DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27365#0049
,4LTAR A/AST
37
The poses and gestures of the holy bishops aiso reveal little variation. In most
cases they are either blessing with their right hands and holding a closed Gospel in
their left, or holding a book in front of them with both hands. Only two depictions
stand out strikingly from this general pattern: Basil the Great and John Chrysostom
between the windows in the centre of the second tier. St Basil appears holding an open
book containing a Greek inscription while St John grasps a large cross in his right
hand. If it is quite traditional in Byzantine art for the creators of the liturgy to be
found at the centre of the tier of holy bishops, the depictions of the open book and the
cross are quite uncommon^. Let us try to reconstruct what those who devised the
iconographic programme had in mind.
The inscription on the book St Basil is holding "O Q O O HMON TON
OVPANION APTHN TPO<&'' can be identified. These are the opening words of the
Prayer of Offering that the priest reads at the beginning of the liturgy when
consecrating the bread and wine: "O God, our God, bread from Heaven, ..." This
invocation was quite often reproduced on the liturgical scrolls in the "Officiating
Bishops", a composition that became widespread from the end of the 11th century
onwards. In the sanctuary programmes it then began to replace the traditional frontal
depiction of the holy bishops^. By showing the bishops three-quarter face, their
heads bowed over open rolls bearing liturgical inscriptions, it was felt that the
officiating bishops offered a more vivid and relevant embodiment of the theological
conception that they were participants of the celestial liturgy being celebrated in
paradise. The frontal representation, however, was hallowed by tradition and retained
a definite attraction, probably because it was more solemn and clearly of a memorial
character. Since they shared a common symbolic meaning, both themes were
sometimes combined in one and the same mural. At times the bishops were shown
both frontally and three-quarters face in the same tier^. The Akhtala portrayal of St
Basil the Great provides an extremely rare example of the combination of two
iconographic treatments in a single image. By including words from the liturgical
prayer on the open book the deviser of the iconographic programme emphasised that
the saint was not merely being shown as a Father of the Christian Church but also as
a participant in the liturgy.
An analogous idea is expressed in the image of John Chrysostom. The dimensions
and distinctive form of the cross the saint is holding, with its upper transverse bar,
both suggest that this is a liturgical cross, not that of a martyr. It is this type of cross
that the Orthodox priest takes from the altar at the end of the liturgy and offers to the
44 For aft their rarity, these iconographic motifs are not unique in Byzantine art. For instance, the
cross in St. John Chrysostom's hand is found in the murais of Samari in Messenia (end of the 12th
century), which atso has a frontai image of the saint in the centre of the altar apse. See Skawron, A/hM/e
Byzantine Erarco, p. 189.
4-5 The inscriptions on the liturgical rolls are analysed in G. Babic & Chr. Walter, "The Inscriptions
upon Liturgical Rotles in Byzantine Apse Decoration". REB, 34 (1976), pp. 269-280.
45' This combination was planned for the Akhtala murals, as welt. The north bema wall preserves an
original plaster layer with preliminary drawings of the saints en face and in a three-quarter turn. The
idea changed in the process, and a new layer of plaster was applied, with only a frontal representation.
37
The poses and gestures of the holy bishops aiso reveal little variation. In most
cases they are either blessing with their right hands and holding a closed Gospel in
their left, or holding a book in front of them with both hands. Only two depictions
stand out strikingly from this general pattern: Basil the Great and John Chrysostom
between the windows in the centre of the second tier. St Basil appears holding an open
book containing a Greek inscription while St John grasps a large cross in his right
hand. If it is quite traditional in Byzantine art for the creators of the liturgy to be
found at the centre of the tier of holy bishops, the depictions of the open book and the
cross are quite uncommon^. Let us try to reconstruct what those who devised the
iconographic programme had in mind.
The inscription on the book St Basil is holding "O Q O O HMON TON
OVPANION APTHN TPO<&'' can be identified. These are the opening words of the
Prayer of Offering that the priest reads at the beginning of the liturgy when
consecrating the bread and wine: "O God, our God, bread from Heaven, ..." This
invocation was quite often reproduced on the liturgical scrolls in the "Officiating
Bishops", a composition that became widespread from the end of the 11th century
onwards. In the sanctuary programmes it then began to replace the traditional frontal
depiction of the holy bishops^. By showing the bishops three-quarter face, their
heads bowed over open rolls bearing liturgical inscriptions, it was felt that the
officiating bishops offered a more vivid and relevant embodiment of the theological
conception that they were participants of the celestial liturgy being celebrated in
paradise. The frontal representation, however, was hallowed by tradition and retained
a definite attraction, probably because it was more solemn and clearly of a memorial
character. Since they shared a common symbolic meaning, both themes were
sometimes combined in one and the same mural. At times the bishops were shown
both frontally and three-quarters face in the same tier^. The Akhtala portrayal of St
Basil the Great provides an extremely rare example of the combination of two
iconographic treatments in a single image. By including words from the liturgical
prayer on the open book the deviser of the iconographic programme emphasised that
the saint was not merely being shown as a Father of the Christian Church but also as
a participant in the liturgy.
An analogous idea is expressed in the image of John Chrysostom. The dimensions
and distinctive form of the cross the saint is holding, with its upper transverse bar,
both suggest that this is a liturgical cross, not that of a martyr. It is this type of cross
that the Orthodox priest takes from the altar at the end of the liturgy and offers to the
44 For aft their rarity, these iconographic motifs are not unique in Byzantine art. For instance, the
cross in St. John Chrysostom's hand is found in the murais of Samari in Messenia (end of the 12th
century), which atso has a frontai image of the saint in the centre of the altar apse. See Skawron, A/hM/e
Byzantine Erarco, p. 189.
4-5 The inscriptions on the liturgical rolls are analysed in G. Babic & Chr. Walter, "The Inscriptions
upon Liturgical Rotles in Byzantine Apse Decoration". REB, 34 (1976), pp. 269-280.
45' This combination was planned for the Akhtala murals, as welt. The north bema wall preserves an
original plaster layer with preliminary drawings of the saints en face and in a three-quarter turn. The
idea changed in the process, and a new layer of plaster was applied, with only a frontal representation.