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https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55207#0041
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ICONOGRAPHY 31
of the Novgorod School [91]. There, however, Christ is never represented
full length; the treatment of the beard is essentially Russian, but the piercing
gaze directed aslant and the raised eyebrows are preserved. Moreover, the
icon bears the significant title—‘the Saviour of the angry eye’.
Yet this is but a reminiscence. Christ of the Zoe Panel, while representing a
typical variant of the iconography of the eleventh to twelfth centuries, is
chronologically at the beginning of the series. Most surviving examples, as
we have seen, are distributed on the periphery of the empire, but the creation
of this image must be in this way attributed to Constantinople.
Now7 the figure of the Virgin with the Child in the John Panel is of a much
earlier type. Various representations—designated sometimes by the title Kyrio-
tissa—spring probably from a venerated icon in the Church of 0EOTOKOY TA
KYPOY, founded during the reign of Theodosius II by the Prefect of Con-
stantinople Kyros Constantine [92]. The earliest example known to us emerges
from the sixth century on a lead seal of Mauricios Tiberios [93]. In the twelfth
century the type appears on the coinage of Manuel I Comnenos [94], and the
image of the Kyriotissa is found in paintings from the eighth century on to
post-Byzantine times [95].
It is possible that the popularity of this icon was due largely to a fervent
imperial devotion. On a seal of the seventh century four emperors—probably
Constantios II with his sons—are represented, as on the John Panel, around a
Virgin of the Kyriotissa type [96]. It has lately been suggested that, until the
time of the Isaurian Dynasty, this icon was considered a palladium of the
Byzantine emperors [97]. If this be true, the discovery of the mosaic in Haghia
Sophia tends to prove that it was held as an object of the same veneration as
late as the time of the Comneni.
In the faces of the Virgin and Child new elements are discernible which
the artists of the twelfth century imparted to the interpretation of an ancient
theme. The aquiline nose and heavy eyebrows of the Virgin are characteristic
of Oriental types introduced into the art of this period. The drawing of the
Child lacks the freshness and spontaneity of the tenth-century Christ in the
South-West Vestibule. He is here characterized by a round head, fleshy nose,
heavy jaw. A Christ Child of this type appears in the next reign on the coins
of Manuel I Comnenos [98] and in contemporary paintings [99], and further,
under the name of Emmanuel, this image obtained a wide popularity which it
has held to the present day in religious art of the Orthodox Eastern Church [100].
The Panaghia and the Child of the John Panel and the Christ in the Zoe
Panel are characterized by an iconic rigidity resulting from a sustained repetition
of forms.
of the Novgorod School [91]. There, however, Christ is never represented
full length; the treatment of the beard is essentially Russian, but the piercing
gaze directed aslant and the raised eyebrows are preserved. Moreover, the
icon bears the significant title—‘the Saviour of the angry eye’.
Yet this is but a reminiscence. Christ of the Zoe Panel, while representing a
typical variant of the iconography of the eleventh to twelfth centuries, is
chronologically at the beginning of the series. Most surviving examples, as
we have seen, are distributed on the periphery of the empire, but the creation
of this image must be in this way attributed to Constantinople.
Now7 the figure of the Virgin with the Child in the John Panel is of a much
earlier type. Various representations—designated sometimes by the title Kyrio-
tissa—spring probably from a venerated icon in the Church of 0EOTOKOY TA
KYPOY, founded during the reign of Theodosius II by the Prefect of Con-
stantinople Kyros Constantine [92]. The earliest example known to us emerges
from the sixth century on a lead seal of Mauricios Tiberios [93]. In the twelfth
century the type appears on the coinage of Manuel I Comnenos [94], and the
image of the Kyriotissa is found in paintings from the eighth century on to
post-Byzantine times [95].
It is possible that the popularity of this icon was due largely to a fervent
imperial devotion. On a seal of the seventh century four emperors—probably
Constantios II with his sons—are represented, as on the John Panel, around a
Virgin of the Kyriotissa type [96]. It has lately been suggested that, until the
time of the Isaurian Dynasty, this icon was considered a palladium of the
Byzantine emperors [97]. If this be true, the discovery of the mosaic in Haghia
Sophia tends to prove that it was held as an object of the same veneration as
late as the time of the Comneni.
In the faces of the Virgin and Child new elements are discernible which
the artists of the twelfth century imparted to the interpretation of an ancient
theme. The aquiline nose and heavy eyebrows of the Virgin are characteristic
of Oriental types introduced into the art of this period. The drawing of the
Child lacks the freshness and spontaneity of the tenth-century Christ in the
South-West Vestibule. He is here characterized by a round head, fleshy nose,
heavy jaw. A Christ Child of this type appears in the next reign on the coins
of Manuel I Comnenos [98] and in contemporary paintings [99], and further,
under the name of Emmanuel, this image obtained a wide popularity which it
has held to the present day in religious art of the Orthodox Eastern Church [100].
The Panaghia and the Child of the John Panel and the Christ in the Zoe
Panel are characterized by an iconic rigidity resulting from a sustained repetition
of forms.