Prolegomena to the Christian Images Not Made by Human Hands

Authors

  • Matej Gogola Institute of Social Medicine and Medical Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Sasinkova 2, 813 72 Bratislava, Slovakia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.08.07

Keywords:

Byzantine spiritual culture, Byzantine history, images not made by human hands, acheiropoietai

Abstract

Images not made by human hands (acheiropoietai, Gr. ἀχειροποίηταιι) played a significant role in Byzantine spiritual culture and history. This paper discusses the emergence and rise of the acheiropoietai, which represented a most important and unusual element in the Byzantine Empire. The author analyses the chronological ancestors of Christian images not made by human hands, i.e. the so-called diipetes (Gr. Διιπετής), and proceeds to demonstrate the disagreements on the topic among some of the Christian Church Fathers. The imagines imperiales, i.e. effigies of Roman emperors, constituted a significant factor in the process leading to the later veneration of images not made by human hands. The most famous of the latter is the image from Edessa, also known in historiography as Mandylion of Edessa.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Andreas Cretensis, De sanctarum imaginum veneratione, [in:] Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, vol. XCVII, ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris 1865, col. 1301–1304.
Google Scholar

Apophthegmata patrum, [in:] Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, vol. LXV, ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris 1864, col. 71–442.
Google Scholar

Basilius Magnus, Liber de spiritu sancto, [in:] Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, vol. XXXII, ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris 1886, col. 67–218.
Google Scholar

Cassius Dio, Historia Romana, vol. V, ed. L.A. Dindorf, Lipsiae 1865 [= Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana].
Google Scholar

Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De ceremoniis aulae Byzantinae, vol. I, ed. J.J. Reiske, Bonn 1929.
Google Scholar

Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris, trans. R. Potter, London 1814.
Google Scholar

Irenaeus, Contra haereses libri quinque, [in:] Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, vol. VII, ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris 1857, col. 433–1224.
Google Scholar

Joannes Damascenus, Contra imaginum calumniatores orationes tres, ed. B. Kotter, Berlin 1975 [= Patristische Texte und Studien, 17].
Google Scholar

Joannes Malalas, Chronographia, ed. L. Dindorfii, Bonnae 1831 [= Corpus scriptorum historiae Byzantinae].
Google Scholar

Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos, Historia ecclesiastica, XV–XVIII, [in:] Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, vol. CXLVII, ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris 1865, col. 9–448.
Google Scholar

Origo Constantini imperatoris sive Anonymi Valesiani pars prior, [in:] Chronica Minora, saec. IV, V, VI, VII, ed. T. Mommsen, Berolini 1892.
Google Scholar

Pausanias, Graeciae descriptio, vol. I, Lipsiae 1829.
Google Scholar

Plutarchos, Životopisy slávnych Grékov a Rimanov, vol. II, trans. D. Škoviera, P. Kuklica, Bratislava 2008.
Google Scholar

The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, trans. B. Ward, Kalamazoo 1984.
Google Scholar

Scriptores originum Constantinopolitanarum, rec. T. Preger, Lipsiae 1907.
Google Scholar

Severianus Gabalensis, De mundi creatione, [in:] Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, vol. LVI, ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris 1859, col. 429–500.
Google Scholar

Strabo, Geographica, rec. A. Meineke, Lipsiae 1877.
Google Scholar

Tacitus, Z dějin cisařskeho Řima. Dějiny, trans. A. Minařík, A. Hartmann, V. Bahník, Praha 1976.
Google Scholar

Tertullianus, De idolatria, ed. J.H. Waszink, J.C.M. van Winden, Leiden 1987 [= Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, 1].
Google Scholar

Theodoros Anagnostes, Kirchengeschichte, ed. G.C. Hansen, Berlin 1971 [= Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte, 54].
Google Scholar

Alexander P.J., Hypatius of Ephesus: A Note on Image Worship in the Sixth Century, “The Harvard Theological Review” 45, 1952, p. 177–184.
Google Scholar

The Art of the Byzantine Empire 312–1453, ed. C. Mango, Toronto–London 1986.
Google Scholar

Avenarius A., Byzantský ikonoklazmus, 726–843. Storočie zapasu o ikonu, Bratislava 1998.
Google Scholar

Avenarius A., Učenie Jána z Damašku o ikone: K problému stredovekého symbolizmu, “Historický časopis” 46, 1998, p. 79–93.
Google Scholar

Belting H., Bild und Kult. Eine Geschichte des Bildes vor dem Zeitalter der Kunst, München 1990.
Google Scholar

Belting H., In Search of Christ’s Body. Image or Imprint?, [in:] The Holy Face and the Paradox of Representation. Papers from a Colloquium Held at the Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome and the Villa Spelman, Florence, 1996, ed. H.L. Kessler, G. Wolf, Bologna 1998, p. 1–11.
Google Scholar

Bennet F., A Study of the WordΞόανον, “American Journal of Archaeology” 21, 1917, p. 8–21.
Google Scholar

Brubaker L., Conclusion: Image, Audience and Place: Interaction and Reproduction, [in:] The Sacred Image. East and West, ed. R. Ousterhout, L. Brubaker, Urbana 1995 [= Illinois Byzantine Studies, 4], p. 204–220.
Google Scholar

Brubaker L., The Sacred Image, [in:] The Sacred Image. East and West, ed. R. Ousterhout, L. Brubaker, Urbana 1995 [= Illinois Byzantine Studies, 4], p. 1–24.
Google Scholar

Brubaker L., Haldon J.F., Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era c. 680–850. A History, Cambridge 2011.
Google Scholar

Bugar I.M., Zacchaeus and Veneration of Images: Image of the Emperor – Image of a Saint, [in:] Studia Patristica, vol. XXXIV, ed. M. Wiles, E. Yarnold, P. Parvis, Louvain 2001, p. 11–22.
Google Scholar

Cameron A., The Language of Images: The Rise of Icons and Christian Representation, “Studies in Church History” 28, 1992, p. 1–42.
Google Scholar

Cormack R., Miraculous Icons in Byzantium and Their Powers, “Arte Cristiana” 76, 1988, p. 55–60.
Google Scholar

DéerJ., Der Globus des spätrömischen und des byzantinischen Kaisers. Symbol oder Insigne?, “Byzantinische Zeitschrift” 54, 1961, p. 53–85.
Google Scholar

Dobschütz E. von, Christusbilder. Untersuchungen zur christlichen Legende, Leipzig 1899 [= Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, 18].
Google Scholar

Eastmond A., Between Icon and Idol: The Uncertainty of Imperial Images, [in:] Icon and Word. The Power of Images in Byzantium, ed. A. Eastmond, L. James, Aldershot 2003, p. 73–85.
Google Scholar

Frankfurter D., Religion in Roman Egypt. Assimilation and Resistance, Princeton–Chichester 1998.
Google Scholar

Frisk H., Griechisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, vol. II, Heidelberg 1970.
Google Scholar

Gero S., Hypatius of Ephesus on Cult of Images, [in:] Christianity, Judaism and Other Graeco Roman Cults, ed. J. Neusner, M. Smith, Leiden 1975 [= Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity, 12], p. 208–216.
Google Scholar

Gogola M., Mandylion z Edessy. Rukou-nestvorený obraz a jeho miesto v byzantskom umení a duchovnej kultúre, Bratislava 2017.
Google Scholar

Gogola M., Narratio de imagine Edessena ako jeden zo základných prameňov v genéze legiend k dejinám edesského obrazu, [in:] Byzantinoslovaca V. Zborník k životnému jubileu Tatiany Štefanovičovej, Bratislava 2014, p. 181–191.
Google Scholar

Grabar А., Imperator v vizantijskom iskusstve, Moskva 2000.
Google Scholar

Gradel I., Emperor Worship and Roman Religion, Oxford 2002 [= Oxford Classical Monographs].
Google Scholar

Greek Papyri in the British Museum. Catalogue with Texts, vol. III, ed. F.G. Kenyon, H.I. Bell, Milano 1973.
Google Scholar

Gregory C.R., Textkritik des Neuen Testamentes, Leipzig 1900.
Google Scholar

Hachlili R., Ancient Jewish Art and Archeology in the Diaspora, Leiden 1998.
Google Scholar

Haldon J.F., Byzantium in the Seventh Century. The Transformation of a Culture, Cambridge 1990.
Google Scholar

Harl K.W., Sacrifice and Pagan Belief in Fifth- and Sixth-Century Byzantium, “Past and Present” 128, 1990, p. 7–27.
Google Scholar

Hošek R., Náboženství antického Řecka, Praha 2004.
Google Scholar

Hurbanič M., História a mýtus. Avarský útok na Konštantínopol roku 626 v legendách, Prešov 2010.
Google Scholar

Hurbanič M., Konstantinopol 626. Poslední bitva antiky, Praha 2016.
Google Scholar

Hurbanič M., Konštantínopol, tradícia avarského útoku z roku 626 a posvätné relikvie, “Slavica Slovaca” 44, 2009, p. 106–118.
Google Scholar

Jensen R.M., Face to Face. Portraits of the Divine in Early Christianity, Minneapolis 2005.
Google Scholar

Kaegi W.E., Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquest, Cambridge 1992.
Google Scholar

Kitzinger E., On Some Icons of the Seventh Century, [in:] Late Classical and Medieval Studies in Honor of Albert Mathias Friend, Jr., ed. K. Weitzmann, Princeton 1955, p. 132–150.
Google Scholar

Kitzinger E., The Cult of Images in the Age before Iconoclasm, “Dumbarton Oaks Papers” 8, 1954, p. 83–150.
Google Scholar

Kruk M.P., Mandylion, [in:] Encyklopedia Katolicka, vol. XI, ed. S. Wilk et al., Lublin 2006, p. 1135–1137.
Google Scholar

Kruk M.P., Sztuka w cesarstwie rzymskim w IV wieku, [in:] Świat rzymski w IV wieku, ed. P. Filipczak, R. Kosiński, Kraków 2015, p. 437–485.
Google Scholar

Kruse H., Studien zur offiziellen Geltung des Kaiserbildes im romischen Reiche, Paderborn 1934 [= Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des Altertums, 19.3].
Google Scholar

Ladner G.B., Images and Ideas in the Middle Ages. Selected Studies in History and Art, Roma 1983.
Google Scholar

Liddell H.G., Scott R., A Greek English Lexicon, Oxford 1883.
Google Scholar

Lidov A.M., Miracle-Working Icons of the Mother of God, [in:] Mother of God. Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine Art, ed. M. Vassilaki, Milan–London 2000, p. 47–57.
Google Scholar

Mitteis L., Wilcken U., Grundzüge und Chrestomathie der Papyruskunde, Hildesheim 1963.
Google Scholar

Noble T.F.X., Images, Iconoclasm, and the Carolingians, Philadelphia 2009.
Google Scholar

Papadopoulos J., Xoana e sphyrelata. Testimonianza delle fonti scritte, Roma 1980.
Google Scholar

Pentcheva B.V., Icons and Power. The Mother of God in Byzantium, University Park 2006.
Google Scholar

Sanday W., The Text of the Codex Rossanensis, [in:] Studia Biblica. Essays in Biblical Archeology and Criticism and Kindred Subjects, ed. S.R. Driver, W. Sanday, J. Wordsworth, Oxford 1885, p. 103–112.
Google Scholar

Sendler E., Ikona. Obraz neviditelneho, Olomouc 2011.
Google Scholar

Shaw I., Dějiny starověkého Egypta, trans. D. Feltová, Brno 2003.
Google Scholar

Stemberger G., Klasické židovství. Kultura a historie rabínské doby, Praha 2011.
Google Scholar

Trilling J., The Image Not Made by Hands and the Byzantine Way of Seeing, [in:] The Holy Face and the Paradox of Representation. Papers from a Colloquium Held at the Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome and the Villa Spelman, Florence, 1996, ed. H.L. Kessler, G. Wolf, Bologna 1998, p. 109–127.
Google Scholar

Wolf G., Salus Populi Romani. Die Geschichte römischer Kultbilder im Mittelalter, Weinheim 1990.
Google Scholar

Downloads

Published

2018-12-30

How to Cite

Gogola, M. (2018). Prolegomena to the Christian Images Not Made by Human Hands. Studia Ceranea, 8, 121–137. https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.08.07

Issue

Section

Articles