Reconstructing the Reality of Images: Byzantine Material Culture and Religious Iconography (11th-15th Centuries)

THE

MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN PEOPLES, ECONOMIES AND CULTURES, 400-1453

RECONSTRUCTING THE REALITY OF IMAGES Byzantine Material Culture and Religious Iconography (11 th-15th Centuries)

EDITORS

HUGH KENNEDY (St. Andrews) MAGDALINO (St. Andrews) DAVID ABULAFIA (Cambridge) BENJAMIN ARBEL (Tel Aviv) MARK MEYERSON (Toronto) i.ARRy J. SIMON (Western Michigan University) PAUL

BY

MARIA G. PARANI

VOLUME 41

BRILL LEIDEN' BOSTON 2003

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Catalogmg-in-Publication Data Parani, Maria G. Reconstructing the reality of images : Byzantine material culture and religious iconography, 11th-15th centuries / by .l\.faria G. Parani. p. em. -(fhe Medieval Mediterranean, ISSN 0928-5520; v. 41) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 9004124624 I. Material culture-Byzantine Empire. 2. Material culture in art. 3. Art, Byzantine. 4. Christianity and art-Orthodox Eastern Church. 5. Semiotics Byzantine Empire. 1. Title. n. Series. DF60 I .P37 2003 391 '.009495'902 l---7,7;,-81. " Glory if Byzalllium, no. 145 [pp. 210-212]. See, also, E. Kiss, :~he State. of Research on the !vlonomachos Crown and Some Further Thoughts, m PerttPh011S if By.:alllillm alld lis Neiohbors (843-1261) ed. O.Z. Pel'ny (New York, 2000). pp. 60-83. ' ' • S!I

2S

CHAPTER ONE IMPERIAL COSTUME

the empress-in his or I . tI1e emperor-and by extension, asrepacmg . . I I . 63 I ' her absence and as being the vehicles of .Impc~·ta aut lOrIty. t IS, " l'lkcly tllat tile crown under dlscnsSlOn would have been therelore, un . . worn by at1)' of the three imperial personages portrayed on Its plaques." In elevenm-century portraits the crown of the emperor appears as a solid circlet of gold decorated with rows of pe~rls and a great gemstone set in the centre (PI. 3Ia-c).65 It was sometImes surmonnted by a cross (Appendix 2, nos. 12, (6) (PI. IS) or a spray mree _ haped pearls (Appendix 2, nos. IS, 19, 23). Two stnngs of p~s . ' dd . . eplctIons pearIs, tel'minating in trefOIl ornaments m well-preserve . (PI. 31 b), were attached to the lower rim of me crown. frammg the face. They are commonly called prependoulia. In th,e AleXlad, a te~t of me mid-twelfm centnry, they are called me 'onnatlzol and are descrIbed 66 as being specific to imperial usage. A change in the shape of me emperor's crown seems to have taken place towards me end of the eleventh century, during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos (I OS 1-11 IS): it became a closed crown, with a low, hemispherical bow1. 6; This change is first witn~ssed in art in portraits of John 11 Komnenos (1IIS-ll43) (AppendIx 2, nos. 27, 2S; PIs. 20, 21). The Komnenian closed crown was surmounted by a cross or a spray of pearls, but the prependoulia terminated in crosses ramer man trefoil ornaments (PI. 3 Id-e). Since the time of John 11 Komnenos the new closed crown replaced completely the earlier open one in imperial portraiture, with the exception of imperial effigies on coins, probably due to the conventionalism as a rule characterizing representations in this medium. Only in the Palaiologan period was me closed crown introduced into imperial coinage. 6B The

29

open crown was employed in religious iconography throughout the Byzantine period. The Late Byzantine closed crown, compared to its Komnenian predeces~or, was taller and commonly surmounted by a single jewel (PI. 31 f-t) or, more rarely, a cross (Appendix 2, nos. 51, 52). Judging by surviving portraits, its decoration also changed, incorporating a greater number of set gems surrounded by pearls bom on the headband and the bowl. The prependoulia became strings of pearls alternating with jewels and terminating in trefoil ornaments. On occasion, Late Byzantine crowns appear wim a pair of prependoulia suspended from the lower rim on eimer side of the face (Appendix 2, nos. 37, 3S, 51, 52) (PIs. 23, 3If). Palaiologan crowns look indeed impressive in artistic representations, but in reality they may not have been as richly adorned as they appear. A fourteenth-century historian, Nikephoros Gregoras laments the fact that at the coronation ofJohn VI Kantakouzenos (l347-1354)-in the aftermam of a devastating civil war-the imperial crowns were made of gilded lea mer while me jewels adorning mem were noming more than coloured glass. 69 The crown of the empress was taller and more elaborate man mat of the emperor. The upper rim of her crown was adorned wim arched or pointed projections. When in the late elevenm century me crown of the emperor acquired a closed dome, that of me empress retained its open shape. Effigies of eleventh-century empresses on coins and seals show the prependoulia suspended from me lower rim of meir crowns. 70 Prependoulia are not always distinguishable in imperial portraits in other media. While in some examples they may simply have been effaced wim time, in others they were clearly not there from the beginning. Zoe, for example, in a mosaic panel at Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, seems to have some kind of bejewelled flap(s) coming down the back of her head (PI. 32a). Spouses of Komnenian emperors do not have prependoulia, bnt impressive earrings instead. They also seem to have a veil or flap suspended from the crown at the back (PI. 32c-d). In all surviving portraits of Middle Byzantine empresses, the crown rests directly on the hair (Appendix 2, nos. 9, 12-14, 19, 20, 26, 27, 29) (PIs. 14, IS-20, 22, 29).

0:

63 Grabar, L'empereur dans l'art, pp. 5-8. .. Cormack suggested that it was sent as a gift to king Andrew of Hungary, thus dating it between 1046 and lO50, see R. eormack, 'But is it Art?,'. in Byz01~tine Diplomacy. Papers ftom the TWe1/tyfourtlz Spring ~mposillm 'If By~antine StudIeS, Camb"dge, Marcll 1990, eds. J Shepard and S. Franklin, (Cambridge, 1992), p. 23165 Cf. AioXptcrtO~ rii, (3aCJI).lIcij, roil 'Ay{o" )lx,Ue{ov (Thessalonike, 1972), pp. 206-207, pIs. 30-33; Ci!)' qf.II)"I,as, nos. 8, 9, 11; S. Georgieva, 'Nakiti i chasti ot tiikani ot dvoretsa na Ts..1.revets.' Tsarcvgmti Turnou 2 (1974), p. 415; M. Corovic.Ljubinkovic, 'Prokup.cld nalaz srpskog srednjevekovnog naldta,' ZbRadNarM I (1956/7), p. 159; G. Tn\'llnac-'!'onllc, 'Srebrna ostava iz Dobrog Dola kod Pirota,' ZbRodNarM 3 (1960/ I), .p. 200, figs. 13-16; D. Milosevic, Nakit od XII do XV urka ,~ zbirke Narodllog ","sga (Belgra~e. 1990), nos. 309-317. Buttons arc sometimes mentioned in legal documents, as, lor example, in the will of Theodore Sarantenos, a member of the provincial gentry from Verroia (I325), where forty-two buttons belonging to two differen! types .are mentioned) scc Acles de ValopMi, I, eds. J. Bompaire, J. Lefort, V. Kra\'an~ C. GiroS (Pads, 200 I) (hearafter Valopedi, I), p. 355. 30 For a colollr reproduction sce City qf ,Ipstra" fig. 165.

CHAPTER TWO

OFFICIAL AND ARISTOCRATIC COSTUME

61

60 court. 31

The !lnal variation of the . I gan . ffi'al in the PaIalO 0 . . certam 0 lCI S U· 1 ,"as a short one which, mstcad of a I ' Id like to men 0 1 " caftan \I Oil. I fi' nt had lapels over the breast which were . al pemng at t le to , verOc o. I ft or \~ce versa (Appendix 3, nos. 74, 75). The fastened ng~lt over. e. aoain to be sought in the East, ultimately in origin of tIus featUl e IS " ,., tIle costume of nomad horsemen. ' . . 33'd 'r. tIle caftan worn by Late Byzantme offiCials and Scholars' I enOIY . . .th tI 1 Tsigaddas, Vatopaidi, pp. 262-263, fig. 231. A number of Illummated manuscripts of the Heavenly Ladder have comc down to us from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries; none to my knowledge contains an illustration comparable to the one discussed here, see .Martin, Tile IlluslraliollS of JIlt Htol'm!>' lAddrr.. The bes[ known representation of the Heavenly L:'\dder is the twelfth~century Icon from Mount Sinai, scc Sinai, p. 107, fig. 24.

92

CHAPTER TWO

te officials should perhaps be identified as ecclcsiasti_ sa t to th etwo 'dge by tIlelr ' pecu· I 152 FI'nally the last two, . If one'IS to JU cao , '. . . I ffi c1as. liar hehnets, appear to be foreigners though belongmg to a different . tllall the Orientals seated across the table from them 153 etIuuc group . The table of the feast is richly set an.d servants at~end to ~he guests' needs. In the background a musician IS shown playmg a stnng instru_ ment. The banquet may be understood to represent the w~rldly pleasures that the monks had to renounce upon a.ssumptlOn of the monastic habit: this renunciation was the fi~"St ste~ m the Ladder that leads to Heaven.lS< The fact that a demon IS leadmg a monk towards the feast, while another one is trying to lure a second monk with a glass of wine suggests that the banquet sc.ene may be unde:-stood as a symbolic representation of the temptauons of dIe matenal world that dIe monks need to face evelY step of the way.155 "Vhat is of particular interest in this scene, however, is the effort to identifY the participants as belonging to particular social and ethnic groups. In the opening paragraph of dIe discourse on the renunciation of life (Rung I), St. John Climacus speaks of those unworthy servants of God who despite having received the Baptism do not follow His word. He also speaks of the enemies of God which include those who have rejected His teaching as well as dIose who persecute the faithful.l56 The four groups represented in the Vatopedi fresco might then represent the unworthy servants and the enemies of the Lord. The selection of these particular groups in this specific Late Byzantine monastic context on Mount Athos may reflect topical considerations which require further investigation. That officials should be 'targeted'

'" Cr. A. Tcrnoupioou, 0 i;wypaqJ1K6; 01l"KOCI/10; mv Ayiov NIKO?.aOV Oprpavov cm] eECICIaAoVil gluttony was onc of the vices that the monks

needed to overcome (Rung XIV of the Ladder). However I do not believe that the Vatopedi image should be inteIpreted as an illustratio~ of this particular sin. If thiS were SOl one would have expected to see monks seated at the table as in the case of a miniature in a twelfth-century manusClipt of Ladder (Sinai!. g... 418, ~ 135r, see Martin,. 77" Illustrations qf the Heavenly Ladder, fig. 194), not laymen. everthele:s, ,the Ch?lCe of the creator of the image to represent material pleasures as ~. feast IS .mtercsung and requires explanation, which at present I am not in a poslUon to gtve. IS' PG 88, col. 632B.

OFFICIAL AND ARISTOCRATIC COSTUME

93

in this manner is not surprising mven the cn't'IClsm . • • ' to· t hey provoked love of luxury h' h' Id among contemporanes for their • • ' W IC mc u ed feastmg, often pursued m the most non-Christian ma h nner at t e expense of the poor. 157

Aristocrats in Narrative Scenes Representatio~s of ~ponym.ous and anonymous figures in contem-

porary. Byza.nune arIStocraUc costume (as distinct from official costume) m rehgtous contexts are rare. This is true espec'laIIy 0 f ma Ie 158 Th' . IS ranty was not altogether due to a lack of suitable characters. . iconogt'aphlc contexts, certainly not in the case of ml'nl'ature pamt. . . " mg. P~rhaps. I.t IS bett.er attnbuted to the general disinterest of ~yzanune rehgt?us .a:-t m th~ representation of contemporary matenal culture. ThiS dlsmterest m the case of aristocratic costume was not tem~e~ed by any iconographic necessity which required its anachron~su~ representatio~ in religious contexts for the purpose of characterIzaUon. A convenuonal long, long-sleeved garment, trimmed with gold borders, was adequate to distinguish members of the upper class from the poor, who were commonly represented in short garments and, often, had their arms bare."" There does not appear to be any basic rule governing the anachronistic representation of contemporaty aristocratic costume in religious contexts apart from the dictates of fashion, which artists might or might not choose to follow depending on their interests and the demands of their patrons. Thus, for example, in Middle Byzantine miniature painting we sometimes encounter portrayals of the wives of David, Salome, and Herodias in gowns with sleeves exceedingly ,vide at the wrists and fan-shaped or trapezoidal head-dresses. l60 A

I:U

See above, notes 147, ISO. See also, Nelson, 'Taxation with Representation,'

p. 65.

~58 See Par. gr. 510, f. 149 (Omont, Fae-similes des miniatures des plus anciftJs mallUscnls grecs, pI. XXXIV), for a representation of the rich man in the parable of poor Lazarus (Luk. 16:19-25), dressed in the familiar Middle Byzantine cosn.me of the

two superimposed tunics.

'" Sce, for example, the illustration of the parable of the Ro)'al Wedding (Matth. 12:1-14) in Laur. VI. 23, r. 45r (Velmans, Laur. VI. 23, fig. 99). 160 Dc Wald, Vat. Cr. 752, pI. XX)'II (f. 176r: the wives of D",d); Omont, Ms Crec 7~, pI. 69 (f. 75v: Salome); Vclmans, Laur. 1'/.23, fig. 58 (f. 29r.b: ~alo~eand Herod..s). Cr. Martin, He Illustrations qf tile HeaveIIly Ladder, p. 102, fig. 11 + ,Small. gr. 418, f. 279r: two ladies, part of a group, which, according to ~.Jartin, represcnt& 'the p,;nces of the people of the Lord' mentioned b)' St. John Climacus).

94

CHAPTER TWO

. I ' tnonumental painting is the portrayal of the princess rare examp e m. . 161 '1'1le 1ady wears '!rC at Sts. AnaroyrOl, Kastona. saved by S t. GCOl 0 0 . . . I tl e distinctive sleeves excecdlllgly wide at the wrists a gown Wit 1 1 I' . f . One cannot do much but speculate as to tIe llltentlOns 0 the artist. The costume of the princess was perhap~ employed as a means to who · tII e contemporaneity of the . mll'acle of SI. George, un derIme . would thus have appeared as the effecttve protector of those III need at any time. Mar!:yl~

'\~Iile discussing tlle portrayal of dignitaries and civil servants in religious iconography we noted that th.ere was no par?cular type of costume employed consistently for tllelr c~taractenzalton. In the .case of male martyrs the opposite may be said. As even a superfiCial survey of Middle and Late Byzantine artistic contexts demonstrates, it was the clzlanl)'s-coshmze that was employed consistently in the portrayal of tlte martyrs in civilian dress, botlt in narrative and in iconic compositions. The list of examples is endless. I will mention here only a few, indicative of the diversity of tile iconographic contexts and tlle artistic media in which tile image of the chla1TjYs-clad martyr appears:

in narrative scenes in hagiographic or menologium cycles'62 participating in tlte Deesis composition (PI. 98)163 among tlte just in tlte Last Judgment composition or accompan)~ng tlte tltrone of tlte Hetoimasia (PIs. 99, 100)'64 represented individuall)', eitlter standing or in a bust, on portable icons or on the lower zones of the walls of churches among other saints. 165

OFFICIAL AND ARISTOORATIO OOSTUME

95

The cldmTjYs-costume ~f male martyrs comprised the tunic and the mantle. The conventt?nal tunic, worn girt, was long-sleeved, either of full length or reachlllg only to the calves, and adorned with ornamental bands at the collar,. shoulders, upper arms, cuffs, and hem. In certain examples the deSIgn and decoration of the martyrs' tunic reflected contemporary ?ourt fashions more closely, a. in the case of twO martyrs at Nerezl (1164), who wear an outer tunic with the opening in the lower part of the skirt and with arm-bands decorated with pseudo-kufic characters. The hem of their inner tunic is visibl 166 e from under the outer one. Though one comes across portrayals of martyrs in just the tunic (PI. 104),'67 more often than not they wore it under the chlamys. In agreement with Middle Byzantine fashions, the mantles of the martyrs had a pair of golden tablia and were often brightly colon red and richly patterned. They were fastened either at the side or at the front, or (in Late Byzantine contexts) simply lay on the shoulders.'68 A variation which appears to have been specific to iconic representations of SI. Eustratios from the tenth century onwards was a mantle, as a rule without tlte tab/ia, fastened at the front with two or three clasps (fig. 101, 103, 106).'69 It reminds one of the mantles of the sakellanos Leo and tlte protospathanos Constantine in tlte tenth-century Vat. reg. gr. I, ff. 2v, 31' (Appendix 3, nos. I, 2) (PI. 59). The mantles of otlter martyrs were endowed with similar clasps at the front only in the Late Byzantine period. 170 One last and rare variation of the martyr's mantle is encountered at the Chora Monastery. In one instance the artist transformed the traditional chlamys lying loosely on botlt shoulders into a

and Demetrios, second half of twelfth ccntmy); Thierry, Noltvelles ig/ises, figs. 84a-c, 85b (Hasan Dag., Dh·eldi kilise, 976-1025: standing martyrs on the pillars of the

naos); 'A. 2uyy6J(oUAO~, 'Ai 'tOlXOYPCXCPtat 'trov 'Ayirov TeC"mxpciKOVta Ei~n1v 'AXEl porrol'1WV

'" nWKaviS%, Kacnop";, pJ. 32b. '''' Pelekanides el al., Treasures, 11, figs. 331, 332, 340 (Espiligm"/Ou 14, If. 90r-v, 343r. scenes from the life of SlS. Artemios, Eugenios, and Makarios; the apology

of Sl. Eustra"os); Sinai, figs. 20-22 (twelfth-century icolloslasis beam with posthumous miracles of SI. Eustratios). 1~3 See, also, I. Kalavrezou-~fuxeiner, Byzantine Icons in Steatite (Vienna, 1985), no. 4 (Saint Petersburg, The Hennitage, eleventh-century steatite icon); M. Xat~~MIC1\,-Almour Scale and Lamellar AmlOur . . 'Oll involved the attachment of scales-small, flat pIeces Sca1 e construe!I . ' . I or bronze) or other sUItable matenal (bone, wood of lnet al (n'"Ol ). ., . . ' boiled leather), bealing perforanons and wI.th then' lower, vlSlble edge rounded-to a backing of cloth or, possIbly, I:ather. by means of metal clasps or rivets, The scales were arran~ed 111 an I~~ricate pattern and overlapped downwards. There eXIsted a vanatlOn of this basic construction in which the scales of each row overlapped sideways as well, and each row of scales w~s als.o attached to the one below it." This variation had great affimty wIth armour of lamellar constrUction. The basic difference between the two is that in the case of lamellar armour no backing was required: the perforated plates, the lamellae, were attached direcdy one to another by means of leather thongs. The), were arranged in horizontal rows, which were dlen attached one to another, again by means of leather thongs. The rows of lamellae overlapped upwards, and this is the reason why dIe), often had their top edge rounded. 12 Because of the absence of a backing, lamellar armour is considered to be much more flexible than scale armour," It is unanimously accepted by students of Byzantine military equipment that the terms 'klibanion', mentioned in the De cerimoniis and

11 See, selecu"e!y, B. Thordeman, Annour from Ihe Battk if Wislry (Uppsala, 1939), ". 281; H.R. Robinson, The Annour if Imperial Rome (London, 1975), pp. 153-161; id"", OmnJai AmlOu, (London, 1967), pp, 3, 6-7; M.C. Bishop and J.C.N. Coulston, R~mall M,hkJ1)' EquljJmml from lhe Amic Wars 10 Ihe Fall if Rome (London, 1993), pp. 8~, 117, 141; D. Nlcolle, 'Arms of the Umayyad Era: Military Technology in a Tune of Change,' in War and Society ill Ihe Eastern Medilerranean, 711t-]5Ih Cmturies, ed. Y. Lev (Leiden, New York, Koln, 1997), nos. 193-195. 12 On the Asiatic origins and development of scale and lamellar armour see B. Thordeman, 'The Asiatic. Splint Armour in Europe,' AA N (1933), pp. 117-150. Arn:'?ur of scale construc~oIl was employed in the Roman armies, especially among auxiliary troops, see RobInson, Annour if Imperial Rome, p. 153. Lamellar armour, on the .other hand, appears to have been little used if at all, see ibid., p. 162; K.R. DlXon and P. Southern, TIle Roman Cavalry. From Ihe Firsl to lite TI,ird Cetttury ~ (London, 1992), p. 43, pI. 5; Bishop and COlllston, Roman MilikJry Equipmflll, p. 14J. Cf.J. Haldon, IVayare, SliJlt and &ciety in Ihe Byzantine World 565-1204 (London, 1999), p. 130. ' " See; also, A.D.H. Bivar, 'Cavalry Equipment and Tactics on the Euphrates Fronuer, DOP 26 (1972), p. 273.

MILITARY COSTUME

105

tenth-century mi~itary treatises, and 'pllOlidotos thorax' m ' . r' en~lOned III historical works lIke the Alexiad (twelfth centu) ry , reler to sphnt bod armour 0 f scaIe or lamellar construction , ].I A n um ber 0 f small I ywhich could have been used for the constructio f I' pates ' . d' n 0 sp Illt armour have been d Iscovere m a twelfth-century cont t d . . f h G P I ex unng the excavanon 0 t e reat a ace at Constantinople (PI 112) T . . ,here IS no . d' . . h m IcatlOn t e textshas to the exact manner of th e construcoon . of . . m Th the klzbamon. at , bot scale and lamellar techniques may have been . . . used IS qUIte . . pOSSIble; the arnstic evidence supports th'IS assernon the eque st nan . portraits . .of In the. P1geon House Church ' Qavu.in , y, Melias are prese rve d on the north John TZlmlskes and the magistros . wall of the naos (Appendix 3, no. 4'" Pis , III 113) . . B0 th wear th e sameh type .of must be 0' • d . , armour whIch . , of scale constrU con, JU gmg by.t e arnsnc convennon used for Its rendering, namely scales with theIr !O\:er edge rounded, ,arranged ~n an imbricated pattern and ~ver!appmg downwards. ThIS armour IS furnished with sleeves reachI~g Just above the elbows. The skirt is of the same scale constructlOn a~d w?uld have afforded protection for the thighs; in the case of Mehas, It also covers the knee. Comparable armour is worn b one ~f the Forty Martyrs depicted in the same church standing t~ the ,nght o.f the two equestrian portraits (PI. 113 [first from left]). An mterestmg feature of the armour of the martyr is that over the abdomen it has an oval area empty of scales. This area is rendered with the same reddish brown colour as the rest of the armour and not with the white used for the undergarment. One wonders whether the painter wished to represent the backing of the armour without scales. This feature of leaving the abdomen exposed is also observed in the more conventionally rendered armour of the other Forty Martyrs portrayed standing in the same church, Yet, such a feature would have made no sense in effective field armour, even if it were meant to be worn by a mounted warrior.!' In my opinion, it is better interpreted as an artistic invention, perhaps due to a misunderstanding . H Kolias, Byzantinische ~Vqffell, pp. 44-46. The term 'kliha"ian' is not encountered !n the Slrategiiwn, a late sixth-early seventh-century military treatise. Haldon. in his Some Aspects of Byzantine Military Technology,' p. 27, has suggested that the use of splint almour must have become widespread in the Byzantine arm)' during the course of the seventh and eighth. centuries, even though armour of both. ~cale al~d !amcllar construction had been employed in the Near East (and by aLL'Oliary umts 111 the Roman army) since a much earlier period, see above, notes 11, 12. . " Sce D. Nicollc, Anlls and AmlO"r rift/le Cmsndillg Em, 1050-1350,2 \'ols. (WhIte

MILITARY COSTUME

CHAPTER THREE

\06 . ter of an artistic model representing a plate -. I I part 0 f apaU1 on n e . .I skirt of ptel)~es, 1" hke t le one seen worn by I CUlrass \"t 1 a . muSc ~ , N ,Tokah kilise. 17 That the pamter responsible for St. Hleron at e\\ Cl I " tl e Pigeon House lUrc 1 was prone to mis. 1I1e decoration . ' I' d I . 0, . tic1 models is also e\~dent m liS representation of d . understan us aI tlS Nikephoros n Phokas poru'aye III the same f the loros-costullle 0 church. . . Bas'll II is portrayed in Marc. g/'. Z.17, f. 1nl' (early , . The empelOl . ,) wearing a CUlrass made of lOWS of small, gIlded t eleven th cen u1) . · . 2 110 11' PI. 110). The plates are not shown Overplates (Append IX, • , • . , t the fact that their upper edge IS rounded, seems to sug. . d . f I Iappmg, )e Q'Cst that the painter probably had m mm . a cmrass 0 amellar ~onstl1lction,ls It is possible that in his ~'endern~g of the arra.ngement of the lamellae he was more interested l~ creatmg a decoratIVe effect ther than !1'i\~nO' a realistic representatlOn of the way the lamellae ~ere actuall; lac~d together. The cuirass is not furnished with any protection for the lower part of the body. Th~ ~pper arms, on the other hand, are protected by arm-guards conslstmg of two rows of

Plains, N.Y., 1988), nos. 79A-C. As far as I can judge from the. reproductions I have seen the martyr in scale alIDour, John TZlmlskes, and l\1ehas do not wear mail sh~ beneath their scale cuirasses as Nicolle claims. , 16 The PlerJ-ges arc the leather straps shown attached around the arm-openings and the lower edge of plate muscle cuirasses in Roman and Late Antique art (see,

for examplc, E. Kitzinger, 1!),ZQ11tine Art in the Making. Main lines

if S!ylistic Devdopment

in the Meditnranean Art, 3rd-7th Century (London, 1977), figs. 70, 176). In reality they probably fonned part of a leather garment worn beneath the cuirass, see Robinson,

107

splints. These guards do not seem to be direct! h -h . Y attac ed to the . I CUlrass. Rat ler, t ey appear to be worn hke arm-b d Th '1 11 . I'k an s. e armour worn by Basl. . IS more I ely to reflect ceremon'laI rather than field armour. ThiS IS suggested by the content of the mInIature '. . which constitutes a treatment of the theme of perpetual . t ' . h' ~c ory and Impe. rial trIumph over t e enemIes of the state. 19 For more 'realistic' representations of lamellar construCtIon . .. one of mlhtary saints in tenth- a nd eIeventh-cenmust turn to portrayals . fS tury Cappadoclan churches. One may mention the c . •• . 20 Ulrasses 0 I. Theodore at New Tokah kihse, of SI. Prokopios and St D . ' . (PI . emetnos . 114), of SI. Orestes and St A . at Yusu f koc;: kil Isesl ' (PI 115) 21 f S . gaplOs at ,0 I. Merkourios at Sakh kilise,22 and of Karanh k kil lse . Sts. Georg,: and .Theodore at Yllanh kilise, Goreme,23 where the lamellae, WIth th~lr top edge rounded, are clearly shown to overlap upwards. The artIsts accentuated the impression of the lamellae overlapping upwards by shading the lower part of each row. On numerous other occasions, encountered also in some of the same monuments as the 'realistic' examples just listed, the rows of lamellae are not shown to overlap but appear di~ded horizontally by a single or double straight line, though sometimes the shading has been maintained (PI. 116).24 I think that this manner of rendering lamellar was an artistic invention-simply a more schematic and more decorative way of representing armour of this construction, perhaps originally inspired by a misinterpretation of the purpose of the line of shading between the lines of overlapping lamellae in the more 'realistic' representations of this type of armour. 25

Annour if Imperial Rome, p. 149; Bishop and Coulston, Roman Military Equipment, pp. 23, 59. The artistic convention of shO\.mg pteryges attached to the cuirass was adopted by mediaeval Byzantine art, which used it indiscriminately-and inappropdatelyin association with eve!), type of armour.

Restle, Byz. Wall-painting, pI. 82. Note that the decoration of the New Tokalz kilise did, in fact, serve as a model for the slightly later decoration of the Pigeon House Church, see Wharton-Epstein, TOMb Ktlis" pp. 29-32. Considering this and the fact that the martyrs at the Pigeon House Church have a sash around theIr abdomen (not around the breast, as was common), in the same manner that St. Hieron does, makes the choice of the portrayal of the latter as a potential model for the oudits at .·es • • b tl +J uirasses whIch were worn m at e. C ale C ·ther lame11ar or s ' . el . Cc • on the actual appearance of the pholidotos thorax For m ormatIon li . .. T . th 1"1. centlll)' one has to turn to re glOus pamtIng. he dunng e t\ve !Ut "'d ggests tllat a change had occurred by the second artlstlc eVl ence su t Demetrios in the church of Sts. Anargyroi . . half 0 f that cen tury . S . . K . n t h,'e1fth century) wears a long red tume Wlth long III astona \,a e " PI. 123). Below the hem of this tunic the lower part of an sIeeves ( . 'bl 0 th d . th even Ionger, \-1'"hl'te , striped tunic is VlSI e. ver • e re • tumc e . laVl'shly patterned short-sleeved tUnIC, which reaches samt wears a ' . , . almost to the knees. He wears his CUlrass, ,:hlc~ IS clearl~ of scale constrUction, over this last tunic. The scales, Judgmg by theIr co.lour, are gilded and are attached to the backing by means of two nvets. They are arranged in an imbrica~e pattern, th~ugh they are not shown to overlap downwards. TheIr lower edge IS. curved a~d provided with a small, granular projection, the functIon of whIch ~as probably simply decorative. The cuirass reaches down to the hips. In the place of arm guards, two broad, bejewelled golden ba~ds adorn me short sleeves of me outer tunic. That this representatlon is a realistic rendering of twelfth-century armour, probably of ceremonial character, is suggested by the great care with which all the details of me costume are depicted, by the lavishness of its decoration, and by its unquestionably unconventional appearance. One may

MILITARY OOSTUME

111

ugg on the basis of this representation that by th IC,L s est . f i e twe IUI centU l1 a new vanety 0 sca c armour appeared in Byzant' .h IUm, d"IstmI f gu ished by th e use 0 . sca cs WIt a small central pro tuberance at their lower edge. Admittedly, I was unable to find parallels for this type of scale among extant examples recovered in archaeological sites . repI'n Central . and Eastern Europe and vVestern Asia . As to art'IStlC resentatIOnS, the~e are very r~re. As far as I know, this projection is not encountered ill representatlons of scale annour in earlier B . ·'2 0 h h h . yzantlne works of art. . n t e ot, e.r and, It ca~ be seen in three eleventhcentury G.eorglan repousse ICO~S portra)nng St. George:13 It is tempting to thmk that a new vanety of scale armour, attested in the Byzantine artistic record by the late twelfth century, was introduced in Byzantium from .Georgia, so~etime during the eleventh or early twelfth century. ThIS was a penod when the political and cultural ties between me two regions were strong: one has only to remember of me brilliant military career of Gregory Pakourianos under A1exios I Komnenos.-H However, in the absence of concrete evidence the issue of the origin of this new feature in the representation of Byzantine scale armour must remain open. There is no secure evidence as regards me fortune of lamellar and scale armour in the Late Byzantine period. I have not come across the terms 'klibanion' or 'pholidotos thorax' in me historical works of Pachymeres, Gregoras, and Kantakouzenos; they are not mentioned in pseudo-Kodinos either. The artistic evidence is of no real use, as

42 Sec, for example, the tenth-century portraits of John Tzimiskes and Mclias discussed earlier. This formal device for the representation of scale does not occur in the Madrid Slrylitij paC1lA.l1ciic; 'AYlOU 'AXI~iou,' rrAE 19~7, p. 65. . Cr. LT, I, p. 102. Mail, on the other hand, is rather lmpract/cal to gtld. I o"e 'hl~, o~serva~on to Dr. M. Mango, whom I here thank. SmkeVlc, 171t Chllreh '!! St. PG1lteleimoll at }ltrez" figs. LXII-LXIV.

MILITARY COSTUME

CHAPTER TI1REE

114

. Pis. 123, 128).52 The represented shirts reac~l to just on horsebaavov, pI. 35; P. MiUkovic-Pepek, Deloto 110 "ogrqfi" Mihmlo I Eutiily (SkoPJe, 1967), 1'1. XVI (Ohrid, Peribleptos). ::Je'l'hanion, figlises mpeslres, pI. 49.1; Omont, Ms Gr~e 74, ~': I~:. . . . Th/erf}', NOII"elles eglises, pI. 69a (Hasan Da~, Purenh seki "!hsesl)erphamo;l, EgllSes ropestres, pI. 65.2 (G6reme, Old Toka!l kiUse); Der NersessJan, L ,lIustrallOll es psollhers grecs, fig. 72 (771eodo" Psaller, f. 4Iv).

MILITARY COSTUME

CHAPTER THREE

139

138

or both sides straight.'" The first variety appears to be the mOst common in the artistic recOl~ (PI. I~3). During the !I·fiddle Byzant1l1e pel:lOd the mace. was part of the equipment of the heavy-cavalry soldIers, who carned it in a sheath attached to their saddle. I", The maces would have been used in battle as a last resort, 'when the spe~rs had ~een broken and the edges of the swords blunted'.'8' There IS no eVIdence that the mace w 'B . 1861 as ever a symbol of status and ran k 111 yza~uum. have not come across any reference to finds .o.f maces I~ excavation reports of Byzantine sites. The Praecepta Mdltar~a prescnbe that the heads of the maces should be sharply angular, tnangular, square, or hexagonal. 187 Representations of maces ,,~tll h~ads furnis~ed with angular projections or spikes are encountered 111 manuscnpts of the eleventh and the twelfth centUl~es. 188 A very rare representation of a mace with a square head can be seen in the Theodore Psalter, f. 41 V. 189 The mace with a round head, occasionally furnished ,,~th rounded projections was more common in Middle Byzantine painting (PI. 143).'90 Th~ use of the mace in tlle Late Byzantine army is not attested in the written sources, though it was certainly employed in the neighbouring states of Bulgaria and Serbia, as e~denced by the finds of maces in Bulgarian and Serbian archaeological contexts. 191 Though maces appear often as part of the equipment of militalY saints in Serbian monuments as, for example, at St. Nikita, Cuter, at the church of the Holy Apostles at Pee, at Lesnovo, Ravanica, Resava, and Kalenie, they are very rarely encountered in portrayals of military saints in

II M/!/UJlogio, p. 209. Tact., § 39; McGeer, Sowing the Dragon's Teeth, p. 36 (Praecepta lvIilitana). Nik. Chon., pp. 156-157. '86 cr. NicoUe, £Orb' Medieval lslmnic Anns and Amlour pp 132-133. 183

:: /iYa.

187

See abm'e t note 184.

'

.

'88 Der Nersessian, L'illustratui1I des psautiers grecs, fig. 281 (Theodore Psalter, r. I 78v); ~~\~~t, Mmmtures des plus ancieJIs manuscnpls gr'es, pI. XCVIII (par. suppl. gr. 27, r. . ), Pelekamdes ,t al., Treasures, n, fig. 308 (Panteleimon 6 f. 140v). For represen· tattons of maces with spikes in the Madrid Sk;'lit~es see Ko'lias, By~antiJ7isc"e Wtiffm, pI. ~yI.2.~3. For a late thirteenth-century representation of a mace with spikes se~,;~ko\1c-Pepek, D'~w na ~ogrqfi/e Mihailo i Eutiflij, pI. XVI (Ohrid, Peribleptos). er Nersess.an, L illustration des psautUrs orecs fig 72 190 S al D N . '" . b'" • • f 45 so, er ersess.an, L illustratwn des psautiers grecs, fig. 78 (Theadare Psalter, . '" v ~ m_ont, M~ Grec, 74,. pis. 84, 172 (If. 96v, 202v). . W Kaqm/Qk, Must< Arc/ziologuJu,. Guide (Sofia, 1967), nos. 112-113; Vetnic, 'Medieval capons and Implements,' p. 142, pI. V.8-1O.

)."6

the only .example I kn owof'IS the Byzantine lands. In fact, ' of SI. GeOl'ge at t he P enbleptos m Ohrid (PI. 125).'92 portrayal

Lances and Javelins

In the Middle Byzantine army lances were wield d b . 'f: . fC e ytheheavil armoured m antly, a umt 0 .oot-soldiers called th e pel ' the he Y !as/m

ily armoured cavaIry, an d the mounted J' avelin th .' av. . Th I - rowers m addit" to their Javehns. e ongest and strongest lanc . IOn . c. 193 Th es were prescnbed for the heavy m.antry. ose of the heavy cav aIry were adorned " I with bandero Is. Jave were by the mounted'Jave I'm-throw . ms d bWIelded ' el'S by the peIlaslm, an y the hght infantry 81 . . I . . Their prescn'b ed Iength, was c. 2. m maXImum, mc udmg the spearhead . The mounted soldiers were to carry two or three each. I.>' A triangular spearhead WIth . . a socket was unearthed durmg the excavations of th G P I . ' . e reat a ace m Constanunople (PI. 112). Connth has vielded more exampIcs ,. f Some made o. bronze, but, mosdy, of iron, they have conical o~ leaf-shaped pomts, or points of quadrilateral section. The " k maJonly 'd d . h are prOVl e WIt soc ets for attachment to the shaft; examples with tangs are rare (PI. 158).'95 Repres~ntations ~f spears in Middle Byzantine art demonstrate a great vanety of pomt-shapes: leaf-shaped, lozenge-shaped, triangular, long and slender, broad and short, sometimes with a knob or a pair of wings between the blade and the socket (Pis. 115, 117, 123, 128, 134). They are normally> attached to shafts of wood with a smooth surface. In a number of Cappadocian monuments the shafts of the spears appear as if made of cane (Pis. Ill, 116).'96 The use 192 Maces similar in appearance to that of St. George are depicted in the \Vomen ~hthe Tomb at Vatopedi Monastery. and in the Betrayal ~t St. Nicholas O"ha?os,

essalomks, see Ts.gandas, Vatopaid., fig. 225; rcrItOup.oou, 0 Sll»'paqJII'", ola,,"' mu Arwu Nllco),&ou Opcpavov, pI. 35. K li Syll. Tact., §§ 38, 39; McGee,., Sowing the Dragon's Teeth, p. 14 (Pra,cepta Alilitana). S ~ as calculates ~e length of the lances of the heavy infantry prescribed in the t~a age Tactlcornm usm~ t!,te value a small 'trijxv~,' which equa1s 0,.468 rn, ~ther that of a great "qXUa ophla, Constantinople (Lowden EarlY Christiall alld Byz. Art, fig. 99). 11 See, also, TOltOUptOOU 0 (~rpwpl~ 81&1CoaJ.l~ rov Ayiov Nuroltlov Opq1aVOl>, pIs. 57-59. '

, 164

CHAPTER FOUR

Turning now to thrones with a backrcst rep:esented in religious contexts, these may be di\~ded into the followmg sub-groups: I. thrones with a lyre-shaped back, named thus after the peculiarly curved uprights of the backrest. The development and significance of representations of this type of throne have been discussed in detail by Cutler and Breckelll~dge. 18 This type of throne first made its appearance in artistic contexts in the fifth century, on imperial coinage and, roughly at the same time, in portrayals of Christ and of the Virgin and Child." It is not possible to ascertain in which of the two contexts, imperial or religious, it was employed first. Representations of tlle lyre-backed throne knew a period of renewed popularity following the end of Iconoclasm, from the ninth century down to the eleventh. This throne was attributed to Byzantine emperors of the Macedonian dynasty portrayed on coinage. ,0 In religious iconography it was mostly associated with the figure of the enthroned Christ, both on coinage-in His attribute as 'King of Kings,21-and in monumental painting, for example in the famous mosaic in the narthex of Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Appendix 2, no. 6), and in the theophanic Bsions adorning the apses of tenth- and eleventh-century Cappadocian churches (PI. 171). Lyre-backed thrones apparently disappear from both secular and religious artistic contexts in the Late Byzantine period. 2 ' Cutler considers the lyre-backed throne as a fictitious type, ultimately inspired by the lyre of Orpheus, who was said to have tamed wild beasts with his music. According to Cutler, the lyre-backed throne was attributed to Christ in His role as the bringer of harmony to the world and, by extension, to the Byzantine emperor as Christ's Bcar on Earth and His instrument of maintaining world harmony." Breckenridge, on the other hand, considers that the representations of the lyre-backed throne were in

18 A. Cutler, Tran#guralwns. Studres in the f!ynamics if Byzantine Iconography (University Park, 1975), pp. 5-52;J.D. Breckenridge, 'Christ on the Lyre-backed Throne,' nop 34-35 (1980/81), pp. 247-260. : Breckenridge, 'Christ on the Lyre-backed Throne,' pp. 248-249, 250. lbid., p. 259. 21 lbw., pp. 257, 258-259; Cutler, Transjiguralums, p. 52. ~ Cutler, Tran#guratians, p. 30. lbw., pp. 45-52.

FURNITURE AND FURNISHINGS

165 all probability inspired by an actual impe . 1.1. na Ulrone typ ,-\ C tl theory as to the lyre of Orpheus bein th 1 . - e. u er's . , 0 f th e pecu l'tar lyre-shaped dg ' e uf tJmate SOurce 0 f .IIlSplratJon eSlgn 0 the back . . . encountere d m plctonal contexts prior to th fifl h rest, not e t century, appears q uite plausible. Moreover, the use of fict'tJ' . I ous symbol" in imperial and religious imagery was not kn . IC attnbutes un ownmBy . the orb, the symbol of universal dominatio' zantJum; . d Y h d . n, IS one example that c~mes to mm. .et, t? etatled representations of im . 1 ili WIth curved upnghts m Coislin 79 though drn' pena rones . h 1 h ' a tttedly relatively Iate, m tee event century, suggest that th I b . '. e yre- acked throne was not an Im~gtnary Ico~ographic type after all. It is ossibl that the rhetoncal compansons between 0 h P . . e '. rp eus and Chnst III h E 1 B t e . ar y yzantme penod were given concrete expression in the creatIon of a new throne-type to be employed b h Y t e emperor as ' , . Ch nst s representatIve on Earth. Alternatively .1. 1 b · , we yre- acked h h t rone may ave acqUIred an existence as a re 1 b' nl' a 0 ~ect 0 y m . d fI I the peno a ter conoclasm. Breckenricige has co . . 1 . h f: nvmcmg y argued of the enthroned Ch nst . as Ki ng of that m. t e amous mosaic . . Ki ngs .m .the Chrysotnkhnos of the imperial palace--reflected on .1. Ule com Issues of ~asil ~--:H? ,,:as represented seated On a lyrebacked throne, ~osslbly, m ImItatIon of the pre-iconoclastic mosaic iliat had stood m that. same ~lace.~' The throne of ilie emperor ~as placed beneath thIS mosatc. It IS not unlikely iliat iliis impenal thron? was made to resemble that of Chl~st above it." 2. throne~ Wlt~ a fl.at, rectangular back. This type appears in Early ByzantIne plctonal contexts (PI. 89), but is rare in Middle atld Late Byzantine religious images (PI. 172). However, the fact that ilie throne of the megas doux Apokaukos has a back of iliis sort sugges~ that such thrones were indeed employed in mediaeval ByzantIum. 3. thrones with a flat backrest and curved top. This type was in use already. during the Early Byzantine period" and continues to appear m artistic contexts during the following centuries (Pl. 98).'8 2i 2.j

Bre kc 'd Ih / nn gc, 'Christ on the Lyre-backed Throne,' p. 260.

I., p. 257. " ~f. ~ormack and Hawkins, 'The Mosaics of St. Sophia,' pp. 242-244. anilS ~eR or e~ample) ~e~blueck, COllslllardip!ychtll, no. 65 (diplych of Probianus, vicGeor; ~m~ 400); Sm.., fig. 4 (icon with ti,e Virgin and Child enthrolled, SIS. 28 Se a~ heodorc, and angels; seventh century). cc, so, Glory of Byzantium, no. 246 (Sinai, icon of the Annunciation, I:\velfth "

166

CHAPTER FOUR

The abbot's wooden throne and the royal marble throne from Deeani"" belong to this categOlY· 4 thrones ,,~th a curved back. The famous ivory throne of Maximian, . t Ravenna (c. 547) belongs to this category. so Though rarely repa , 31 I ·th resented in Middle Byzantine contexts, t lrones WI. a curved back become common in artistic contexts from the thirteenth century onward (Pis. 173, 174)." Some illustrated backrests were but frames Mth a curtain suspended from their horizontal cross-bar. Such 'backrests' are fi'equently encountered in Middle Byzantine artistic contexts, but only rarely in Late Byzantine ones (Pis. 50, 175).33 The purpose of this .feature was perhaps to 'frame' the personage seated on the throne, 1Il order to make him or her stand out from his/her surroundings. During the Middle Byzantine period thrones Mth a back were as a rule represented ,,~thout arm-rests. These became common only in Late Byzantine contexts. They are shown either attached at right angles to the back or, in the case of thrones M~h curved backs, as a continuation of the backrest (Pis. 45, 173). With regard to decoration, minuscule balusters, diminutive arches, and knobs became increasingly common in representations of thrones from the thirteenth century onwards." Surviving pieces of wooden ecclesiastical furniture bearing this kind of decoration prove that, at least in their

century: throne of the Virgin); lVIiIlet, MomulI£Ills f?yz. de Mislra, pI. 90.4 (SlS. !h~odores, the patron-sailllS presenting a supplicant to the Virgin: throne of the Vlrgm). 29 Petkovic and Bo~kovic, jl1anastir Delani, pp. 211, 230, figs. 96, 97. 30 G. Bovini La caltetira ebumea del vescovo Massimiano di Ravenna (Ravenna, 1990). 31 For exam~le, the seat of the youthful Virgin in the Presentation of the Virgin at Daphni, sce Millet, U TlWTU1Sler, d, Daplmi, pI. XIX.2. " See, also, LT. nW.avianc;, KaJJ..lifYfTIq, OA~q eerraJ..{aq aplarDq t;wyparpDq (Athens, 1973), pI. 15 (Verroia, church of the Anastasis, Annunciation: throne of the Virgin). 33 See, also, E. Bakalova et al., Tresors d'arl medieval bulgare, Vlf-XVP sieele (Ben~e, 1988), no_ 146 (ninth-tenth-century tile "ith glazed decoration from Preslav: Chnst on a lyre-backed throne); I1 Menologio, p. 108 (Seventh Ecumenical Council: throne of the presiding emperor); C. Stomajolo, lvlinia/ure delle omi/it di Giacomo l\1onaco (cod. vatie.gr. 1162) , dell'(lJangelwrio greco urhinale (cod. valie_ gr. urbill. 2) (Rome, 1910), pI. 50 (Val. gr. 1162, r. 117v); 17" Church 'If Haghia Sophia at Trehi'e l?J~~I, figs. 98, 104, 159, 363. II Mellowgw, nos. 30, 98, 134, 142, 143, 146, 210, 212, 223, 320, l14, 392, 406; Pelekanides et al., Treasures, I, figs. 63, 113, 125, 223; H, fig. 59; Conslantinides, : Wal/'paillhilgs qf Pallagia Olympiotissa, figs. 34, 35; UndeIwood, Kari},' I!jami, figs. 13999 , 141; M,ouriki, the Frescoes of St. JVidlOlas at Platsa, fig. 21. HO 1/ Jl1enologlO, nos, 159, IBB, 216, 2B6; Pelekanides et al., Treasures, I, fig. 2~8. ,I a Wharton-Epstcin, Tokal! Kilise, fig. 87; Il Mtllowgio, nos.. 35, 303, 423; Pelekarudes I" Treasures, Il, fig. 298' Constantinides 17le H'all-palllhIJuS Of Panag:a O!),mp,ohssa, , ' , ,," fi g.84b.

::: Resue, By,. Wall-painling, fig. 437 (Soganh, St. Barb.ra); II Jlmologio, no .. 397. II Mmologio, nos. 332, 344, 40B (all three examples arc due to thc same pallllcr, estor); MOUliki, 77Ie Frescoes qf SI. JYzc/w/as 01 Platsa, fig. 4.

N

184

CHAPTER FOUR

would loose their visual impact on the .beholder when the Curtain was drawn back.'" The preference for bnghtly coloured curtains and draperies in narrative conte~ts could have been dictated by purely artistic reasons, imposed as It were by the colour-scheme favoured bv mediaeval Byzantine artists. Alternatively, the depiction of such c~rtains might be indicative of the source of insp.iration of Byzantine artists, which was probably tile setting of impenal ceremonies.

CarpelS . . 'Epeucllioll', 'peu/doll', 'tapes' are all terms employed m Byzantme written sources to designate calpets.'H Calvets were put to various uses. One prayed on tltem, slept on them, sat on them, even ate on them. One assumes mat it is from the use of carpets as prayer-rugs that tile name 'epeuclli()Il' was derived (euche = prayer).'·' Carpeting fue floor of a whole room on a permanent basis, even in me imperial palace and me palaces of the wealthy, appears to have been uncommon in me Middle Byzantine period. 146 Possibly the influence of Turkish practices led to the situation changing in the Late Byzantine period. Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, the Spanish ambassador visiting Constantinople in 1403, described the reception hall at the B1achernai palace as being covered with calpets and cushions. 147 Normally, carpets would have been spread on the floor to serve a specific purpose, for example sleeping, eating, seating, and folded and put away when no longer needed. In Middle and Late Byzantine written sources carpets are commonly mentioned as part of the sleeping equipment of Byzantine households. The use of carpets for seating on me floor and eating, albeit on campaign or outdoors, has

1.3 See Dautennan IVIaguire, 11aguire, Duncan-Flowers, Art and HolY Powers, pp. 4S, 46. The only examples of 'curtains' adorned with large-scale medallions in the Alen%gium of Basil IT are, exceptionally and significantly enough, not shown gathered, see 11 Mtllokigia, no. 397. . 1+4 On the use of carpets in the Early Byzantine period see Dauterman MagUlre, Maguire, Duncan-F1owers, Art and HaIY Pawers, p. 47. . . '" V. Lal).hev, Mifodiia patriarklw Kansla/lli/lapal'skaga <Jl~fe prep. Feqfa/la ispoVlednilia (SL Petersburg, 1918), p. 12; 1heap/wlIeS Cal/tinualus, Chralwgraphia, cd. I. Bekker (Bonn, 1838), p. 319. I thank Pro( C. Mango for the second reference.

It!> The floor of certain rooms and passages of the Great Palace would be C?v· ered \\ith carpets on special ceremonial occasions, as was the case of the recep~on of the Arab ambassadors in 946, sce De (er., p. 574 (reference to 'precious Persian spreads').

,
51 To BVSaV!lO co.; Oll(ovpivTJ, nos. 102-113. 52 H. Maguire, 'Epigrams, Art and the HMacedonian Renaissance",' DOP 4~ (1994), pp. 112-114; G. Grassi, 'Il calamaio argenteo ne! tesoro del duomo d. PadO\",' in Am pro/a1ll1 e aTIe sacra, pp. 653-671, with earlier bibliography. . " P. Waltz, Antlwlogie Grecque, premiere parlie: Alllhalogie Palatille, Tome III (ParIS, 1931), nos. 63-68; H. Hunger, Schrwen Ulld Lesen ill ByzallZ (Munich, 1989), pp. 85-86. s.t For a survey of representations of writing implements in mediaeval Serbian painting see I. -.Dordcvit, 'Predstave pribora za pisanje i opremu knjig~, u srpskom srednjoveko\1lom slikarstvu; in Zbomik vtadimira Mofinn, cd. D. BogdanoVlc (Belgrade, 1977), pp. 87-112. I thank Dr. B. Cvetkovic for this reference. . ss A.M. Friend, Jr., 'The Portraits of the Evangelists in Greek an~ Lat~n Manuscripts; Art Studies 5 (1927), pp. 142-143; H. Hunger, 'EvangelistenbIlder m den Handschriften,' RBKII (1971), cols. 457, 458, 459.

IMPLEMENTS

207 tablet the stylus, a small stick with one end pointed ft . '. e cl the other end bl or InCISIng the l c . Characters on t le wax sUf.ace an . h unt IOr erasIng them by smoothmg t em out, was used (PI. 220) Styl' . d . I were made of metals, such as Iron an bronze, or ivory bone 0 d 56 T . "rwoo. he use of wax tablets, espeCIally for sending short messa . ges, IS attested . . in ByzantIUm as late as the tenth century," and the find f h r' h d' I S O w at appear to be sty. I m t ~ me la:va contexts at Corinth seem to Corroborate the wntten eVIdence m this respect The only secure rep. resentations of wax tablets I ~ow dat~ to the Early Byzantine period and are encountered on the IVOry dlptych of Probianus . . f (00) " . , lllCanus 0 . the CIty of Rome c. 4 ,. and m the second of the Trial miniatures in the Rossano Gospels (PI. 89). Writing on parchment or paper Mth ink involved a greater variety of implements, for cutting the sheets to the required size, for setting ~p the layout of the pages, and for .the actual process of writing. A kmfe would have been the preferred Implement for cutting parchment. Sharp scissors could also have been used. Representations of scissors among writing implements while fare in the Middle Byzantine period (PI. 222), become relatively more common in Late Byzantine art (PI. 223).59 Mr. N. Wilson of Lincoln College, Oxford, has informed me tIlat scissors would have cut paper better than parchment. Perhaps the inclusion of scissors among the writing implements of tile evangelists in late Middle Byzantine and Palaiologan art reflected the increasing use of paper, which was much cheaper than parchment, in the manufacture of codices in Byzantium, observed from the eleventh century onwards. 6o

56 E. 11ioni, Introduzione alia Paleogrqfia Greea (Padua, 1973), p. 28; Dauterman Maguire, Maguire, Duncan-Flowers, Art and HolY Powers, no. 124; Rutschowscaya, Catalogue des bois de l'Egypte copte, nos. 216-246. 5i Mioni, 11ltroduzione alia Paleogrqfia Creea, p. 15. 58 Delbmcck, Consulardip!J'ehell, no. 65. . 59 Sce, also, Buchthal and Belting, Patrollage in 7hirlie1llh-cenlury COI/Stnnhll.QpU, pI. 78b (Sillait. gr. 2123, f. 34v, 1242). For examples of scissors from ~vo Slavomc man· uscripts of the late fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries see Outiis, IT, p. 909 (nos. l.e, l.f). . 60 For general infOlmation on the use of paper in Byzantium see Mioni, 1111rod~lOnt ~lla pauogrqfia greca, pp. 23-28; J. Itigoin, 'Les conditions materieUes de la produ~~ Uon du livre a Byzance de 1071 a 1261' XV ClEE (Athens, 1976), n,.pp. 5-1~, N. Oikonomides 'Caratteri esterni dcgli ~tti ' in La civilla bi.?,anliuQ, oggtlh. e messllglo. Font; diplomatiche 'e sodeill delle ProVillce, cd. A. 'GUillOll (Rome, 1991), pp. 26-28.

.;

CHAPTER FIVE

IMPLEMENTS

r th sCI'ibe actually began to write he had to sel the marBe.OI"e e .I 'd I' 6. TI . . 0 f tIle page and have it ruled. WIt I gm e mes. le mstruments gms . employed for measuril~g .and. selung the margtns were th: dividers (Pis. 178, 223).·' A pncking mstrument was. ~sed to mark the four corners of the border defining the. actual. wr:ltIng .surfa~~ of a page, 11 as other intermediary pomts, wlthm thIS wntmg surface as we h fl 63 ) according to the requirements of the c osen p~g~- onnat. In the case of parchment, the guidelines were ~sually mCIsed by means of a ruler and a pointed instrument, a kmfe, or, perhaps, a stylus." Alternatively the gtliding lines could have been drawn with a ruler of the Palatille and the 'dis'k of lead' mentioned in the epigrams . AlllhologJ,.65 I have not come across a repres~ntatlOn o~ a ruler in portrayals of the evangelists or other authors m Byzanune art. On the other hand, knives are commonly represented smce they could have been put to a variety of uses, from trimming and ruling the pages to sharpening the reed pens and erasing mistakes. As to the 'disk of lead', Hunger believes that this should be identified with the peculiar instrument terminating in a disk, seen on the writing desk of the evangelist Mark in Koutloumousiou 61, f. 112v (thirteenth century) (PI. 224).66 The implement used for writing \\~th ink was the kalamos, a pen of reed which had one end pointed with a small incision in its middle." Kalamoi made of other materials are occasionally mentioned in the sources but they are exceptional. 68 The point of the reed pen had always to be kept sharp. For sharpening blunt points the scribe

ed a pumice stone or a knife."" The evangelist M k' . . . ar m Panlo!oc t 4-7 f. 114v (130 I) IS portrayed III the process of sha . . a or , • 10 F . . rpemng hiS pen with a kmfe. 'or eraslllg mIstakes a knife or possibl . . ' y , some other < •h ki·nd of blade d scraplllg . Instrument was used . A kn'he WIt a blade curved at the top, often IIlcluded among the implements h . . on t e wnt· ing desks of the evangeIIstS, was posSIbly intended foor th' . IS purpose! I Sponges were also used by the scnbes for erasing 12 b t h . . , u teyare rarely depIcted I.n art. One such representation can be seen in Cvis/in 21, f. 276v, datlllg from the eleventh century." According to the evidence ?f artistic representations, the ink was stored in glass fla.sks from whIch the scribe poured the quantity he needed into the lIl~well. Inkwells co~ld have been made of glass, metal, gl.ass cased III ~etal, or poss~bly clay!>' A great variety of inkwells IS rep.resente~ Ill. art.. The sImplest fonn is the cylindrical inkwell. Somel1mes cyhndncal IIlkwells are shown as having two compartments, one for black. and one for red ink!' Another type of inkwell was orthogonal wIth one rectangular comparunent and one or two circular ones (PI. 224)!6 The circular compartments contained ink. In some representations the rectangular compartment appears also to contain ink, but in others it is clearly used for keeping the kalamoi (PI. 223).71 Another variant of the combined inkwell and pen-case was a portable one (kalamarion). The pen-case was a rectangular box with the lid at the narrow top side. The kalamoi were kept in it standing, point upwards. A cylindrical inkwell was attached at the side of the case with straps going round the body of both containers. Though portable types appear in artistic representations

208

61 !vfioni, Inlroduzwne alia paleograjia greca, p. 36; Hunger, Schreiben und wen in By;:an;:, pp. 86-87. 62 For more examples sec, selectively, Buchthal and Belting, Patronage in 771ir/cm/h· cmtury Constantinople, pI. 66a (Stauroniketa 43, r. 1Ov, tenth century); Omont, Miniatures iks plus anciens manuscripts grees, pIs. LXXXlII (Cois/in 21, If. 22v, 116v, 175v, 276v, eleventh century), LXXXIV (Par. gr. 64, If. 63v, 101v, 157v, twelfth century). 63 For probable representations of this instrument see Omont, Miniatures des plus ancims manuscripts grees, pI. LXXXVIll (Par. gr. 189, If. I, 93v, twelfth century). See, also, PI. 223. : R~tschowscaya,. Camloll"' Iks bois de I'Egypl£ cople, p. 67. . Miolll, Inlrodu;;wne aikJ Paleogrqfia Greca, p. 29; Hunger, Schreiben uad wen rn Bp.an;:, p. 86. " Hunger, 'Evangelistenbilder in den Handschriften,' col. 478. " Hunger, Schrcibm und Wen ill Byzan;:, p. 86; Rutschowscaya, Catalogue iks bois ik I'JWpI£ COPI£, nos. 207-215.

~ P. Odorico, '11 caJamo d'argento. Un carme inedito in onore di Romane II/

JOB 37 (1987), esp. pp. 72, 88-89.

209 uS

H

See above, note 67. Buchthal and Belting, Patronage ill 7hirleClltll-cenlury Conslanti"nopk, pI. 80c. For examples sec above, notes 62, 63. Cr. Mioni, Inlrodll;:ialle a/ill Pa/eogrqfia Greca, p. 37. See above, note 62. Mioni, introduziolle alla Paleogrqfia Greea, p. 29. .

75

See, selectively, Buchthal and Belting, PatTOllage in TIzirfemJ!J-ulIhI1Y ConsJmlhllople,

69 iO 71

" 73

pIs .. 66e, 66f (Coislill 195, If. 171 v, 240v, tenth century); Omont, Minialur" des flus anerells manuscripts grees, pIs. LXXXI (Cois/ill 195, r. 9v, tenth century), LXXXII (OIlS/m 22~ r. ,333v, eleventh century). " .. IbId., pIs. LXXX (Coislill 20, f. 151v, tenth century), L'{,XX1I (COls/m 2U, f. 27v), LXXXIII (Cois/in 21, f. 276v), UCXXIV (Par. gr. 64, 0: 63v, IOlv, twelfth ce~;ury); I1 Mmo/agio, p. 213. Sec., also, Glory '!f Byza1ltium, no. 58B (Cleveland wIuseum of Art, ~leventh-c.en­ tmy lecn~naJy leaf with the portrait of St. Luke). At the Prot'ton? the IIlkwell·wtth· pen-case IS provided with a lid, not shown in earlier representatIons (PI. 223).

, CHAPTER FNE

IMPLEMENTS

tll centUlY (PI. 65),'8 and were probably. in Use I 1,astheeeven as· ea' ) llluch earj'ler pel',·od ,19 the)' became common . only m Late smce ~ .' t xts (Pis. 93 225).80 The kalamana represented B 'Zannne arnsnc con e. '. . r ) I f tI Anastasis in VerrOla (Chnst belore the High t the chure I 0 le Th al . ess omke (Christ a Priests and P'II ate) and at St. Nicholas Orphanos, · I 1>. 'ests) have ti,e same overall ornament of white before the H Ig I nl . bl' . small lozenges on a dark background, proba y meant to mdicate r of inla)' decoration (Pis. 188, 226). some HOml • f d· was th e b'm di ng. At ' . The j ast stage I'n the preparanon 0 a co ex unt Athos St. Mattllew IS portrayed tnmming the Protaton on Mo , the pages 0 f a book- block with .the wooden boards of the Cover · hed on, WIll L:ch is held tightly m a . screw press (PI. 227). For the stttc , · . h's mmmmg e I using a broad-bladed Implement ' WIth wooden.han. dies on either end. Other implements employed m. the bookbmding the awl, and the SCIssors, are shown process, nameIy ti,e hammer .' 81 lying on the desk next to him.

of the Virgin in Late Byza t' . . dant spinning in the Birth n me plctonaJ . hi' h ' ontexts. The axe WIt w lIC St. Nlcholas is portra d r 11' e "fi l l ' ye le 109 the cypress of Plakoma IS specl ca y mentIOned in written aCCOunts of his miracles; the ~e represe~ted at ~e r?ot of a tree in the scene SI. John the BaptIst preachmg was msplred by the meta h . I . d b h h ' h' P onca image deVIse y t e prop et m IS sermon regarding the imminent punishment of those who do not bear .'good fruit' (Matth. 3:10). On the other ha~d, the presence of .axes I~ the hands of travellers and runaways or !Il the hands of chtldren m the Entry into Jerusalem, the presence of hammers, mallets, pincers, and, rarely, of a mattock or a frame-saw in scenes of the Passion cycle, and, finally, the presence of writing implements in trial scenes cannot be explained in terms of the textual accounts of the illustrated events. One needs to seek justification for it elsewhere. It is more or less self-explanatory why axes were attributed to travellers and to the children cutting branches from tlte trees in the Entry into Jerusalem, and why hammers, pincers, and other tools were shown used in scenes of the Passion. The images of these implements may be understood as realistic details introduced in order to underline the factual dimension of the events represented. This seems to hold true especially in the case of the representation of the implements in the Passion scenes. The reality of Christ's Suffering and Death could not have been more vividly expressed but by showing Him being nailed on the Cross or His lifeless body being detached from it with a pair of pincers. In the famous scene of tlte Lamentation at Nerezi (1164), the mallet, the nails, and the pincers, all in a basket, are depicted in the foreground next to a crater, the wreath of thorns, the lance, and the sponge (PI. 228). In this particular context the tools tltemselves have been raised to symbols of the Passion. s3 Turning now to writing implements, these had been introduced into the pictorial context of Christ before Pilate as early as the sixth century, in the often-cited Trial miniatures of the Rossano Gospels (PI. 89). Loerke has pointed out that the presence of pens and ink in this context indicated that the legal procedure taking place was in agreement with Roman law, stipulating that all decisions of Roman

210

21 J

USE IN

RELIGIOUS

IcONOGRAPHY

In NaITalwe Scenes Biblical, apocryphal, and hagiographic texts offer justification for some of the occurrences of tools in narrative contexts, tltough not all. The account of the Annunciation in tlte Protoevangelion ofJames, according to which tlte Virgin was in tlte process o~ spi.n~ing the purple silk for the te~ple when tlte. ar.changel Gabne~ VIsIted. her, would explain why qUite often the Vlrgm appears holdmg a sp~ndle and a distaff in the Annunciation." On the other hand tltere IS no textual justification for the introduction of tlte figure of tlte atten-

78 See, also, Pelekanides el ai., Treasures, ~, fig. 249 (Dionysiou 587m, f. I 29r). " RUlSchowscaya, Catalogue des hois rk l'Egypte copte, p. 65, no. 206. . $) See, also, Buchthal and Belting, Patronage in 711irleenflz-cenfury COllslantmople, pIs. 38 (VOl. gr. 1208, f. 3v, thirteenth century), 67a (Vol. gr. 361, f. 14bv, fourteenth cenlury); Movaxou KaU(vlKOl), H TEXV1IO) TI1, arlOrpala(,' AE 1942-44, pp. 1-36; MOUPlKfl, '01 t01Xoypa",'E' ,OU mpEKzantine contexts and female gowns with trurn tI skirtlll lvl e ) d]" I le I To these one may ad t le lema e mantles that . k h et-shaped s eeves. P h i d sometimes formmg a 'not at t e top, and then covered t e lea , .] b' d d . I d I'll the shoulders Wit lout emg rape around the flowed stnug 1t 0\ B'. B T contexts. hese fash_ J • h are ellcountered in Late. yzantll1e torso wuc d d' I' . . '. pear to have been mtro uce mto re IgIOUS contex.ts lOnable Items ap . ' . . al I'" 9 I rougl.1uy at tIle same time as their adoptIOn m I e he. . t has been t uch modern elements served to underlme 'ilie con_ suggested tIla s ..' \0 I ' 'bl IS POSSI e . iliat a distemporalY reIe\>ance' of a rehgIous Image. . t. . b I older might have appreciated them 111 this manner . . ' cermng el However, one cannot claim t1lat th~ art:J.s~s by repro~ucmg fashion_ able artefacts were aiming at provoking ilils response m the public." In addition to these actual fashionable artefacts, one also enc.ounters items t1lat became fasizionable to represen.t only at ~ later ~tage m ilieir development, regardless of their ha\~ng been 111 use m Byzantine lands since a much earlier date. This, for example, was ilie case of ilie depiction of mail armo.ur in. the. twelfth century and of bows and quivers in Late Byzant:Jne plctonal contexts. As suggested earlier, such representations should be un~erstoo~ ~s a response to Cur· rent historical conditions and the changIng artIstIc tastes and cultural interests of Byzantine society. Up to this point we have looked at the motivation behind representations of realia iliat came to be part of the current vocabulary of Byzantine religious iconography. Turning now to unique representations of contemporary artefacts encountered in religious contexts, some examples may be specifically associated with the p~rsonality and interests of individual patrons. The half-breastplate of SI. George at SI. Euthymios, Thessalonike, as we have seen, is one such example. To this one could add the representations of Arab and Bulgar costume in ilie Menologium of Basil n. In the miniature commemorating St. Symeon the Stylite the elder (c. 389-459), ilie saint is 8 See, for example, Underwood, Karfye Djami, pI. 257 (Samaritan wo~an); Mavropoulou.Tsioumi, The Omrdl if SI. Nzelwlas Orplzo!/1ls, pI. IV (the same); X":~~oo",!~ Mvcnpa" figs. 33 (Aphendiko: the same), 45 (Peribleptos, Birth of the VU'gm: VIS' iting women). fI This is suggested by the fact that they are encountered in portraiture roughly at the same time as their earliest appearance in religious iconographic contexts, see above, Chapter 2. 10 L. Brubaker, 'Originality in Byzantine illumination,' in Origilzoliry, ". 156 11 CC M. Baxandall, Pallems if llltenlwlI. 011 IIIe Hiswrical Exp!1lnatwn if Pictures ( eW Haven and London, 1985), pp. 131-132.

N

225 shown on his column, receiving four lay visitors d d' . . . resse m rIchly consequent! 'd 'fi Patterned ungIrt tumcs and turbans and . ' y, I entI ed as Arabs; a mon k stan d s on th e other SIde of the column." Th II d h . . . . k t posItIon IS ta en 0 a u e to t e samt's veneration b he com. . . populations of th Y ChrIstIan, as we II as by th e Ch' rIstIan E t e non.. h h . e as!. t IS ramer surprIsmg t at t e artist chose this particular th ' . Th fi erne lOr repe. gu~es of the Arabs do not Occur in later eleventhresentatJon. century manuscrIpts illustratmg scenes from the life of St S ].I · f h . h . ymeon. Perhaps th e ch Olce 0 t eme m t e miniature of the JvUIIO " logzum ' f • 0 Ba~il should .be .assoclated. with. the efforts of that emperor to mamtam ByzantJne mfluence m SYrIa, threatened at the ti b h . f h F . 'd ]' h me y t e aggressIOn 0 t. e atl.m.1 ca I~ of Egypt Hakim. J; In the same manuscript. ~ere .IS a mmIature illustrating the martyrdom of a group of ChrIstIans m the hands of the Bulgars during the reign of Leo V (813-820).16 One of the Bulgar executioners wears what could be identified as ethnic costume, comprising a hat with a fur brim and a knee-length, long-sleeved caftan with galloons at ilie front and a fur collar and fur lining or hem. A knife and a pouch are suspended from the executioner's belt. The exceptional character of this portrayal becomes evident when compared to other marryrdom scenes in the same manuscript: oilier non-Byzantine executioners are invariably represented in conventional short tunics." To my mind, me association of the portrayal of the Bulgar executioner wim the personality and policies of Basil II cannot be doubted." Only on rare occasions does the representation of certain items in religious contexts appear to have been ilie result of a direct imitation of daily life motivated by an interest in ilie depiction of material reality for its own sake. The attribution of a single earring to young men and boys and ilie representation of the dress, head-dress, and professional paraphernalia of commoners in certain twelfthcentury contexts appear to have been motivated by such an interest

13,.

'!

12 It ~[enotogio) no. 2. 13 See Glory '!! ByzallliulI/, no. 55 (pp. 100-101). Ii See, for example, Pelckanides et al., Treasures, I, fig. 237 (Dion}siolt 587m, C 116r); n, figs. 327-328 (Pall/eleill/Oll 14, ff. 21~2v). 15 Sce W. Felix, Byzanz l/IId die islamisclle Welt im ftiiheml 11. JallThUlldtrt (Vienna, 1962). 16 It JiJen%gio, no. 345. 17 See, for example, ibid., no. 209 (!vlartyrdom of St. Jrunes the Pcrsi~n). 18 On Byzantino-Bulgar relations during his reign see Osu'ogorsky, Hu(ory of tlte Byzall/ille SW/e, pp. 307-310.

226

CHAPTER SIX

COMMENTARY

227

4 231 232).'9 An interest in the representation of conPI 35 , 21 " (s. . beI'un.d lIe I portra~aI 0 f the bride temporary reality seems also to he and ti,e representation of the fea~t. table 111 the vVcddlllg at Cana at St. Nicholas Orphanos.'" In addition .t? these, onc :nay also mention the vessels in the hands of the \~sltlng w.o,?"en III ilie Birth of ilie Virgin at Nerezi (PI. 233), which ~re re~mmscent of contempo_ rary sgraffito-warc ceramic vessels, both III tl~Cll' .colour scheme (brown on buff) and in tI,eir decoratIon (bands of 1I1tncate scrolls) (PI. 234). What is more, ilie cylindrical shape of the bottle ~t, Nerezi find~ parallels in contemporary glass bottle-shapes (PI. 235). Flllally, an mterest in ilie representation of contemporary reality and its trappings mav be detected behind the depiction of domestic utensils in the Ho~pitality of Abraham at the Blacherna in Arta (end of thirteenth century)," tile portrayal of the young monk and the donkey carryinO' water-jars in a scene from the cycle of St. Gerasimos at St. Nkholas Orphanos (PI. 236),23 and the portrayal of the peddlar carrying a two-handled jar on his back in the Birth of St. Nicholas in the homonymous church at Platsa (PI. 237).'"

19 See, also, Megaw and Hawkins, 'The Church of the Holy Apostles at Perachorio,' pp. 316-317, figs. 32 (the h~t with the tassel and the buckled belt with a pouch of the shepherds in the NatIVIty), 33 (the head-dress of the mIdWIfe In the same scene); Nikolardes, 'L'eglise de la Panagia Arakiotissa,' p. 78, fig. 63 (the cap with the ear-flaps of the old shepherd in the Nativity); E. T(Jtyapioa in his L'arl de /0 fill de 1'Allliquili el du ""/OYtll Age, 3 vols. (Paris, 1968), I, pp. 265~290. See, also, the relevant arlicle by O. Grabar in the ODE, 2, pp. 1018-1019. 36 Pseudo.Kod., pp. 206 (skarallihm, kabbadioll, epi/ounkoll), 218-219 (granalza). Note that he does not ascribe a western (Italian or Frankish) origin to any of the garments and head-dresses which he describes. Cr. Greg., pp. 43, 567-568. • 37 Galme~ts and accessories of oriental delivation had been adopted and wom 10 court durmg the :Middle Byzantine period as well. 'Yhat constitutes a Palaiologan devc~opment is not the adoption of items of oriental costume per se, but their predominance at the expense of more traditional 'Roman' outfits, like the fhlafl!Vs-

costume. 18 :M. Vickers, 'Some Preparatory Drawings for Pisanello's Medallion of John VI!,! Palacologus,' I1rtB 60 (1978), esp, pp. 419-421. The accurate representations, down to fine structural details, of the bow a~d sabre of St. ~\'Ierkourios at the Protaton (PI. 124), of the sabre of the Shanos,' pp. 159, 171; eadem, Infiltrations occldentalcs dans la peinture murale byzantine au XIVc et au debut du XV~ siede,' in S;'mp. Resava, pp. 37-48; wIouriki, 'The Mask Motif in the \Vallpaintings of wlistra'; eadem, 'Palaeologan Mistra and the \Vest,' pp. 213-245. 56 On the western odgin of this feature see A. Grabar, 'Un reRet du monde latin da~s u~le peinture balqanique du 13c siecle: Byzanlioll I (1924), pp. 231-236. • ;,7 H~s knee-length outer garment has a skirt which looks pleated. The garment IS furmshed with a pair of long sleeves which hang empty at the sides, the forearms having passed through slits provided for this purpose. 'Ve have already encountered the latter feature while discussing Palaiologan aristocratic male costume (see ahov.e). As to the pleated skirt, this was perhaps a feature of western derivation. Judgmg by artistic representations, male pleated garments were apparently quite popular.in.the 'Vest, though the western examples I have seen are admit~edly lat~r, see LevI-Plsetzky, Stona del costlLTne ill Ita/ia, 11, fig. H; A. Cole, Art 0/ the lttllwl/ Renaissallce Courts (London, 1997), figs. 9, 88, Ill; E. Welch, Ar' alld Socie!y ill 1Ia!,", 1350-1500 (Oxford, 1997), fig. 43. . " Xlltl;~M"'lS, MVCJrpaq, fig. 51 (PeIibleptos). The decoration of the mande .con. SISts of red horizontal zigzag lines and, in all probability, reflecte? western fashions, se~ D. Mouriki, 'The 'Vall Paintings of the Pantanassa at :Mlstrn: Models of a Palllters' 'Vorkshop in the Fifteenth Century,' in Twilight, p. 227. It was perhaps reproduced in this context for its decorative effect.

236

a much greater degree, given. the increasing physica~ p~'escnce of Franks and Italians in Byzantme lands from the begmnmg of the thirteenth century onwards and the impact of western fashions espe_ cially on Late Byzantine female dress (see abo~e). The more wide_ spread presence of articles of western dress 111 contemporaneous Serbian and Bulgarian monuments, some executed by Byzantine artists (PI. NI), 59 seems to suggest that the absence of Comparable 3lticles from the Byzantine contexts was perhaps the result of a deliberate choice. By contrast, representations of western military equipment were much more common in Late Byzantine pictorial contexts. It has been suggested earlier that the occurrence of certain types, like western-looking swords, probably reflected the actual use of such items in the Late Byzantine army. On the other hand, a different inteIpretation has been proposed as regards the concentration of representations of western items of military dress, like helmets and daggers, in the pictorial ensembles of Palaiologan Mistra, namely at the Metropolis (PI. 242), d,e Aphendiko, d,e Peribleptos, and fue chapel of St. John. 60 This concentration is unparalleled in other areas under Byz311tine control at the time. Mouriki has, therefore, suggested that d,e presence of such elements should be attributed to the imitation of western artistic models by the Byzantine artists working at :Mistra. 61 Historical conditions in Palaiologan Mistra, with its direct political 3lld cultural links widl fue Franks setded in fue Peloponnese since 1204 and the Italian merchants active in fue region, provide the background of such artistic borrowings. 62

" See, for example, Grabar, 'Un rellet du monde latin; pp. 236-241 (Boyana, Miracle of SI. Nicholas at sea: .one of the sailors wearing a white cap); Millet and Frolow, La peintu" du Moy'" Age en Yugosiavie, Ill, pI. 88.2-3 (Staro Nagorii'ino, Mocking of Christ: one of th~ musicians, also wearing a white cap); rvfillet and Velmans, La peinlure du Moyen Age, IV, p. XXII, note 2, pI. 40.81 (Mateic, Trial of Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome: dress and head-gear of the audience and attendants). '" On painting at Mistra in general see lvlillet, MQI/llml!1lts Iryz. de Mistra; Xa'~nSlilCT", MVOTpa>; S. Dufrenne, Us progrrmvnes u:ol/ographiques des eglises byzantines de Mistro (Pans, 197?); D. Mouriki, 'Stylistic Trends in Monumental Painting of Greece. at e ~~gmnmg of the Fourteenth Century,' in Symp. Gralanica (hereafter Mouriki, St)'lisoc Trends-14th c.'), pp. 70-74, 83. 6J Mouriki. 'Stylistic Trends-14th c.; p. 227; eadem, 'Palaeologan Mistra and the West; p. 239. 62 The question of western influences in the art of Mistra has been explored by Mouriki in her 'Palaeologan Mistra and the West.'

?t

COMMENTARY

cHAPTER SIX

237

Nlusion has already been made to potential western artistic influences traceable in the painted decoration of St. Nicholas OIphanos . Thessalonike, it propos the unusual theme of the groom in the ~doration of the Magi. With this in mind, it could also follow that the depiction of spears with the banderols in the hands of military saints, of mail coifs and e/zausses, and, perhaps, of the pleated garment of the musician in the Mocking of Christ in this Thessalonikan monument was also indebted to western artistic models. Yet, the painters responsible for the pictorial decoration of St. Nicholas apparendy went beyond the superficial and eclectic imitation of western artistic forms. The portrayal of the bride and the feast table in the Wedding at Cana (PI. 189) and that of the young monk with the donkey carrying the water-jars in the cycle of St. Gerasimos (PI. 236) evoke contemporary Byzantine wedding feasts and aspects of the daily life of Orthodox monastic communities respectively. This suggests that the unknown painters had achieved a creative assimilation of Byzantine visual practices with the principles of western art, an art which strove towards naturalism and revelled in the representation of details inspired from courdy and urban daily life. In this the artists of St. Nicholas appear exceptional among their contemporaries. Even in the much later murals of fue Pantanassa at wIistra (c. 1430), a monument which, more than any other in Byzantine lands, attests to the creative assimilation of western influences both in the composition of the scenes and in the taste for anecdotal detail, no comparable attitude towards the representation of contemporary reality is evident. 63 To conclude, Islamic figural art was predominandy secular in character, inspired from heroic feats in hunting and war and from the life of the court, with its formal audiences, feasting, and courtship. The possibility of its ever exerting any influence on Byzantine religious painting was excluded because of its premises, and the 1Iuslim religion of its creators. The artefacts of oriental oudook encountered in Byzantine pictorial contexts either reflected the impact of Islamic material culture on Byzantine practices, which were intensified in t!'e Late Byzantine period, or were selectively used as characterizanon devices in specific iconographic contexts. In contrast to vVestern

----------

63 ~Iouriki, 'The Wall Paintings of the Pantanassa at Mistra,' esp. pp. 222-223, 227-230.

j

,•

238

CHAPTER

SIX

. Ul second half of Ule ulirteenth centUlY,"' there is no Europe m e. . evidence in the Palaiologan pe.nod for a. taste ~or .th~ depIction of what we would call 'exotic' onental. details. ~t IS slg~lIficant in this t POI'llt out that the only .IIlstance. III PalalOlogan monu~~o mental painting of an attempt to c~l~ure up the w~rld of the Islamic East, namely ule poru'ayal of Onentals at St. Nlcholas Orphanos, was in all probability influenced by the knowledge of western artis_ tic models. 'Realism' in Palaiologan painting, however, remained largely unaffected by developments in the West. The aloofness of Byzantine religious painting \~s-a-vis its weste~n. counterpart may ~e attributed partly to the different and. ,:,ore. ngld premIses on. whIch ~e creation and veneration of rehglous Images was based III ByzantIUm as compared to the West,"' partly to the venerability of tradition and the concomitant apprehension of innovation, and partly to the suspicion in influential ecclesiastic and secular circles of the West and its accomplishments."" Behind all this, however, lies a more funda_ mental difference in mentality between the two cultures, a difference of which, at least, some Byzantines were very much aware. According to the archbishop of Thessalonike Symeon (t 1429), the 'Latins' loved the created world almost as much as the 'foolish' ancient Greeks had done and believed that nothing is above the understanding of the human senses and reason. To this 'materialistic' world-view Byzantium opposed its own conviction in the power of faith and tradition." B. CHRONOLOGICAL

AND

REGIONAL DIVERSITY

Having discussed the motivation and creative sources of 'realism' in the representation of artefacts in Byzantine religious art, in what "See]. Raby, Venice, DUrer, and the Orimllll Mode (London, 1982), esp. pp. 17-18. On the premises of religious art and the veneration of icons in the West sec,

li5

selectively, Dagron, 'Holy Images and Likeness,' p. 24; Belting, likeness and Preset/ee, pp. 297-298; G. Duby, FoundatUms qfa New Humanism (1280-1440) (Geneva, 1966), 104-11 9; M. Baxandall, Painting and Experience ill FiJleml" Century ItalY. A Pnmer III lhe Social His/J)/}' qf Pielmud S!!,k (Oxford, 1988), p. 41; and specialized essays collected in Sacred Imnge. 66 On Byzantine attitudes towards the West, both positive and negative, ,see DJ. Geanakoplos, Inlnactinn qf the 'Sibling' B)'?~antine and W<s/em Cultures in Ihe Middle Ages aJUi Italian Renaissance (330- J600) (New Haven and London, 1976). 67 A. n~, 'Ai aiaSntlKal illeUl toov Bu~avtlvoov 1tpO tii.; a1uOOero.; (1453),' EEB}; 34 (1965), p. 328.

"p.

COMMENTARY

239

fc llows I review the evidence with the purpose of establishing whether .0 may be defined in terms of chronological evolution and geo~aphical diversifica~on .. I h~p~ thereby t? enh~nc~ Our understanding of 'realism' by cOllSldenng It III aSSocIatIOn With ItS cultural and historical context. Considering the evidence in the following two sections I have observed the conventional division between the Middle Byzantine period, limited here to the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and the Late Byzantine period, from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. In each of these two sections I discuss first briefly the types of contemporary artefacts which occur in artistic contexts during each period with the purpose of highlighting continuity with or departure from traditional practices. In part this is a summary of discussions presented in the first five chapters, but also takes into consideration realistic representations of commoners' costume and domestic utensils. In the second part of each section I review the evidence for regional diversity. Current scholarly opinion recognizes that artistic expression in the provinces demonstrated varying degrees of dependence on the art of Constantinople. 68 Yet regional artistic idioms remain ill-defined. This holds true for both the Middle and the Late Byzantine periods. The limited number of monuments from the Middle Byzantine period which have surnved in Constantinople itself and the rarity of information concerning the background of the artists working in the provinces do not allow clear-cut distinctions between what constituted a transplantation of Constantinopolitan art in the pro~nces and what was regional adaptation or interpretation of Constantinopolitan trends. Often art-historians are forced to reconstruct such metropolitan trends mainly on the basis of the evidence provided by provincial monuments. Given these constraints, the observations presented here on the subject of regional diversification are

• 611 See, selectively, C. ~'Iango, 'Lo stile cosiddetto "monastico" delJa pittura bi~~n­ tma,' Habilal~Stmtttlre~ Terrilon'o: Alli del Inzo COllveg1l0 illtemaziona/e di studio sulla Czvlila rupeslre mediowaie lie! Meuogiomo d'Ilalia, cd. C.D. Fonseca (Galatina, 1978), pp. 4563; Mouriki, 'Stylistic Trends-11th-12th c.'; O. Demus, 'Die Entstehung des Palaologenstils in del' Ivlalcrei' BerichJe zum Xl. IlItematiollalen Byzalltillistm-Kollgrifl (Munich, 1958), pp. 1-63; id";,, 'The Style of the Kariye Djami and Its Place in ~he ~e~elopment of Palaeologan Art,' in Studies, pp. 107-159; ~,I. C~~tzlda~ls,

Classlclsmc et tendances populaires all XIV" siecie. Les recherches sur I evolution du style,' .XlV CIEB (Bucarest, 1974), I, pp. 153-188; Grape, 'Zum Stil der Mosaiken ~ der ~hse Camii'; Belting, Nlango, tvlouriki, 'lhe AJosaics and Frescoes of SI. JJary ammakans/J)s, pp. 96-111; Mouriki, 'Stylistic Trends-14th c.'.

240

CHAPTER

SIX

COMMENTARY

for the most part tentative. Finally, in the t.hird part of each section an attempt is made to interpret th.e find[[~gs. of tl~e inquiry into chronological and region~ patterns m assocIalIon With current historical and cultural condllIons. T7lt Eltvttltfl and the Twe!!lh Cttlturies

1jpes 'If Colltempomry Artffocts Represttlted In the case of imperial dress represented in religious contexts, the design and decoration of the ch/an!)'s- and the loras-costume and their accompanying insignia were updated to reflect the current styles attested in official portraiture. As to tl,e depiction of official costume one observes the modernization of traditionally represented outfi~ and tl,e e,,:pansion of me inventory of garments and accessories represented. One may mention the introduction of official head-dresses into religious iconographic contexts. The chlamys-costume mirrored contemporary styles in decoration and design. Representations of omer lay costume were as a rule conventional. Updating, when it did take place, usually affected female costume. One has in mind especially me gowns with trumpet-shaped sleeves and voluminous head-dresses me latter only in miniature painting. One could also mention m; dress, head-dress, and earrings of secondary female characters in certain provincial monuments which differ from one ensemble to the next and may be taken to mirror regional dress (PI. 232)."9 The only noteworthy innovation in the representation of lay male costume was me attribution of single earrings to young male figures at Sts. Anargymi, Kastoria, and at Kurbinovo, bom monuments situated in Byzantine Macedonia (PIs. 35, 214, 231).70 This detail may be a reflection of local male dress in that part of the empire. The use of ~stinctive COSl!1me for the characterization of members of professIOnal groups was limited to dancers and shepherds. Reference has already been made to the introduction in the eleventh century of me garment wim me exceedingly long sleeves into the portrayal of dancers. As to shepherds, such figures, especially of a mature age, were commonly represented in sheepskin garments (PI. 214). Though p

6!1 For more examples, see above, note 19. To these one may also add the cas tume ?f young Salome in the Nativity scene at Kdls;Iar ku§luk (first half or towards the nud-eleventh century), see Restle, Byz. Wall-painting, pI. 284 and the comments of ~erphanion, Eg/ises rupestres, Ill, p. 248. See above, note 19.

241

the use of such garments in art was conventional, comparable artiles were in fact worn among rural populations in mediaeval ~yzantium.71 During .the eleventh ~nd twelf~ centuries, portrayals of shepherds were enllven~d ~y the lllcorporalIon of interesting hats, capes, and belts from which Implements were suspended." As to the representation of ethnic costume, Jews-other man the saindy biblical figures-were attributed a head-kerchief wound around the head and neck as their only distinctive item of costume (Figs. 188,240).73 This element was introduced into Christian iconography during me sixth century and was probably initially inspired by contemporary Jewish religious practices at the time.74 However, by the Middle Byzantine period the head-kerchief was no more than an artistic convention employed for me purpose of characterization' it did not reflect practices among mediaeval Jewish communities' in Byzantium or elsewhere. 75 The only probable exception to me stereotypical portrayal of me Jew in Middle Byzantine religious art is mat of the figure with me skull-cap at Panagia Mavriotissa Kastoria mentioned earlier. ' , Realistic representations of contemporary oriental costume are rare in Middle Byzantine artistic contexts. The portrayal of me Arabs in me Mttlologium of Basil II is one such instance that comes to mind. As a rule, Orientals commonly portrayed in religious art were represented in conventional costume. The Magi, the prophet Daniel, and me Three Hebrew Youms, for example, appear in traditional 'Persian' costume, comprising a short tunic worn over a pair of trousers or leggings, a mantle, and a peculiar small hat. 76 The only realistic touch in meir outfit was the earring often worn by mem.;)

" . KOUKOU1.i>;, BWeJaMVil; EVeJrafJiov

p. Ill.

Ta Aaoypaq" ..",

vol. 1 (Athens, 1950),

~~ See a?ove, note 19. Sec, also, Chatzidakis, Hosios liJukas, figs. 13, 15. M' The hst of examples is endless as this feature is encountered invariably in both b Iddle and Uite Byzantine representations of ti,e Entry into Jerusalem and of Christ

efon: the High Pnests, to mention simply the most common iconographic COI1ID which the head-kerchief was introduced. 1S Revel-N S: Ki;>sas, 'Solunska umetnicka porodica Astrapa,' :(pgrqf 5 (1974), pp ..35-31; P. Mi~ko\'u:-Pepek, 'L'atelier artistique proeminenl de la famille thessalo~lclenne d'Astrapas de la fin du XlII< et des premieres decennies du XIV< siecle,' JOB 32/~ (1982), pp. 491-494; R. Nelson, 1)"odore HagWpetrites. A !Ate Byzanillle Scnbe an Itlumimzwr (Vienna, 1991), pp. 125-126.

263

116

In

p. 64; A. Laiou, ConsiantiJlOple and the !Atins. (C~,~bridge, Mass., 1972), p. 94.

1)" Foreign

Cr. Nelson, 'Tales of Two Cities,' p. 134.

Policy 0/AndroniclIs If, 1282-1328

264

COMMENTARY

CHAPTER SIX

nt the painted decoration of which evidence Anoner monu Ine ' . s I . 'd the paintings of the Protaton IS the kat/lOlikon of th connections WI I A' e '1 stet'" also on Mount AdlOS. ccordmg to a nine Vatopedi l\ o n a " . . . 'nscIiption teenth-centUlY l - beheved . to reproduce the ongmal. dedica. . tI'on , the Late Byzantme . frescoes tory mscnp , of the katholikon were executed duIing dIe reign of Androlll~os II, m 1312, at the behest of the hierot7lOlwhos (priest-monk) Al'Selllo~. ~he names ~f the painters responsible remain unkno"~l .. ~et, ce~tall1 Iconogr~phlc peculiarities seem to suggest that dley ongmated 111 Thessalolllke. According to TsigaIidas, the style of one of th.e painters who worked in. the outer narthex demonstrates great affilllty to dle style of the Penbleptos in OhIid and the protaton. On the other hand, the style of the second painter of the outer narthex is aligned with the stylistic developments of the second decade o~ the fourteen~h cen~U1Y, also attested in other monuments of Byzantine Macedollla, whIch are going to be considered next. The church of the Anastasis (Hagios Christos) in Verroia was founded by Xenos Psalidas and his wife Euphrosyne, who were probably members of the provincial gentry of that city. Euphrosyne saw that the work in the church was completed following her husband's death. According to the painted dedicatory inscription the frescoes were executed in 1315 by the painter Kallierges and his brothers. In dris inscription KalIierges styled himself as 'the best painter of all Thessaly' [i.e. Macedonia].'20 He is sometimes identified with the painter George KalIierges who in 1322 witnessed the sale of three houses in Thessalonike. Even if the two are not to be identified they could belong to a single family of painters with Thessalonikan connections. 12 ' Pelekanides has tried to identifY Kalliergcs as one of the masters who worked in the church of SI. Nicholas Orphanos in Thcssalonike (1310-1320).'22 However, this identification has not been widely accepted. The paintings of the church of the Anastasis belong to the same stylistic trend as the mosaics and the frescoes of the Chora Monastery in Constantinople. The painted decoration of the church of SI. Nicholas Orphanos in Thessalonike is usually dated to the years between 1310 and 1320 :~ ntAt":ClY(~l1~, ~~lePr11~, p. 7. Mounki, Stylisuc Trends-14th c.,' p. 67; Nelson, 7heodore Hagiopetriles, pp. 125-127. '22 TIUeKflVi&j" KaA;t,ePJ'17" pp. 114-121.

265

the basis of stylistic and iconographic similarities with the work

~~ Kallierges at Verroia and wi~~. the work of Michael and Eutychios t Cuter and at Staro Nagonc1l10. Velman's attempt to date the a semble towards the middle of the fourteenth century has not been en h' . '23 T accepted by other art- Istonans. he donor of the SI. Nicholas fi-escoes remains unknown. The suggestion that he should be identified with king Milutin of Serbia deserves serious consideration. We know from Serbian written sources that Milutin was responsible for the foundation of a number of monuments in Thessalonike, including a church of St. Nicholas. What is more, he himself often visited that city where his mother-in-law, the Byzantine empress Eirene (Yolande of Montferrat), held court from 1303 to 1317.'24 Certain peculiaIities of the iconographic programme of St. Nicholas, such as the portrayal of SI. Clement of Ohrid and the attribution of the uncommon epimet 'Gorgos' to SI. George, also encountered in other foundations of Milutin, seem to support the Serbian connection.'25 The identity of the masters responsible remains unknown, though the similarities between SI. Nicholas and the church of the Anastasis in Verroia seem to justify the assumption that members of the same workshop were active in both monuments. 126 However, neither of the two principal painters who worked at SI. Nicholas may be identified with Kallierges. In the representation of realia the church of St. Nicholas seems to stand in a category of its own. Its frescoes possess the highest concentration not only of carefully rendered fashionable artefact-types, but also of objects not encountered in other contemporary monuments. The last Macedonian monument to be considered is the church of the Holy Aposdes in Thessalonike. Originally, it was a monastic katholikon dedicated in all probability to the Theotokos. An inscription on the lintel of the main entrance and monograms in stone and

123 'A. ::\)yy61tO\)AO~, 'Ai 'tOlxoypa~lcxl tOU 'AKcx9lmot> El~ rlJv navcxyiav tmv Xal..Kirov e£ cr. Gouma-Peterson's comments on the significant change in the style of Michael Astrapas and Eutychios evidenced by a comparison between their work at the Peribleptos, Ohrid (1294/5) and at St. Nikita, Cucel' (1308-1320), see her 'The Frescoes of the Parekklesion of St. Euthymios,' p. 126. I3i The frescoes of the naos of the kat/w/ikon have been painted over in PostByzantine times. Only a small number of them has been cleaned and made avail· able through publication. In their present state, it would be unwise to introduce them into a discussion of the depiction of realia. '38 Tsigaridas, Vatopaidi, pp. 273 275, believes that the two should be identified. '" Ibid., fig. 220. ' ,., Ibid., fig. 218. 14' Ibid., fig. 231. ::: Ibid., figs. 223-224, 233-235. Ibid., pp. 271, 278. . . IoU I'.lformation on the artists responsible for the painted ense~bles of ~tra IS non-eXlStent. The quality of the paintings and the familiarity WIth recent Icon~

COMMENTARY

271

f estern military equipment apart, the contemporary artefact-types ensembles of Mistra, like the Metropolis the church of . . ' the Hodegetria (Aphend~ko), .and. the Penbleptos, are for the most t those of Late Byzantme plctonal contexts elsewhere. They include par . l'k ' items of military eqUIpment I. e bows an d q.Ulvers, wooden furniture with turned ornaments, ~ vanety of .domesuc utensils, even a distaff on a stand. The generahzed..rendermg makes clear that the artists were simply reproducing ar~stlc models and were not drawing inspiration from their surroundmgs. On occasion, they even misunderstood these models."" When, however, one contrasts at the Peribleptos of Mistra the conventional representations of lay dress and paraphernalia with th,: realistic and. detailed c~epiction of sacred vessels and vestments, "6 It becomes eVIdent that It was not lack of artistic skill that led to such representations of secular artefacts. Rather, this indifference is indicative of a lack of interest on the part of both the artists and their patrons in the faithful depiction of such elements. The only ensemble where one finds evidence of an interest in the observation and depiction of daily life is the Metropolis, the first phase of which is slightly earlier than the monuments of the 'cubist manner' in Byzantine Macedonia and Constantinople. One has in mind especially the depiction of the Healing of the paralytic at Bethesda (1272-1288), where next to the healed man stands a small boy carrying a red pillow on his shoulders (PI. 19 I). The presence of this figure was required neither by the gospel account of this miracle nor by the established iconography of this episode. To conclude tI1is investigation into regional variation in the depiction of realia in Late Byzantine monumental painting, the following observations can be made. The case-studies of Constantinople, Byzantine Macedonia, and, to a lesser extent, Mistra have highlighted the fact that, as in the eleventh and twelfth centuries so in the Late Byzantine period, there existed a standard vocabulary of commonly represented contemporary artefact-types which was shared by artists working in different parts of the empire. Moreover, Late Byzantine artists, irrespective of region and stylistic idiom, allowed

? w'ctorial pI

Jl1

graphic and stylistic developments they evidence have often been taken as .a~ indi-

ca~lOn ~hat the artists (or their models) came from Consta?tinople. O~ pam~ng at

Mistra III general see Millet, MonummM O/Z. de Mistra; Xat~~aalCl]