DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27365#0060
48
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diptych, the liturgical significance of which was shown by H. Belting^ '. In the Akhtala
composition of the "Nativity " the Virgin lies next to the newborn Christ and, at the
same time, is present at the Crucifixion. This fresco recalls both the beginning and the
end of Christ's earthly life. The Incarnation and the Redemption are here shown as a
single image and an indivisible whole.
This latter formed an important theme in the Byzantine theology and iconography
of the ll-12th century. It was then that the iconographic types such as the "Virgin
Glycophilousa" would become widespread and that the "Lamentation" as a separate
composition would take shape^- In the new depictions of this idea, the Incarnation
and the Redemption were frequently so interwoven as to be quite inseparable. This
not only recalled the specific events of the salvation of mankind but also created the
image of a liturgical act: each element here has the fullness and completion of the
whole, and remembrance of the birth of Christ inevitably recalls thoughts of his death.
The theme of the unity of the Incarnation and the Redemption acquired particular
importance from the latter half of the 12th century onwards. The Constantinople
synod of 1156-7, as the first such council specially devoted to liturgical issues^, did
much to determine the importance of this theme and played an exceptional role in the
history of Byzantine theology. One of the four main dogmatic decrees of this synod
which was later included in the Synodikon of the Orthodox church was directed
against the theory of Soterichus Panteugenes. The latter put forward the idea that
fallen man achieved a dual reconciliation with God, first with God the Son through the
Incarnation and then, through the Redemption, with God the Father. This was a very
popular theory in 12th-century Roman Catholic theology and so a polemic against it
was of major importance. In its synodal decree the Byzantine church asserted the truth
of the ancient proposition that mankind's reconciliation with God was indivisible, and
supported this statement with quotations from the Holy Fathers. It particularly
stressed that the Incarnation (Nativity) and the Redemption (Crucifixion) were
inseparably one in the ekoHomdz of salvation.
This topical theological idea was directly reflected in the unusual treatment of the
famous "Lamentation" from the murals of St Panteleimon at Nerezi (1164): one of the
participants in the discussions commissioned the paintings soon after the synod ended.
There a dead Christ lay between the legs of the Virgin^ who presses her self-
sacrificing Son to the womb which gave Him birth. This composition expresses the
unity of the Incarnation and the Redemption in a sensually sharp and dramatically
passionate form.
Betting, "An Image", pp. 7-8.
S- The new interpretation of Mariologicat themes is studied in O.E. Etingof, "New Stytistic Trends
and Ideas in Byzantine Fainting of the 12th Century" (Ph D. Dissertation, Moscow University, 1987),
pp. 67-116. On the Lamentation in Byzantine art, see Maguire,zlrf and Eloquence, pp. 101-108.
53 See Cheremukhin, "The Constantinopolitan Synod", pp. 87-109.
54 This specificity is analysed in: Maguire, vdrt and Efoqnence, p. 102; O.E. Etingof. "Byzantine
Iconography of the Lamentation and the Ancient Myth of Fertihty as Satvation", Z/nzn nn/o v and'cAncrd
(The Fates of Myths in Antiquity), Pt. I, Moscow, 1988, p. 257.
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diptych, the liturgical significance of which was shown by H. Belting^ '. In the Akhtala
composition of the "Nativity " the Virgin lies next to the newborn Christ and, at the
same time, is present at the Crucifixion. This fresco recalls both the beginning and the
end of Christ's earthly life. The Incarnation and the Redemption are here shown as a
single image and an indivisible whole.
This latter formed an important theme in the Byzantine theology and iconography
of the ll-12th century. It was then that the iconographic types such as the "Virgin
Glycophilousa" would become widespread and that the "Lamentation" as a separate
composition would take shape^- In the new depictions of this idea, the Incarnation
and the Redemption were frequently so interwoven as to be quite inseparable. This
not only recalled the specific events of the salvation of mankind but also created the
image of a liturgical act: each element here has the fullness and completion of the
whole, and remembrance of the birth of Christ inevitably recalls thoughts of his death.
The theme of the unity of the Incarnation and the Redemption acquired particular
importance from the latter half of the 12th century onwards. The Constantinople
synod of 1156-7, as the first such council specially devoted to liturgical issues^, did
much to determine the importance of this theme and played an exceptional role in the
history of Byzantine theology. One of the four main dogmatic decrees of this synod
which was later included in the Synodikon of the Orthodox church was directed
against the theory of Soterichus Panteugenes. The latter put forward the idea that
fallen man achieved a dual reconciliation with God, first with God the Son through the
Incarnation and then, through the Redemption, with God the Father. This was a very
popular theory in 12th-century Roman Catholic theology and so a polemic against it
was of major importance. In its synodal decree the Byzantine church asserted the truth
of the ancient proposition that mankind's reconciliation with God was indivisible, and
supported this statement with quotations from the Holy Fathers. It particularly
stressed that the Incarnation (Nativity) and the Redemption (Crucifixion) were
inseparably one in the ekoHomdz of salvation.
This topical theological idea was directly reflected in the unusual treatment of the
famous "Lamentation" from the murals of St Panteleimon at Nerezi (1164): one of the
participants in the discussions commissioned the paintings soon after the synod ended.
There a dead Christ lay between the legs of the Virgin^ who presses her self-
sacrificing Son to the womb which gave Him birth. This composition expresses the
unity of the Incarnation and the Redemption in a sensually sharp and dramatically
passionate form.
Betting, "An Image", pp. 7-8.
S- The new interpretation of Mariologicat themes is studied in O.E. Etingof, "New Stytistic Trends
and Ideas in Byzantine Fainting of the 12th Century" (Ph D. Dissertation, Moscow University, 1987),
pp. 67-116. On the Lamentation in Byzantine art, see Maguire,zlrf and Eloquence, pp. 101-108.
53 See Cheremukhin, "The Constantinopolitan Synod", pp. 87-109.
54 This specificity is analysed in: Maguire, vdrt and Efoqnence, p. 102; O.E. Etingof. "Byzantine
Iconography of the Lamentation and the Ancient Myth of Fertihty as Satvation", Z/nzn nn/o v and'cAncrd
(The Fates of Myths in Antiquity), Pt. I, Moscow, 1988, p. 257.