Byzantine Mosaics and Frescoes of the 9th – 14th c. (pp.159-172); Book Miniatures (pp.179-184)
Byzantine Mosaics and Frescoes.
After the persecution of iconodules and holy images, iconography flourished. An example from the 9th c. in the Hagia Sophia Church in Thessalonica shows the Ascension. Christ wears a blue Hellenic himation (mantle), He gestures with a blessing, and He conveys “an expression of easy concentration” and this icon impresses on us “the sensation of presence.” A recurring and central theme of iconography types and subjects include the Ascension, the Annunciation, Christ Pantocrater (Almighty), the Theotokos Orans (Praying) and the Theotokos with Christ. Other scenes that are not found in the Gospel are taken from liturgical texts. The saints and hierarchy are depicted by rank and identified by their vestments. These iconographic scenes center our universe on Christ and the Theotokos. That source of life radiates out into the saints and creation, and that message is seen inside church frescoes and mosaics. Christ Pantocrater is an icon that portrays “the presence of the heavenly power in the life of man.” These icons not only taught the Holy Scriptures visually, but they also mainly focused on the liturgical calendar and the feast days of the Church, rather than “the sequence of the Gospels.”
Byzantine iconography has roots in the Orthodox temples of the West. Some of the earliest frescoes are preserved at Castelseprio in northwestern Italy’s Lombardy region. From the 12th – 13th c., Italy’s Byzantine mosaics flourished in places such as Cefalù, Monreale, Palermo, Venice, and Rome. The Ravenna Exarchate also formed an enclave of Byzantine Orthodoxy in the Italian peninsula as well as the southern territories called Magna Graecia in ancient times. Metropolitan Hilarion comments that Latin Christianity coexisted harmoniously here in Italy with Byzantine iconography and theology. The mosaics of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice from the 11th – 14th c., for example, were made by Greeks and were also modeled after the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Orthodox iconography in a variety of places such as Kosovo, Macedonia, Cyprus, Italy, or Serbia, all share a common feature: that Christ is placed in the center of all things. The canonical criteria of the Church for making icons were also followed in these diverse places.
Book Miniatures.
Although most of the earliest icons are frescoes and mosaics, icons can also be made from wood painted panels, metal work, bas-reliefs, embroidered cloth, and manuscript illuminations. Book miniatures are manuscripts that are illumined with artwork, drawings, and decorations of religious themes. The holy scriptures and patristic texts could be illustrated, unlike icons, and not necessarily tied to liturgical calendars. In this way, these artistic codices could be original in iconographic content by exploring new themes. A few examples of miniatures occur in different languages and alphabets for reading the scriptures. The 9th c. Vienna Boniface Codex (Codex Vindobonensis 751) in Carolingian miniscule script, and these styled letters were also used to write Jerome’s Vulgate Bible. The 6th c. Rabula Gospels were written in an east Syriac script known as Estrangela with notes below the text in red ink. Pictures of the Ascension, Pentecost and Crucifixion can be seen as well in this kind of textual tradition. Iconoclasts would have been likely these Christian codices along with mosaics, frescoes, and painted icons. There is also a mingling of “antique and Byzantine Christian” themes. For example, the psalmist David is pictured alongside a personification of “Melody” and “Night” in classical Greek clothing. Some “liturgical orations” on certain saints and their depiction are found in the Saint Catherine Monastery on Mount Sinai. Homilies, the Menologion, and hagiography also formed part of book miniatures. Icons, murals and illustrated books all work in different ways to “fight for souls,” the Orthodox faith, and all Orthodox Christians. To continue in this similar vein of thought, the next chapter discusses the history and style of Russian icons that also faced its own iconoclastic battles that extended into the modern age.