hematic Session of Free Communications: THE PORTRAIT IN BYZANTIUM AND IN THE BYZANTINE WORLD: ITS POLITICAL, SYMBOLICAL AND CEREMONIAL CONTEXTS Conveners: Aleksandr Preobrazhenskii, Dragan Vojvodić Lauren Wainwright, Portraits and Processions: Images of Helena in the Streets of Constantinople Andrea Torno Ginnasi, he Horses of Justinian I: Equestrian Images as a Symbol of Authority between Military and Ceremonial Models Dragan Vojvodić, he Iconography of the Divine Investiture of a Ruler with Military Insignia in Byzantine Art – Origin and Meaning Nazar Kozak, Site-Speciicity of Portraits in Kyivan Rus’ Aleksandr Preobrazhenskii, Saints as Donors and Donors as Visionaries. On some Modiications of Donor Portraiture in Byzantine World Bisserka Penkova, Die Ktetor Bilder aus Bojana als Zeichen der Geschichte und Kultur seiner Zeit Lilyana Yordanova, Quelques observations sur le portrait du tsar Jean Alexandre à l’église-ossuaire de Bačkovo Stavroula Dadaki – Soia Kapeti, he Family Portrait of the Kralj of Serbia Stefan Dušan at the Monastery of St John the Forerunner in Serres Dragana Pavlović, he Spatial and Programmatic Context of the Noble Portraits: Byzantium-Serbia-Bulgaria Elisabeta Negrău, Policy and Prophecy. he Emergence of the Iconography of Ruler Crowned by Angels in Wallachia (1543) Lauren Wainwright Portraits and Processions: Images of Helena in the Streets of Constantinople Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, is one of the most well-known women from the Byzantine period. She was proclaimed augusta in 324AD and her image appeared on coins throughout the reign of her son, and even ater her death, during the reigns of her grandsons. However no monumental statuary, which can undoubtedly be identiied as Helena, survives, yet there are Byzantine texts which give examples of these statues existing in Constantinople. Written ive to six hundred years ater the life of Helena, the Parastaseis Syntomoi Chronikai and Patria (the two best examples of this type in this period), are patriographic texts known to be quite inconsistent and chapters are oten full of errors. Yet what is important, however, is that the authors of these texts were still, time ater time, attributing statues dotted around the city to Helena, and more so than any other augusta. By bringing diferent types of information together – from patriographic texts to records and descriptions of the ceremonial – it can be seen that the statues ascribed to Helena were not only in key places of political importance, but also in the nodal areas of imperial and ecclesiastical processional routes; an integral part of public life in the city. his paper will therefore examine not only the placement of the statues that are purportedly of Helena and the importance of these locations, but also how these statues became interwoven into the cityscape of Constantinople. 2 Andrea Torno Ginnasi he Horses of Justinian I: Equestrian Images as a Symbol of Authority between Military and Ceremonial Models he paper aims to discuss equestrian representations depicting Justinian I in art and numismatics, through the examination of diferent iconographic reference models. Based on the chronological sequence generally followed by scholars, we encounter the well-known ‘Barberini ivory’. he relief, oten connected to the peace treaty signed with the Persians in the 532, shows a ‘dynamic scheme’ with the victorious rider on a rampant horse, clad in military attire and surrounded by ofering igures. he famous lost gold medallion, kept in Paris until its thet in 1831, is fortunately documented in detail by electrotypes and graphic restitutions. he piece, possibly related to the victory on the Vandals in 534, would relect an interim step towards a more ceremonial connotation of the equestrian iconography. Despite the military elements – such as the sovereign’s dress and the spear – the still pose of the horse, the exhibition of the toupha and the lack of references to the battleield reveal the donative purposes of the object. An even more explicit cohesion to the ‘ceremonial scheme’ is traceable on the bronze statue once standing in Constantinople, most likely set in 543/544, attested by literary sources and graphic restitutions. he complex history of the monument, a reused and probably reworked statue of the heodosian period, does not prevent to recognise the commemorative value of a solemn image, by now totally deprived of military aspects. he gradual regression of warlike characters in favour of ceremonial meanings emerges through the comparison with earlier works, from both the Eastern and the Western spheres, pointing the importance of the subject as a symbol of authority. 3 Dragan Vojvodić he Iconography of the Divine Investiture of a Ruler with Military Insignia in Byzantine Art – Origin and Meaning Imperial weapons, like the sword or the spear, were important insignia of the basilei of the Rhomaioi and of the rulers of Orthodox Christian countries, which were under the Byzantine cultural inluence during the Middle Ages. herefore, a particular iconographic formula was sometimes implemented in visual art, on portraits of Byzantine emperors - divine investiture by arms. Byzantine and other medieval rulers were represented in the act of receiving a sword and a spear, besides the stemma, from the angels or warrior saints. Such iconography is a very complex iconological phenomenon. In this paper, we shall direct attention to its actual origin and basic meaning. By origin, it is almost certainly connected with the ancient patterns of the inauguration ceremony of the Rhomaean sovereigns. It may be concluded on the basis of certain testimonies that the sword was given to the emperor during the proclamation and elevation on a shield by the troops. However, like the iconography of the investiture by a crown, the iconography of the investiture by arms also did not have the purpose of immortalising a particular event in the emperor’s life. It was not an evocation of the memory of a particular victorious battle or war of the basileus, as is commonly believed. In the period of the Paleologues, “the living image” of the investiture by the sword was renewed each year at Christmas, before the eyes of the subjects, as part of the imperial ceremony called Prokypsis. Besides, written sources and preserved representations lead to the unambiguous conclusion that the goal of the iconography of the investiture by arms was actually to indicate all the emperor’s victories (plural!), great and small, accomplished or potential, i.e. the triumphant nature of imperial authority as such. 4 Nazar Kozak Site-Speciicity of Portraits in Kyivan Rus’ he portraits of the Rurikids created in Kyiv between the end of the tenth and the end of the twelth centuries have been discussed in the art-historical scholarship as a rather disparate set of iconographically varied representations. Outwardly, they have little in common except that they originate from the same city and depict the members of the same dynasty. Drawing on Miwon Kwon’s theorization of site-speciicity developed from the analysis of modern art practices, this paper reveals a substantial commonality of Kyivan portraits as political artworks. A usual understanding of the site-speciicity, which Kwon deines as ‘phenomenological’, applies to an artwork determined by the physical three-dimensional space around it. For isntance, Yaroslav’s family portrait in Saint Sophia of Kyiv is site-speciic because its location on the upper level of the west part of the nave under the galleries directly referes to the place in the church reserved for the ruler and his family; or further, because this location enables the juxtaposition of the portrait with the scene of the Communion of the Apostles depicted in the apse. But since other Kyivan portraits were intended for diferent spatial settings and, for that reason, are ‘phenomenologicaly’ site-speciic in diferent ways, the aproach from this engle reveals rather diferences than commonalities. Kwon, however, has also introduced the notion of another kind of site-speciicity, which engages a ‘site’ not as a physical but as a discursive realm. his lens provides a common ground for each of the individual cases. Indeed, along with the dependence on the places of their display, the Kyivan portraits were irmly rooted in the discourse of power struggle around the throne, and prestige stemming from both the internal and foreign policies of the ruling family. his discourse informed the sociopolitical contexts of the portraits’ creations and even inluenced the choices of iconographic schemes and details. he essential aspect of the ‘discursive’ site-speciicity shared by all of the Kyivan portraits was the focus on the legitimization of the authority gained (or hoped to be gained) in an equivocal way. hus, the portraits were not just relecting but also constructing the concept of power in Rus’, along with militant actions, palace intrigues, ceremonies, sermons, and other political gestures. 5 Aleksandr Preobrazhenskii Saints as Donors and Donors as Visionaries. On some Modiications of Donor Portraiture in Byzantine World Byzantine art provided the medieval culture of Orthodox lands with a few iconographical types of donor portraiture including widely used image of donor holding the church he has built, as well as image of donor or deceased person praying before Christ, the Holy Virgin or saint. While having a constant meaning, sometimes these formulas could be subject to substantial changes introducing new ideas into traditional schemes. hough the transformations in question were characteristic mainly for the Late Medieval or Early Modern period, especially for the Russian visual milieu, their irst examples appeared much earlier, that is in the Middle Byzantine era. he irst group of these compositions covers the images of saints as church ktetors. hese pictures are rather oten based on historical facts such as the fact of construction of the church or donation of the icon by a certain person who later was acknowledged as a saint. Such images can be found in Post-Byzantine Greece and in the Balkans where they coexist with “normal” donor imagery. In Late Medieval Russia they became more widespread while the life-time donor images ceased to be produced. Alongside with such images of Russian saints another type of their depictions imitated the iconography of votive and tomb compositions with donor in prayer. Having substituted the donors, the praying saints would turn in mediators and intercessors for the faithful and witnessed appearance of holy persons of the highest rank or communicated with them at the limitary zone between heavens and earth. It seems rather signiicant under these circumstances that sometimes such symbolic compositions would obtain a secondary and literal interpretation as images of speciic historical events like vision or apparition of the Virgin before the saint. he cases of such misreading or rereading of ancient formulas can be found not only in Russia but in PostByzantine world as well. he images just discussed were in fact retrospective portraits of the real founders, sometimes based on their lifetime depictions. Being used as icons, they proclaimed the saintly founders’ role as protectors of their churches and monasteries. A very similar idea was basic for images of the second group which can be qualiied as “pseudo-donor portrait” of a holy person who holds a church although he has never built or founded it. Usually such compositions feature a church dedicated to the saint in question (like some 12th c. Russian images of holy princes Boris and Gleb), a city guarded by the saint (images of St Nicholas of Mozhaisk), or the ediice standing for Ecumenical Church (apostles Peter and Paul). All these variants with their local or universal meaning can be of diferent origin which needs investigation, and possibly should be compared with Western iconographical tradition. However, together with images of real saintly donors they demonstrate lexibility and ambiguity of Byzantine donor iconography, as well as speciic features of local traditions, and allow to explore the ways of interpreting the donor imagery by Medieval or Late Medieval audience. 6 Bisserka Penkova Die Ktetor Bilder aus Bojana als Zeichen der Geschichte und Kultur seiner Zeit Die bekanntesten Darstellungen aus der Bojana Kirche sind die von Sevastokrator Kalojan und vor allem seiner gemahlin Dessislava, genau wie diese von der bulgarischen herrschern Konstantin Tich Assen und Irene Laskaris. Alle diese formen eine eigenartigen Komposition mit dem Bild vom Kirchenpatron Hl. Nikolaos und christus Chalkites. In der Fachliteratur werden die zwei Figuren auf der Ostwand des Nartex separate von einander betrachtet. Meiner Meinung nach, sollten sie aber als eine Einheit verstanden werden. zusammen mit den zwei Ehepaaren bilden sie eine im kirchlichem Raum eine einheitliche Komposition, die eine wichtige politische Botschat trägt. Die Malerschicht der ersten Register auf der Ostwand ist stark beschädigt. Bis vor kurzem herrschte die Meinung, dass diese Fresken vom 12. Jh. stammen. Die letzte Restaurierung zeigte, dass diese Unterschicht zum 13. Jh. gehört. Aus irgend einem Grund wurde der ursprungliche Plan der Kirchenausmahlung im Durchgang zwischen dem Naos und dem Nartex un auf dem unterem Teil der Ostwand der Nartex geändert. Es könnte sein, das eine Änderung der geselschatlichen Position von Kalojan Ursache dafür war – er ist Sebastokrator geworden wegen ihres Verdienstes des Königs. Bei Betrachten von Dessislavas Bild man erkennt breiten kulturellen Kontext ihres Gewands was führt zu der Annahme, dass Kalojan tatsächlich ein Enkel vom Hl. Stephan König von Serbien “par alliance” war. 7 Lilyana Yordanova Quelques observations sur le portrait du tsar Jean Alexandre à l’église-ossuaire de Bačkovo Fondé en 1083 par le sébaste et grand domestique d’Occident Grégoire Pakourianos, le monastère de la Vierge Pétritziôtissa attire l’attention de la communauté scientiique depuis le XXe siècle. Plusieurs études sont consacrées à la personnalité et à l’origine de son fondateur, au typikon et aux domaines du monastère ainsi qu’à une de ses églises, connue actuellement comme l’ « ossuaire de Bačkovo ». L’ossuaire fut construit à la in du XIe siècle et décoré de peintures murales vraisemblablement au cours du XIIe. Un siècle et demi plus tard semble-t-il, les quatre baies percées dans le mur nord de son narthex, au premier et au second étage, furent obturées ain d’accueillir de nouvelles images. Celles-ci représentent des donateurs, l’évangéliste Jean le héologien et son homonyme, le tsar bulgare Jean Alexandre (r. 1331-1371), qui exerça son autorité sur la région entre 1344 et 1364. Nous nous proposons ici de présenter de nouvelles rélexions sur le portrait du souverain bulgare, compte tenu de son iconographie et fonction. L’image en question sera mise en parallèle avec d’autres représentations impériales et sera examinée à la lumière des tensions politiques et territoriales entre le Second Empire bulgare et Byzance qui animent la première moitié du XIVe siècle. 8 Stavroula Dadaki – Soia Kapeti he Family Portrait of the Kralj of Serbia Stefan Dušan at the Monastery of St John the Forerunner in Serres he monastery of St John the Forerunner was founded in the second half of the 13th century by Ioannikios, a monk on Mount Athos who was from Serres. It is located outside the city of Serres, on Mountain Menoikion. he Serbian ruler Stefan Uroš IV Dušan conquered the city of Serres on the 25th of September of the year 1345, ater a long siege. He conquered a large and wondrous city’ as written by Ioannes Kantakouzenos he Serbian king Stefan Dušan ater the capture of Serres established himself as the most powerful ruler in the Balkan Peninsula. He also reasonably expected to rise in the hierarchy of the orthodox kings and eventually replace the Byzantine Emperor. Within this ideological framework, he declared himself emperor initially in the city of Serres and a few months later he received the title of emperor of Serbia and Romania at a formal ceremony. his was the title he used from then on in all documents he issued in Greek. Under this light, he exercised his authority at the Monastery of St John in Serres as well. Originally he coniscated much of the land property owned by the monastery, but aterwards he returned it with the addition of new donations and privileges. he latter were conirmed with an oicial decree (chrysoboullon) in November of the year 1345. In November 1371, the later Emperor Manouel II Palaeologus recaptured Serres ending the power of the Serbs in the region ater 26 years. he city was occupied by the Ottomans in 1383. he Greek Ephorate of Antiquities of Kavala and hasos with funding from the European Union funds (NSRF program 2007-2013) has recently completed a conservation project of the wall paintings of the main church (katholikon). As part of this project, the early 19th century overpainting covering the second narthex from the west (otherwise known as mesonyktikon) and the nave was removed. he removal of the newer overpainting, revealed a single mural layer, which can be dated, based on an inscription, to 1616 in the case of the mesonyktikon and 1615 in the case of the nave. It was also established that the newest pictorial layer was absolutely identical with the older one, except in the case of the south wall of the mesonyktikon, just where the historical evidence placed the panel of Stefan Dušan. he 1805 layer depicted a winged St John the Baptist in frontal view in the middle, the founder Ioannes on his right and Saint Spyridon on his let. Ater the removal of the overpainting, underneath the image of St John the Baptist and Saint Spyridon, the inscribed imperial family portrait of the Serbian ruler was revealed. he iconographic type of the composition and also the title of the Serbian ruler as King Emperor Faithful in Christ the God express the Byzantine state ideology of God given kingship. 9 he composition is completed with the image of the founder Ioannes-Ioakeim at the eastern end of the wall, which, however, belongs to an older layer. It was found just below the image of the founder of the 1805 layer, but in a slightly diferent position. he igure of the older layer is facing right and holds a church model in his hands. Below the images of the Serbian Kings we can distinguish part of the horizontal element of a right wing, the tip a let wing and the inscription ‘IN THESSALONIKI’ at the west end of the wall. he panel can therefore be identiied with the founder of the monastery, Ioannis-Ioakeim, ofering the model of the main church (katholikon) to the honoured Saint John the Forerunner, who occupies the middle of the composition. Based on the inscription, ‘IN THESSALONIKI’ we assume the igure of Saint David in hessaloniki on the right. he similarity of the two-color background with the rest of the revealed wall-paintings of the mesonyktikon dates the composition of the Founder with Saint John and David to the painting layer of 1616. Based on the succession of the painting layers, the family portrait of Dušan is dated between 1616 and 1815, when irst mentioned by the French Consul Cousinery. he relatively few stylistic observations that can be drawn lead to the conclusion that the composition departs from the Byzantine tradition and is related more with the artistic tendencies of the second half of the 18th century. he dating of the composition to the second half of the 18th century raises new questions regarding the choice of the subject matter in this particular period and the relationship of the monastery with the Serbian ruler as preserved in the oral tradition. 10 Dragana Pavlović he Spatial and Programmatic Context of the Noble Portraits: Byzantium-Serbia-Bulgaria he portraits of mediaeval nobility were located in various parts of the interior of Byzantine, Bulgarian and Serbian churches, most frequently the naos or narthex. Very oten such portraits were also placed on church façades, as can be seen in St. Marina in Karlukovo and in the church of the Taxiarches of the Metropolis in Kastoria. In mediaeval Serbia this was a frequent practice during the reigns of King and later Emperor Stefan Dušan, and his successor to the imperial crown, Uroš (Pološko, Treskavac, Mali Grad, Sušica). he lower zone of the wall paintings in both the naos and the narthex were the usual location for the portraits of the nobility in Byzantium and the countries within its cultural sphere, but noble portraits also appear in the second zone on the church façades and in the narthex. In the surviving examples of Byzantine art, such as the western façade at Kurbinovo and the eastern wall of the narthex of the church of St Nicholas tou Kasnitzi in Kastoria, the royal and noble portraits are located in the upper zones from as early as the 12th century. In Serbian wall-painting however, the aristocratic portraits do not appear in the second or third zones until ater 1355, in the reign of Emperor Uroš (the western façade of the church on the island of Mali Grad in Lake Prespa, the southern façade of the church of the Virgin at Sušica and the narthex of the church of the Virgin at Vaganeš). Naturally the portraits of members of the nobility were incorporated into the thematical programme of mediaeval churches. he likenesses of the nobleman and his family would frequently be placed alongside that of the patron saint, the saint who the aristocrat particulary respected, along with certain other religious compositions. In addition, members of the higher ranks of society would be grouped with secular and spiritual dignitaries. he positioning of the nobleman near to the sovereign and heads of church was intended to emphasize his social status and shows how the nobleman understood his position in relation to both secular and spiritual hierarchies. he examples preserved in the narthex of the church at Boyana portray the Bulgarian ruling couple opposite the noble couple while on the façade at Kurbinovo the ruling couple and the nobleman were painted one opposite the other on the same wall. Of particular interest are several portrait compositions painted in Serbia during the fourteenth and early iteenth century in which the portraits of the nobility which decorate the walls of the aristocratic foundations are accompanied by depictions of the sovereign. Judging by the surviving examples the portraits of the rulers and their subordinates were located on the opposite walls (Dobrun, Pasača, and probably Jošanica) either one next to the other or one opposite the other on the same wall (Kučevište, Karan, the chapel of St Gregory in the church of the Virgin Peribleptos in Ohrid, Veluće, Ramaća, Kalenić) and also one above the other (former western façade at Pološko). he portrait compositions in Pološko and Lesnovo, when compared to aristocratic foundations from the Byzantine milieu, introduce signiicant novelties and unique approaches. Later, in a few noble foundations made during the Moravian Serbia we see the relationship between the sovereign and his subordinates presented in a completely original manner unseen up to that time (Rudenica, Kalenić). 11 Elisabeta Negrău Policy and Prophecy. he Emergence of the Iconography of Ruler Crowned by Angels in Wallachia (1543) his paper discusses the occurrence in the Principality of Wallachia, at the end of the irst post-Byzantine century, of a vetust Byzantine iconography: a state ruler being crowned by an angel. In the nave of the inirmary chapel of Cozia Monastery (1543), on the western wall there is a portrait of Wallachian voivode Radu Paisie, accompanied, on the let, by a representation of Saint Methodius of Patara. In front of the voivode, on the southern window jamb is depicted St. Andrew Strateilates in a martial pose. Marco, son and co-regent of voivode Radu Paisie, is represented on the west wall, at the let of his father, and has vis-à-vis, on the northern window jamb, a representation of St. Lupus aiming a dragon. Both Radu Paisie and Marco are crowned by an angel, iconographic element that here appears for the irst time in Wallachia. Saint Methodius of Patara is known in the Byzantine and post-Byzantine tradition as the alleged author of a prophetic text of Syriac origin, known as the Apocalypse. A coronation episode is found in the medieval editions of the Pseudo-Methodian Apocalypse, in the passage which regards the prophecy about the providential emperor who frees Constantinople from Agareans. here, the election and the coronation of the Emperor liberator of the Christians is accomplished by angels. At the inirmary chapel of Cozia Monastery, the presence of the military saints in martial attitudes facing the two voivodes crowned by angels, along with the representation of St. Methodius of Patara alongside the Wallachian Prince, are strong indices to presume that the Pseudo-Methodian text was the inspiration source for the images. he apparition of this coronation iconography in Wallachia takes place in a time when antiOttoman war plans were becoming stringent in Central and South-Eastern Europe following the occupation of Buda (1541). During 1543, the foreign policy of voivode Radu Paisie, initially proOttoman, shited decisively in favour of the Habsburg Empire. he martial iconographic context of the two voivodes’ portraits at Cozia alludes to the new anti-Ottoman policy of Wallachia. he political moment coincides with the completion of the paintings in the inirmary chapel, at which the Prince joined as donor alongside hieromonk Maxim, the presumptive founder of the chapel. he presence of spatharios Stroe of Orboeşti’s portrait in the narthex helps to date the paintings between the months of May (when Stroe became spatharios) and August of the year 1543 (the end of the Byzantine year 7051, found in the dedicatory inscription). Pseudo-Methodius’ Apocalypse had never circulated in Wallachia. he textual inspiration source for the paintings seems to come from Mount Athos, where the text was still copied during the 15th century. Hieromonk Maxim, mentioned in the dedicatory inscription as “magister”, had a superior theological training, obtained most likely on Mount Athos. he iconographic program inspired by the Pseudo-Methodian text must have had him as the main author. 12 Our study case brings a light on the reception and reinterpretation of the Byzantine apocalyptic literature during the 16th century. It pictures the mentalities and the atmosphere of the period, imbued with eschatology and with aspirations that aimed at putting an end to the rule of the Ottoman Empire in Europe. It was also the time when the Emperor Leo the Wise’s Oracle, a text largely inluenced by Pseudo-Methodius, was illustrated by painter Giorgios Klontzas, following the victory of the Holy League at Lepanto. 13