Description
Book SynopsisChristopher Walter, in his research on Byzantine art, has been particularly concerned by the significative value of iconography. The Byzantines, perhaps more than other cultural groups, were aware that pictures could "speak". The form and content of their "message" is explored here in a series of twenty-six articles, together with the use to which this "message" could be put.
The first group of six articles is concerned with manuscript illustration. The second group of six articles shows how pictures could be used for ecclesiological purposes, not only to set out the universal mission of the Church. and its relations with political authorities, but also the relations of a local Church with the ensemble. A third group of three articles is concerned with the use of pictures in order to instruct the faithful on the raison d'être of the liturgy. The fourth group of seven articles studies the use of pictures to make better known to the populace the role of saints in the life of terrestrial men. Finally two articles document the use of iconography on apotropaic objects like amulets. In an epilogue the author brings up to date the bibliography of the subjects studied in these articles.
Table of ContentsPreface
Les dessins carolingiens dans un manuscrit de Verceil
Un commentaire enluminé des homélies de Grégoire de Nazianze
The Triumph of Saint Peter in the Church of Saint Clement at Ohrid and the iconography of the Triumph of the Martyrs
The Portrait of Jakov of Serres in Londin Additional 39629
The Date and Content of the Dionysiou Lectionary
The Icon and the Image of Christ
The Second Council of Nicaea and Byzantine Tradition
Icons of the First Council of Nicaea
Political Imagery: Osmosis Between East and West
A Problem Picture of the Emperor John VIII and the Patriarch Joseph
The Significance of the Portrait of Danilo II as Donor in his Church of the Bogorodica
Portraits of Serbian Bishops Appointed on Byzantine Territory
The Christ Child on the Altar in the Radoslav Narthex: a Learned or a Popular Theme?
A New Look at the Sanctuary Barrier
The Byzantine Sanctuary - a Word List
The Iconography of the Prophet Habakkuk
The Invention of Saint John the Baptist's Head in the Wall-Calendar at Graanica
Salome and the Head of Saint John the Baptist
The Abgar Cycle at Matei
Saint Clement in the Chersonese and the Iconography of his Miracle
Saints of Second Iconoclasm in the Madrid Scylitzes
The Portrait of Saint Paraskeve
The Intaglio of Solomon in the Benaki Museum and the Origins of the Iconography of Warrior Saints
Some Unpublished Intaglios of Solomon in the British Museum
Additional Notes
Index
