
et Constitutiones
Apostolo-
rulz I-II
(Paderborn
1905,
ep. Torino 1964)
Carl Brockelmann, Geschbhte der arabischen Uteratut (weirrl r
1898) I
(Leiden
1912)
Idem I-Il
(Leiden,
1943-1949)
1derfl,Supplementbnde
-III
(Leiden
1937, 193a, 1942)
Die
gdechischen
christlichen
Schriftsteller
(Leipzig/Berlin
1897
f
)
Jacobus
Goar,
Exyrot siee
Rituale
graecotum
(Venezia
1730'
reDr. Grz
1960)
Anton Baumstark,
Gescirhte
der syrbchen
Literatul
(Bor.r,
7922)
Handbuch der
Orientalistik
(Leiden-Kln
1952 f.)
Henry
Bradshaw Society
Irnikon
Jahrbuch der sterreichischen
byzantinischen
Gesellschft
(1951-
68)i Jahrbuch der sterreichischenByzantinistik
(wien
1969 f.)
Joumal of
Semitic Studies
fo
ALw
AOC
BELS
BHG
BHGAJBHGNA
BHO
Bio
BO
Brightman
BSAC
Byz
BZ
ccG
CCL
CHR
cPc
csco
CSEL
CSHB
DACL
Denzinger,
OC
DHGE
Dmitrievskij
DOP
EL
EO
Futk
l-ll
GAL
GAL2
GALS
GCS
Gor
CSL
HOr
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JTS
LOC
LO
LQF
The
Journal
of Theological
Studies
Eusbe
Rnaudot,
Ziturgiantm
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Collectio,
2 vol.
(Frar-
turr 18472)
Liturgiegeschichtliche
Quellen
Liturgiegeschichtiche
Quellen und Forschungen,
deinde
Liturgie-
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u. F.
0957 ff.)
The
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for Armetian
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Lexikon fta Theologieund Kirche (1930, 1957, 1993)
Johannes
Dominicus
|i1.ansl,
Sacroram
Conciliorumiova
et auplis_
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coe.rto
(Fenze
1759
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Monument
Cermaniae
Historica
inde
ab
anno
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Hannover
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f.)
Marcel
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Cottstitutions
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SC
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336
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Le Muson
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Orientalia
CMstiana
Analecta
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Christiana
Oriertalia
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Periodica
OstkircNiche
Studien
Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodic
Orientalische
Litemturzeituns
L'Orient
Syrien
Paulys
Realenzyklopdie
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klassischen
Altertumswissenschft
ndX,rcviror
iiraws
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t9OE5)
Jacobus
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Graeca
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tSSi_t
dOO)
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e, Patologia
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l84l
_
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I- l
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I9O7
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Revue
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tudes
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Reallexikon
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Revue des Etudes Byzantines
Relue
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Renudot,
Historia
i'atriarcharum
Aletcandinorum
Jacobi_
tarutu
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Historiens
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1g64-1906)
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Chrtien
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Rivist
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Recherches
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ou Recueil
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Pans
1902,
Theologische
Rer,rre
Theologische
QuartalscMft
Texte
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Vigiliae
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Stephen
Gero
Whct Were the Holy Imoges
oI the lconoclcsts?-
"The
holy images
ofthe
iconoclasts"
-
prima
facie the very
notion
seems to be self-contradictory. How
could the iconoclasts have holy
images? Were
they
not,
as the etymology of the designation
(i.e.
"image-breakers")
already shows, rather the destroyers
of images?
This is for instance exp ressly asserted in an
early, brief accounr,
which
is appended to a heresiological work
of John
Damascus;
the
passage,even if not written by John himself, surely dates from the
reign of Leo IIL Describing the activit ies
of
Leo's
partisans
the author
says.
They
are called iconoclasts
because ... they have
given
over the
holy and august images to being
broken and burned. In a like man-
ner,
they either scraped off or obliterated with
lime and black
paint
the images
on
walls".r
In a somewhat later account
(doubtfully
at-
tributed
to the
patriarch
Germanus, but at any rate written
before the
iconoclastic
council of 754),, though the explicit
designation
"icono-
clasl"
does not appear, the destructive activity
of the heretics is de-
-
Abbreviatio:rs:
GcIo, BI, vol. I
=
S-
Gero,
B)zartire lcotloclasm
(lltring
the Reigtl of I2o IIl,.Nith Par-
licltlar Attentiotl to l1eOental Sottrces
Louvain,
1973).
Gcrr, Bl, vol.
2
=
S. Gcro, Byzantine lcotlocktsltt tltting the Reigtl
(t
Constetltine V,
with Particular Attentiolr 10
he Oielltal
So&r'ces
Louvain,
1977).
GoIo,
Iconoclast ic
MovemcDt"
=
S. GeIo,
"The
Byznt ine conoclast ic
Movcmcnt: A
Sr:r'vey" rr L iZnc
dans la tlologie et l'urt
(Lcs
tudcs thologiques de Charnbsy,
vol.9,
Chanbsy/Gcmcva,990),
p.95
11.
Grabar,L'iconoclasne
=
A.
Grabar, L'ictttoclasnte bya.attt1. p tlossier archologique,
2nd
ed.
Paris,
1984).
Kilzinger, 11crllto = E. Kitzinger, Il culto del le nttnagin i. L'arte b:.antn clal cstiane-
simo clelle igini all'lcoroclasl la
(Florence,
1992).
Thiimmel, Bilderlehre
=
H.G. Thiimmcl, Die Fngeschchte der ostkirchlichen Bilder
lehrc.Texle
uru| Untersuchungen
ur
Zeit
vor dem Bilclerstreit
Berlin,
1992).
Th\immd, Bilderstreil
=
H.G. Thiimmel, Bldcrlehte utld Bilderstreit. Arbeiten
zur
Aus
einandersetaungiber die Ikone und hre Begriin(1ut1gtomehtnlich
im
8.
utttl 9.
.l
ahund erl
(W
irz.blr
g,
1991
.
IPG
94,773A8. On this
passage
ee Cero, BI, vol. l ,
p.
99 and B. Kotter, Die
Schiften
tles Johannesvon Damaskos. V. Liber tle haeresibus-Opet
polemice
(P'erl'ir,l
NewYork, 1981),
.
5.
I
SeeBl, vol. 1,
pp.
97-8. John Wortley,
("Iconoclasm
and
Lcipsanoclasm:
Leo III,
ConstaDtiDe and the Relics," By:arrinrsche Farschungen8
(1982)
258 [f) woulcl even
date l to
ca.7E0.
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332
STEPHEN GERO
scribed in ample
detail:
"Those
who now
preach
this doctrine were
not satisfied
with removing the images of the saints on
panels,
but
they also wanted to destroy the corresponding
painted
decoration of
the most venerable temples. Moreover, they laid hands on the hon-
ored and
holy figurative table coverings of the holy sanctuaries ... be-
cause the
pictures
of the saints were found depicted on them".3 As a
complement to
such eighth-century descriptions, one can register, for
example,
a ninth-century account by the
patriarch
Nicephorus,
from
a
work of his, written
perhaps
around 820, describing the depreda-
tions of the iconoclastic
partisans
of
Leo V. After
asserting that the
iconoclasts denied altogether
the venerable tradition of the ancients
(a
charge, often
repeated, which comes very close to the modem use
of the term "iconoclast" to describe someone who attacks or ridicules
traditional institutions
and ways of thinking) Nicephorus continues:
"they
leveled to the
ground
the
holy
temples,
ruined
the altars,
burned the holy table coverings
in
the
middle
of the
marketplace
and
broke
... the holy vessels".a or
good
measure, we are told by the
pa-
triarch,
the miscreants even trampled on the cross of Christ and
made short shrift of all the venerable symbols of the Christian faith,
vouched for by the
pious
emperors and
priests
of the
past.
The foregoing are typical examples of the
very
one-sided
way in
which the Byzantine iconoclasts were represented n the literary tra-
dition of their iconophile opponents;
such descriptions are
paralleled
in the tendentious depictions, in some instances outright caricatures,
of the
iconoclasts in manuscript illustrations of the ninth century and
later,
wherein various iconoclasts, in
particular
John the Grammar-
ian, insult or deface
mages.5
Outright destruction, defacement
or forceful removal of ecclesias-
tical decoration did take
place
of
course, at time surely accompanied
by much violence;
it
should be
noted in this connection, however,
J
PG 98, 8OBC.
a
Duodecim capitula, ed.
A. Ppadopoulos Kerameus, AvdsKra Ispooo),upLlKq
ro1oo)"oyicq,vol. 1
(St.
Petersburg, l89l),
p.
458, lines 12 ff
=
ed.
A. Maj,,
Spicilegium
Romanum,vol. l0
(Rome,
1844),
.
154, ine 2 ab imo
-
p.
155, ine 7.
5
See Crabar,
L'iconoclasme,
pp.
225 ff and now K. Corrigan,
Visual Polemics in
the
Ninth-century Psallels
(Cambridge,
1992),
pp.27
ff, ll4 ff, For no
good
reason
Fernanda de' Maffei would identify the
iconoclastic
gthering
in the illustration of
Psalm 25 ir the
Khludov
psalter
(Moscow,
Hist. Mus.
gr.
129D, ol. 23v) s the coutcil
of
754, not
as
tht of 815, and accordingly the
presiding
figure
in imperial
garb
as
Constantine V, not as Sybatios-Constantine,
the son of Leo V
(lcona,
pittore
e arte al
Concilio Niceno
II
(Rome,
1974),
p.
95).
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W1IATWERE THE HOLY IMAGES OF TIIE ICONOCLASTS? 333
that the iconoclstic
council of 754, while
forbidding
the
manufac-
ture and
veneralion of images, nowhere sanctions
their destruction
and
imposes strict safeguards on the
removal or alteration of deco-
rated liturgical vessels and fabrics.6 Still the iconoclasts did desewe,
with some
justice,
this name, bestowed
on them by their opponents,
though
of course they would
not have accepted it themselves
-
from
their
own
point
of view, not true
icons, images of holy
persons,
were
given
over to destruction, but rather objects
of reprehensible idolatry
and illegitimate
worship.
It stands
to reason that the iconophile
polemic
dwells with a hor-
rid fascination on
the direct assault upon hallowed
material symbols.
The inspired eloquence
and the wealth of detail
which
depict
the acts
of iconoclasm proper and the attendant persecution of the defenders
of image
worship are regrettably not matched by anything
like equal
attention
paid,
be
it even in malam
partem,
to those
features of wor-
ship and theological
thinking which the iconoclasts offered as
alter-
natives. Thus the
repeated destmction and subsequent
restoration,
on
imperial command, of the Chalce
image is described with much
pa-
thetic detail in the sources; that
in its
stead
a
plain
cross as the sym-
bol of iconoclastic
piety
came to
grace
the Chalce
gate,
most
prob-
ably already in the eighth
century,7and
quite
certainly in the
ninth, is
for the most part passedover in silence, except for some rather indi-
rect allusions.
The
portrait
of the iconoclasts
which is thus
presented
s an over-
-
whelmingly negative one; their
ctivity was ostensibly restricted tolf
the brutal destruction of sacred
objects and to the
persecution
of
ahe
orthodox, either because
of their inherent
wickedness or at best, be-
cause of a misguided understanding,
under the sinister
influence of
Jews and Arabs, of
what idolatry really meant. A
rejection of icon-
worship as idolatry, based
on bibl ical texts,E s indeed a constant
and
important iconoclastic theme. It appears already in the earliest
statements attributed
to Constantine of Nacolia and other
iconoclas-
For details see Gero, BI,
vol. 2,
pp.
87,
96, 107.
7
cero,
BI, vol. l,
pp.
113 ff and most recently
P. Speck,
"Td
rfl
ft.apiopato
nLrivo. IJberlegungen zur ulendekoration
der Chalke im achten Jahrhuldert,"
in B.
Borkopp
et al.
(eds.),
Studizn
a
t bt?pntinischen
Khnstgeschichte. Festschift
f
r Horst
Halletuleben
zum
65- Gebultstag
(Ansterdam,
1995),
pp.
211 ff.
8
On
this
subject
see the observtios of I.M.
Resnick,
"Idols
and images: early
definitions and controversies,"
Soboflost 7 (1985) 35 ff.
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334
STEPHEN GRO
tic
bishops n Asia Minor in the 720's,e
nd, despite
occasional
quali-
fication,
keeps recurring throughout
the whole
period.
The removal
or, alternatively, the relocation
of images was
often
professedly
un-
dertaken to neutralize the temptation of the simpler sort of people to
worship
dead, soulless
matter. The strictures
against idolatry
are fur-
thermore frequently
connected
specifically with the illegitimacy
of
anthropomorphic
religious
art; but, interestingly,
at no
point
is there
a blanket condemnation
of all figurative representation,
based
on the
biblical commands,
attdbuted to Byzantine
conoclasts, n
conrrasr,
for instance, to those
(western)
opponents
of images, who,
according
to Bede,
writing in the 730's,
did draw such a conclusion.r0
he Byz-
antine i conoclasts' llogically
restrictive nterpretation
of the
biblical
prohibitions is in fact noted time and again by iconophilecontrover-
sialists; t
speaksof course mpressively
against the thesis
of direct
Jewishor Muslim
influence.rr
Although
the vehement rejection
of
"idolatry"
was undoLrbtedly
important
in
providing
the initial
impulse and
the continuous nspi-
ration of the iconoclastic
movement,
one should realize
hat it is but
the negativeaspect
of iconoclasm,
one side of the coin,
so to speak.
At least from the 750's
onward, if not trom
the very beginnings
of the
movement,
t came to
be combined with a
positive
mage doctrine,
based in part on the eucharisticsacrament.There may have been
perceived,
rorn early
on, an opposition between
he eucharisticcult
and
the worship of images;
hat the iconoclasts
egarded he latter as
a distraction from the celebration
of the mystery
of the eucharist can
be deduced fuom
some defensive comments
of the
patriarch
Germa-
nus.r2But it was
in the first
place
the emperor ConstantineV,
fol-
. 1 ' , 4 . '
lowed
by the
gfbishops
responsible
for drafting
the resolutions of
the council of 754,who
put
forth the doctrine
of the eucharistas
the
'Sec
Gero, BI, vol. 1,
pp.
85 ff and D. Stein,
"Biblische
Excgese und kirchliche
Lel-re im Fr
und Wider des byzanlinischen
Bilderstreits," in
Chr.
Dohncn/Th.
Sternberg
(eds.),
...ltein
Bildnis
machen. K,totst ntl TheoLogte
n Gesprch
Wtirzburg,
1987),
p.
69 t f .
1t
De tenrplo, ed. D. Hurst, Bedae
Venerabilisopeftr,
pars
II,
2A
(CCh,
ser. latina,
vol. 119,
umhout, 1969),
.212,
ines
8 ff.
rrOn
this mtter
see further my remarks in
"Iconoclastic
Movement",
pp.
98-9
nd
"Early
Contacts between Byzntium
amd the Arab Empire:
A
Review
and Some
Reconsiderations" in
Tl Fouth Intemational
Conlrenceon the History
of
Bilad
al-
Shan,vol. l
(Amman,
1987),
p.
128 f .
r2
PG 98. t84AB.
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WIIAT
WERE THE
HOLY IMGS
OF THE ICONOCNSTS?
335
true image
of Christ;t3
this, apart
from the polemical
accent,
was
of
course in
itself no
theological
novelty.ra
The immediate
source
seems
to have
been Eusebius
of
Caesarea,who
in his
famous
letter
to the
empress Constantia expounded the eucharistic image doctrine as parr
of his sustained
argument
against
the making
of material
images
of
Christ.r5
According
to the iconoclasts
it
is in the
consecrated
eucharistic
elements
that
one can see
the image
of Christ.
The eucharistic
bread
is
the eirv
of the body
of Christ, it
depicts
His flesh, it
is the 16zro
f
His
body. Through
sacerdotal
consecration
the eucharistic
elements
are transferred
from
the domain
of the
hand-made,
r
1rpofiotnrov,
o
that made
without
hands, t
dlerporoirpov;
this
formulation, probably
original to Constantine V, is surely directed against the widespread
veneration
of miraculously produced
images
of
Christ. In
the refine-
ment
and elaboration
of this doctrine
in t]rre
oros
of 754 the
connec-
tion
with the
idolatry
theme is
made explicit
-
the
eucharist
is the
"unlying
image"
of
Christ's body,
transferred
through
the
sacerdotal
prayer
from
the sphere
ofthe
profane,
rd rorvv,
to that
of the
holy, r
dyrov.This
is by divine
intent
an image
'ot
fashioned
in the
form
of
a man",
so that
idolatry
may not even
by stealth
be introduced.
This
exposition
of
the eucharistic
image
doctrine
is coupled
with
polemic
against the pseudonymous images of the iconophiles; these have ner-
ther the
sanction
of biblical
and
patristic
tradition
nor
-
and
this
seems
o be the
crucial
point
-
have
they been
consecrated
bv means
of a holy prayer
to effect
the
passage
rom the
sphere
of the
profane
to that
of the holy;
instead,
the ftoros
concludes,
the so-called
icons
13
For details
see Gero, BI,
vol. 2,
pp.
45
ff, l0l ff.
14
See S. Gero,
"The Eucharistic
Doctrine
of the Byzntine
Iconoclasts
and lts
Sources,"
BZ 68
(1975)
4
ff; M.
Gesteira carz. La
Eucar-istia,
dimagen
de
Cristo?
Ante el 12.o Centenario del Concilio 2.o de Nicea," Revistaespafrolade teotogte 4j
(1987).281
ff, esp. 292
ff; J.N. Prs,
"La
cne
est-elle a Vrai
icne du
Chrisr?
(Aux
origines du
dogme eucharistique),"
Eladas
thologiques
et rcligieuses
63
(1988)
529 ff.
For
a study of the
issues involved
plced
in
a broader
"history
of ideas',
context see
S.
Michalski,
"Bild,
Spiegelbild,
Figura,
Representtio.
Ikonittsbegriffe
im
Spannungs-
feld
zwischen Bilderfrage
und Abendmahlskontroverse,"
AHC 20
(1988)
458 ff,
esp.
463 11.
ls
See S.
Gero,
"The
Tme
Image of
Christ Eusebius'Irtter
to
Constanti Recon-
sidered,"
JTS, n.s.
32(1981),
p.
467t
Chr. Schnborn,
Die
Chstus-Ikone
(Schaffhau-
sen, 1984),
pp.
67 ff;
Ch. Murray,
"Le pmblme
de l'iconophobie
et les
premiers
sicles chrtiens,"
in F. Bcespflug
/ N. Lossky
(eds.),
Nr'cle 11,
7gZ-1987. Do
ze
sicles
d.'images
eligieuses
(Paris,
1987),
pp.
44
ff. Cf. S. Gero,
"Aggiornamento
bibliografico,,ir Kitzinger
,
Il
cuho,
p.
lO9.
-
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336 STEPHEN GERO
remain common and worthless,
just
as the
painter
made them. Here
we are confronted
with
the iconoclasts' mature criteria for discerning
a true
holy image
-
it is validated
by the authority of tradition, it is
of a non-anthropomorphic character, and it is properly consecrated,
in order to effect the descent and the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit.
The doctrine of the eucharistic image, though not explicitly
men-
tioned in the extant fragments of the second iconoclastic council
in
8i5,
did in
all
likehood retain
currency throughout the whole
period
and the
formula
"eirv (or
runo) of His body" as applied to the
eucharist seems to have
gained
the status of an iconoclastic shibbo-
leth;r6 thus Theodore of Studios cites the iconoclastic
statement that
Christ can be represented
-
but only in accordance with
the words
"Do this in remembrance of me"; such an image is true and such a
depiction is sacred.rT
The eucharistic icon, despite all the safeguards, s
of course still
an outwardly material image; as a complement
to
it
a
purely
spiritual
doctrine, the so-called
"ethical
theory
of
images"tE
s also at times
proffered.
Rather than depicting
the bodily traits of Christ or the
saints
"in
lifeless and speechless cons" one should
attempt to imitate
their conduct and thus form living images of their virtues. Normally,
the means of emulation is the
perusal
of
ecclesiastically
approved
writings; at times there seems to be a more direct, almost mystical
dimension to the formtion
of
the image
of Christ in the soul,
through the sanctification
of
the Holy
Spirit.'e The language used
here
(pprp
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WHAT
WER TH
HOLY IMCES
OF TH
ICONOCLASTS?
337
of the
passage
n
this context
is refuted
at
great
length
by Nicephorus.
According
to
the iconoclasts'
version
of the
fifth-century patristic
tes-
timonium,
from
the letter
of Nilus
to Olympiodorus,
only
the
plain
cross should be depicted in the sanctuary and the rest of the church
should be whitewashed.2r
The iconoclasts
also adduced
a
staremenr
of Epiphanius,
according
to which
no
church decoration
other than
the
plain
cross s permitted.r2
But it
is however quite
clear that
for the
most
part
the iconoclastic policy
tolerated
or
even encouraged
abun-
dant zoomorphic
and floral
decoration
as adiaphora;
in
particular
the
possibility
that
1j*(he
object
of idolatry
for
the faithful
could
be a
. . . - -
theriomorphia
representation
by itself
was no
longer
envisaged.ri
The
iconoclasts
were
apparently
unwilling
to
engage n
a debate
about
the
symbolic depiction of the Savior as agnus Del versus a realistrc, an-
thropomorphic
one, as
posed
in
the
f:famous
eighty-second
canon
of
the council
in Trullo;2a
he
text was
dismissed
by them
either
as
being
an enactment
of all too recent
vintagezs
or,
alternatively,
as
one
of heretical provenience.26
This
brings
us to the
subject
of the cross
as
a sacred
symbol
for
the iconoclasts.
A cross replaced
the
Chalce
Christ image,
which
was
removed
by imperial
command,
already
at
the outset,
in the
early
eighth
century.2?There
is
abundant
and reliable
archaeolosical
evi-
2r
Text
no. 43 in
Thtmmel,
Bilde lehre
(pp.
3l}-ll);
seenow also
for the
text, as it
circulated
in the early
ninth century,
J.M. Featherstone
(ed,.),
Nicephot
patiarcha.e
Constantinopolitani
Refutatio
et Eversio
Delinitionis
synodalis
Aanl 8jS
(
CCh,
ser.
graeca,
vol.
33, Tumhout,
1997\,
p.
248,line
2l
-
p.
250,
line 7. Thmmel
opts for the
authenticity
and
p
ority of the iconoclastic
version
(see
his
,,Neilos
von
Ankyra
ber
die
Bilder" BZ 71
(1978)
10ff
and Bilderlehte, pp.78lO
by contrast
Alan
Cameron, in
a contribution
overlooked
by Thtmmel,
claims to have
discovered
in an
eighth-
century compilation
an
iconophile fiagment
fiom
another
work by Nilus,
under
the
alias
"AnclTianus" ("A
Quotatio
fTom
S. Nilus of Anc5,ra
n an Iconodule
Tract?,,JTS,
n.s. 27
(1976\
128 ff;
cf. the
same author's
"The
Authenticity
of the
Letters of
St Nilus
of Ancyra," GRBS 17 (1976) 189 fO. This lasr marter ii still sub judice; cf. Av.
Cameron /
J, Hetrill.,
Coftstantinople
in the Earlt
Eighth Century:
The
patustaseis
Syntomoi
Chronikai
(Leiden,
1984),
p.
184.
22
Epistula ad Iheodosium,
textrro.37 ir,'Ihtimmel,
Bild.erlehre
p.
301, ines
36 ff).
23
For the
discussion
of a text from
Theodore of
Studios to
this effect see
Gero. BI.
vo l . 2 . 116 .
o te1 7 .
24
Text no. 79
1 Thnrr,mel,
Bildertehre
p.374);
G. Nedungatt
/ J.M. Featherstone
(ed.s.),
he Council
in TflUo
Resited
(Fiome,
1995),p.
162, ine 20
-
p.
164,line5.
, 5
pc
99 ,380D.
26
For details
see Gero,
"Iconoclastic
Movement",
p.
103,note
50.
27
See above, note
7. I find Marie-France uzpy's attempt to dismiss the evtden-tial value
of the
whole dossier
of eighth-
artd ninth-century
texts
pertaining
to this key
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7/25/2019 GERO, Holy Images
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338
srEpHEN
ERo
dence for the
cross as monumental
church
decoration
in the icono-
clastic
period:28
or instance
the extant
mosaic
cross in the
bema of
the church
of Hagia Eirene in
Constantinople,
which
should
be dated
after the earthquake of 740;2ehe original cross in Hagia Sophia in
Thessalonica,
still recognizable
behind
the
present
(eleventh-cen-
tury?) image
of the Virgin;30
he second,
"cruciform"
stage in
the apse
decoration in the
church
of the Dormition
in Nicaea.3r
Literary
evr-
dence
provides
welcome
confirmation
of this
point.
The
previously-
noted iconoclastic
version
of the Nilus
text sanctioning
a
single cross
as ecclesiastical
decoration
was
arguably regarded
as having
a
pre-
scriptive
force;32
hus according
to a recently-published,
previously
unknown
early
hagiographical
text
Constantine V
replaced
the rmage
of the Virgin in the apse of the Chalkoprateia church with a plain
cross.33 conophile polemic
admitted,
however
reluctantly,
that
the
iconoclasts
held the
sign of the
cross in respect,
though
with
the
qualification
that the
heretics
did not hesitate
to
destrov the
cross
eve[t
("La
destruction
de I'icne
du Chrisr
de la Chalc
par
Lon III:
propagande
ou
rali l? Byz
60
(
990)445
m
quitc
unconvincing.
28
See in
general
R. Cormack,
"The
Arts during the Age of Iconoclasm.. in A.
Bryer
/ J. Hejn, lconoclasra
(Birmingham,
197?),
pp.
35 ff.
29
See W.S.
George,The
Church
of Saiftt Eirene
at Constantinople
(London,
l9t2),
pp.
48
ff and
U.
Peschlow,
Die
fterzenkirche
n Istambul.
lIfttersuchunlen
zur
Architek-
f t i l
(Ti ibingen,
197'1).
.
22.
30
For detils
see M. K alliga,
Die Hagio
Sophia ton Thessalonike
Wrzburg,
1935),
pp.
59 ff;
R. Cormack,
"The
Apse
Mosaics of
S. Sophia at Thessaloniki,',
eX,tiov {q
Xprmrcvrxi
Apxoro),oltxg
Eroirg,
ser.4, vol. 10
(1980-81)
112
ff , esp. 117;
O.
Demus,
'Zur
Datierung
der Apsismosaiken
der Hagia
Sophi in Thessalonike,,,
n
O.
Feld
/ U. Peschlow,
Studien
zur
sptitantiken
und
byzantinischen
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WI{AT WERE
THE HOLY
IMAGS OF
fiIE ICONOCLSTS?
339
when
it appeared
as cruciform
decoration
associated
in some
wavs
with icons.34
Does
the cross fall
specifically
into the
category
of sacred rmages,
according to the iconoclasts?Exceptionally, we should be in a favor-
able
situation to find
an answer,
since,
in addition
to a number
of
brief allusions,
several iconoclastic poems
in
praise
of the
cross are
extant;
these are in
part
accompanied
by rival verses
and
a
prose
commentary
from the pen
of Theodore
of
Studios.3s
The technical
questions
of the
occasion of composition,
dating and
authorship
of
these texts
must be left
aside now;
those
aspects
of the material
which are
here discussed
are equally
applicable
to the eighth
and
the
ninth century
situation. The
cross in
the iconoclastic poems
.is re-
garded both as what one would call today a purely religious symbol
and
as the
"political"
emblem
of Byzantine
imperial
victory
over the
enemy.36
In
this
period
the
triumph
of the cross
was in
particular,
though
not exclusively,
an
anti-Muslim
theme;
according
to several
Armenian
sources, tl-re
emperor Leo
III tumed
back the
tide
of the
Muslim besiegers
of Constantinople
by bearing
the cross
into
battle
as his victorious
standard).37
he
depiction
of the cross
is referred
to
either as
tr-lno f the
cross or as
dmo out court.
(The
terminology
of
rnoq s, as we
have seen,
also used
to describe
the eucharistic
image;
but no direct connection is made, in the iconoclastic poems or else-
where,
between the
image of
the cross and
the eucharist
per
se).38
According
to the iconoclastic poems
and kindred
texts,
the cross is
a holy object,
it can and
should
be
venerated.
The depiction
of the
3a
Nicephorus,
Adr.,ersus
cotamachos,
ed. J.B.
pitra,
Spicilegiurn
Solesmeftse, vol.
4
(Paris,
1858),
.280, l ires
5 f f .
3s
For
details see Gero, BI, vol.
1,
pp.
113
f.
36
See J. Moorhead,
"Iconoclasm,
the Cross
and the Imperial
Imge," Byz
55
(1985) 165 ff nd K.C. Inneme, "Some Notes on Icons and Relics," irr Byzantifte East,
Iatin West. Art-Histoical
Studes
in Honor of K rt
Weitzftann
(prirceton,
1995),
pp.
519 ff.
On the central role
of the cross in
imperil ceremodal
more
generally
see
Th]'l-mrrLel,Bildersteit,
pp.
182 ff.
37
BI. vol.
1,
pp.
37 tr,13111.
See now
also dte irteresting,
but, to my mind,
all too
speculative suggesrions
ofy'M. van
Esbroeck
on the subject
of
Io
III and the rme-
nians
("Le
discours du
Citlolicos Sahak
III en 691 et
quelques
documents
armniens
annexes
au
Quinisexte,"
in
Nedungatt / Fe
atherstote, Coutoil
in Trullo,
pp,
3Sj trL
38
Pace J.D. Breckenridge's
earlier
suggestion that
a tertium
comparationis could
be the
common cmciform
eucharistic
bread stamp
("The
Iconoclasts'
Image of
Chiist," Gesla
1l
(1973)
6);
see further Gero, BI, vol.
2,
p.
102, note
160 and
now K.
Parry,
Depicting the Word- Btzantiw lcohophilc Thought of the Eighth aid. Ninth Cen-
Irnes
(Leiden,
1996),
pp.
178 ff.
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340
STEPHEN
GERO
cross is set in
conscious
opposition
to illegitimate
anthropomorphic
images;
t is asserted
hat
the depiction
of the
cross only
is sanctioned
by divine law.
The cross
in
question
is identified
with
its
prororype,
the True Cross, in a direcl and unsophisticated fashion; we should
worship
the
cross because
of the
One who was
crucified
upon it.
The
identity
of form
suffices; neither,
it was generally
agreed,
a consecra-
tion
nor the
provision
with
an inscription,
a
title, is regarded
as
nec-
essary.3e
n short,
the cross
is a sacred
and authentic
symbol, though
in no
text is it called
"icon
of Christ"
or suchlike.
To my
mind it
is
unlikely
that
the cross in
church
decoration
would
have been
ac-
cepted
by the iconoclasts
without
further
ado
as kind
of bstract
equivalent
to the image
of
Christ; admittedly
in
some
aniconic rural
churches, in Asia Minor, the cross in a medaillon is apparently em-
ployed
as a sort
of
primitive "shorthand"
for
Christ
and the
four
evangelists,
and
even for
Old Testament ptriarchs.ao
The representa-
tion of
the
plain
cross is
a holy symbol,
has
a numinous quality
ab-
sent from
the basically
neutral
zoomorphic
and floral
decoration,ar
but it
was not
regarded
as being
commensurable
with
the
eucharistic
icon, the
only true
image
of Christ.
39
Theodore
of
Studios, PC
99, 361A-D.
On this
point
see
further
S. Gero,
,.John
the Crammarian, the Last Iconoclastic patriarch of Constantinople,
The Man
and the
Legend,"
Bu(owrvrt,
Nordisk
tidsknft
fr
bysanrinologi
3-4
(t9ji-75)
27-8
ard
Thtm-
tr)el, Bildetstreit, p.
150.
.
40
See J. LafontaiDe-Dosogne,
Pour
une
problmatique
de la
peinture
d,glise
byzantine
l'poque
iconoclaste,"
DOP 4l
(1987)
329 ff and D.I.
pallas,
,,Une
note
sur
la
dcoration
de la chapelle
de Haghios
Basileios
de
Sinasos,,,Byz 48
(1978)
219 ff.
The decortion
of this last church
has
been most recently
dated
to the
second half
of
the ninth
century
(N,
Teteriatnikov,
"The
Frescoes
of the Chapel
of St. Basil
in
Cappadocia:
Their
Date and
Context Reconsi
dered.,"
Cahiers
atchotogiques
0
(lgg2\
99 ff): but
one, admittedly problematic,
inscription
accompanying
the triumphant
cross
does, according
to the
most likely
reading, reflect
iconoclastic
sentiments
(for
details see N. Thierry, "Mentalit et formulation iconoclastesen Atatolie," Joumal des
savants, 1976,
awil-juin,
p.
90).
See further
eadem,
,,Le
culte de la
croix dans
l,empire
byzantin du VIIe
sicle
au Xe dns
ses rapports
avec la
guerre
contre
l,infidle.
Nou-
veaux
tmoignages
archologiques,"
Rivkta
di
studi bizantini
e sla?i 1
(1981)
205
ff
and
"L'iconoclasme
en Cappadocie
d'aprs
les
sources
archologiques.
Origines
et
modalits,"
ii Rtyonfieme grec.
Homfiages
Charles
Delvoye
(Bn_rssels,
9g2),
pp.
389 ff.
4l
For
a cautious
evalution
of the
prima
facie
seductive hlpothesis
of the icono-
clastic
origin of Middle
Byzantine
aniconic
church
decoration
found in
CaDDaoocla
and several slands
(in
particular
Naxos)
see D.I.
pallas,
..Les
dcoration
anicniques
des glises
dans les
les de I'archipel,"
in
O. Feld /
U.
peschlow
(eds.)
Stud/en
zut
splantiken und
byTantinischen
tunst Friedich
wilhelm
Dechmann gewid.met,
pt,
2(Bonn, 1986), p. 171 f .
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WHAT WER THE
HOLY IMAGES
OFTHE ICONOCLASTS?
341,
The
question
of the imperial
images, n the penumbra
between the
sacred
and the secular,
should of course
be also addressed.
Unfortu-
nately there
are no authenticated
contemporary
imperial
portraits
extant from the iconoclastic period, apart from those on coins. Now,
the legitimacy
of the veneration
of the imperial
image was
not called
into
question
by either
of the
parties
and
any disrespect
shown
ro rt
was
punished
severely.a2
he mtter was
nonetheless
charged
with
tension;
iconophile controversialists,
throwing
the charge
of idolatry
back in
the teeth of their
opponents,
compare
the iconoclastic
em-
perors,
Constantine
V in
particular,
to Nebuchadnezzar.a3
he assimi-
lation
to biblical
evildoers of this
stripe is carried
to n
extreme in
a
very
curious text,
the Apocalypse
of Leo of
Constantinople
where the
transgression of Constantine V is described as his setting up in the
palace
his
own image,
to be worshipped
as that
of an earthly
god,
alongside
those of Christ
and the Virginlaa
Now,
though the
evidence
on this
point
is scarce
and ambiguous,as
t is likely
that images
of the
iconoclastic
emperors
were installed
in churches,
though
hardly as
a
kind
of central
cult image, as
some iconophile
sources would
imply.
One
can think of mosaic
depictions
of an
offertory
procession
such
as
that
of Justinian and Theodora
in
San Vitale, or
the one of
Constan-
tine VI and Irene
in the church
of the Virgin
of Pege.a6
urther it
is
quite possible that the theme of the imperial triumph directly con-
nected with
the cross was
also depicted, perhaps
along the lines
of
images
of Constantine
the Great and Helena
with
the True Cross,
the
iconography
of which
can arguably
be traced back
to seventh-century
models.
Another
alternative
(for
which there is
in fact abundant
evi-
dence
from the minor
arts) is the plain
cross, with
a medaillon por-
trait of the emperor placed
at the intersection.a?
More
problematic,
to
a2
E.g. Nlcephorus,
Adversus conomachos,
ed. Pitra,
p.
275, lines 34-6,
a3So e. g. Nicephorus, Antiftheticus I,PG lOO,276C.
44
R. Maisano
(ed.),
L'apocalkse
apocifa di lzone
di Constaninopoli
(Naples,
1975),
.
72, ines 14-16;
.73,
ines4-6;
p.
77,
ines 14,15.
as
SeeGero,
BI,
vol.
2,
p.
11?.
a
The mosaic
is known only from
a description in
a later
(lOth-cent.?)
anonynrous
collection
of miracles
(De
sacrk aedibus
dcque miraculis Deiparae
ad Fontem
(BHG
1072),
preserved
n one mnuscript
(yatic.
gr.822);
texti Acta SanctotL|rl
Novembi'
tomus III
(Brussels,
1910),
p.
880, ine l0
ab imo ff).
a1
J. Der,
"Das
Kaiserbild im Kieuz.
Ein Beitrag zur
politischen
Theologie
des
frtiheren
Mittelalters,"
SchweizerBeitrtige
zur
AllEemeinenGeschichte
13
(1955)
48
ff,
esp.
pp.
65 ff. There is in particular a gold-leaf cross fTom Benevento with the coin
portrait
of Leo III extant
(p.
79 and
plte
IX,
6). See also Kl. Wessel, "Der
ntichrist
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7/25/2019 GERO, Holy Images
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STEPHEN GERO
my mind, is the
assertion sometimes made in modern
scholarly lit-
erature,4s
hat
purely
secular scenes involving
the emperor, in
par-
ticular hippodrome races, were commissioned
for churches;
a well-
known text from the Vita Stephani Junlons, routinely adduced in this
context,ae nly attests the iconoclasts' preference
or
care for such rep-
resentations but does not necessarily
refer to ecclesiastical
ornament
proper.
Two late, twelfth-century
chronicles say
that Constantine V
substituted hippodrome and
hunting scenes for the
holy images in
churches,sobut this rests, I
think on the incorrect interpretation
of
the earlier material foom the Vita
Stephani- In any
case the imperial
portraits
by themselves did not
belong to the category
of consecrated
holy images.5'
As their formulation of the eucharistic image doctrine shows, the
iconoclasts had a very keen
sense of the radical
distinction between
the sacred and the
profane.
They had in
pafticular
precise
concep-
tion of churches
as
holy places,
and, as Nicephorus
reports,
they ar-
ticulated
the reason for this
sanctity in the following way:
churches
are holy
becauseof the sacrifices which
are
performed
there
(a
refer-
ence of course
to the eucharistic liturgy)
and,
perhaps
even more
significantly,
because of the
prayers
and invocations
pronounced
at
the time
of their foundation.s2t is
thus entirely appropriate
hat, for
instance, the inscriptions in the bema arch surrounding the monu-
mental
apse cross in Hagia
Eirene should
emphasize the
sanctity of
the house of
God so erected, using
biblical
quotations,
which
have a
clear
affinity to the liturgical
formulas for
the dedication of
churches.sl
m Kreuz.
Ein Beitrag zur Polemik Humberts
von Silva
Candida," in Eikon uncl Lo-
gos.
Beitrge
zur
Erforschung
by4antinischerK hurtrad.itionen,
vol. 2
(Halle,
1981),
p.
329.
The
combination of cross
ard imperial effigy is of
course standard in the nu,
mismalic iconography of this and the immediately preceding periods (see M. Restle,
Kunst
und byaantitlische Mnzpriigung
ron Justinian I.
bi-s
zum
Biaerstreit
(Athes,
1964),
p.
101 t) .
aB
In
particular
Grabar, L'iconoclasme,
p.
181.
Cf. Gero, BI, vol. 2,
pp.
I 11 ft
4e
PG 100, lll3A
=
ed. M.,Fr. Auzpy, I4
vte d'Etienne le Jeune
par
Etienne b
Dincre
Aldershot,
997),
.
l21, l ines 16 f .
s0
Constantine Manasses,
Compendium chronicum, PG 127,
383A; Michael Glycas,
Annales,PG 158,528CD.
eealsoGero,BI, vol.2,
p.
117.
sr
Thus it hardly occsions
surprise thaT the holos
of the iconoclastic council
of
754 does not
mention images
of the emperors.
52
PG 1o0,4'17c.
-'
See George,Srirt Eireae,
pp.
50 t.
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WI{AT WERE
THE HOLY
IIVTAGESOF TIIE
ICONOChSTS?
343
The
central ritual
act of consecration
necessary
for
creating
the
holy
space of
the church is
also the hallmark
of the
one legitimate
and holy image
of Christ, the
eucharist. The
idea of
a consecration
acclmplished through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is also in the
background
of the
"ethical
theory
of
images",
the making
of living,
spiritual
images through
the emulation
of the virtues
of the saints.
A
formal consecration
is not
regarded
as being necessary
or
the cross,
since it is in
a way inherently
identical
with the
original;
of course
the
cross and
the eucharist
share the quality
of
being non-anthropomor-
phic,
non-idolatrous
material
sacred
objects, the
counterpoise
to the
unconsecrated,
counterfeit
images
of the iconophiles.5a
The
resulh of the
foregoing
survey can
be summed
up in the
fol-
lowing fashion. As the pendant to their rejection of what they per-
ceived
to be a demonically-inspired
and
-
for
church and
empire
-
utterly
harmful latter-day
upsurge
of idolatry in
the
guise
of the illicit
worship
of anthropomorphic
images,
the iconoclasts presented
the
consecrated eucharistic
element{ as constituting
the only true
and
venerable
image
of Christ. This-r)vas
urther
combined,
on
the one
hand,
with the
notion of the
exclusively
spiritual and
ethical
"iconic"
imitation
of the virtues
of the
saints, and,
on the other
hand, with
the
unassailable
cult ofthe plain
cross,
which was
not only the
symbol
of
the Savior par excellence,but also of the divine sanction for the per-
son and
deeds of the
triumphant
orthodox Christian
emperor
-
an
ideological
construct, which,
in its
sincere concern
for correc
wor-
ship, in
its rigid,
yet
shrewdly selective
raditionalism,
and even
in its
unresolved
contradictions,
is typically
and
profoundly
Byzantine.
Orientalisches Seminar
Eberhard-Karls-Universitt
Tbinsen
Mnzgasse
30
D-72070 Tbingen, Germany
Stephen
Gero
54
In
this context it should
be
recalled
that the ritual
consecration
of icons was in-
troduced at a much
later
period;
for
details see J.G. Passarelli, "Sulla preghiera
di
benedizione delle iconi,"
in Collectanea tzantina
(OCA,
vol. 204,
Rome, 1977),
pp.
239
ff. For
some
"popular"
accourts,
presewed
only in S)riac
and Arabic, but
ultimately
of Byzantine
iconoclastic
proverience,
which
are directed against
the alleged
antiq-
uity and wonder-working powers
of irdividual images
see S. cero,
"The
Resurgence
of
Byzantine
Iconoclasm
in the Ninth
Century, according
to a Syriac Source,"
Speca-
lum
5l
(1976)
2-3 ad
p.
4,
note 3l; cf. Sydney
H. criffith,
"Eutychius
of Alexandria
o the Emperor Theophilus
and Iconoclasm in Byzantium: A Tenth-Century Moment
in Christian Apologetics
in Arabic,"
Byz 52
(1982)
154
tr.