Papers
V.F. Lovato, ed., Isaak Komnenus Porphyrogenitus: Walking the Line in 12th-century Byzantium and beyond, Routledge, London, 2024, 101-123., 2024
Scholarly discussions on the flourishing book culture of the Komnenian era in general, and the re... more Scholarly discussions on the flourishing book culture of the Komnenian era in general, and the reigns of John II and Manuel I in particular, have long been dominated by the notion of an alleged metropolitan atelier, the Kokkinobaphos workshop. Among the manuscripts assigned to this workshop only one provides evidence of some connection with emperor John II, while others were commissioned by different patrons from the Komnenian aristocracy. The sebastokratōr Isaac himself commissioned this particular artist at least twice.
According to scholarly consensus, medieval illustrated manuscripts were produced in a stable environment, shaped by the common habits of a monastic community where scribes, miniaturists and illuminators remained fixed and immovable, fastened to tradition and consecrated models. Challenging this widespread assumption, the present chapter proposes an alternative interpretation, based on the possibility that twelfth-century Constantinople hosted itinerant artists, working for and within a circle of like-minded patrons, sharing similar tastes and ideologies. This view is corroborated by recent scholarship highlighting the mobility of twelfth-century Constantinopolitan intelligentsia. In an attempt to test this hypothesis, this chapter relies on the case study of the so-called Kokkinobaphos master to explore the idea of an independent artist operating within a network of horizontal and synchronic relationships and ad hoc circumstances. This, in turn, will allow to re-conceptualize and re-interpret Komnenian book production and aristocratic tastes.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , April 2024 , pp. 66 - 81, 2024
Codex Atheniensis 211 is the earliest surviving illustrated Chrysostomic anthology. Its unique an... more Codex Atheniensis 211 is the earliest surviving illustrated Chrysostomic anthology. Its unique and sophisticated illustration still puzzles and fascinates scholars. The relative chronology of the manuscript fluctuates between the end of the ninth century and the first half of the tenth, while its provenance remains to this day unspecified. In an attempt to illuminate the circumstances of its creation, this study engages with the examination of a unique homily and its illustration. In my view, the people responsible for the selection of the sermon and the design of its illustration conceived it as a meaningful re-contextualization of the homily's original delivery; the historical background of fifth-century Constantinople served as a springboard for the articulation of an eloquent visual comment on current public issues in the Byzantine capital.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
My point of departure is a tenth-century Byzantine ivory plaque of the Crucifixion housed in the ... more My point of departure is a tenth-century Byzantine ivory plaque of the Crucifixion housed in the medieval collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Provided that this petite icon of private devotion is viewed from a distance, we cannot escape the impression of an ubiquitous holy face emerging from the shadows of the fleshed out figures. My intention here is twofold. Primarily I wish to demonstrate that the elusive face of dead Christ on the Metropolitan Crucifixion ivory was a meaningful cryptomorph, depending for its deciphering and visuality upon the responsive gaze of the medieval viewer. Secondly and according to my understanding, this hidden portrait was meant as a mental indirect reflection and an alternative visual interpretation of the renowned acheiropoietos icon/touch-relic of Christ’s face – the Image of Edessa, better known as the Mandylion – that arrived in Constantinople in 944.
Keywords
Crucifixion, ivory, Macedonian renaissance, Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, cryptomorph, acheiropoietos, relic, Mandylion, visuality, gaze
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Scriptorium, 2007
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Studies in Church History, 2004
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Forthcoming
Word & Image
My paper centers upon a richly illustrated Byzantine narrative of the middle of the twelfth centu... more My paper centers upon a richly illustrated Byzantine narrative of the middle of the twelfth century, Vaticanus graecus 1162, containing a lengthy account of Mary’s early life in the guise of six homilies composed by the monk Iakovos of the Kokkinobaphou monastery. My aim here is to venture an interpretative approach of this particular illustrated narrative along the line of “The Byzantine Performative Turn”. More precisely, I try to demonstrate that performativity is pertinent to both constituents of the
book the verbal and the visual based on a discussion of the visual enactment of Adam’s lament. Finally, I attempt to recreate a hypothetical setting for the performance of the book as such.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Reviews
Art History, 2010
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Historein, 2015
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Art History, 2010
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
LECTURES, PRESENTATIONS AND CONFERENCE PROGRAMS
A day Symposium dedicated to Skylitzes Matritensis
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
According to scholarly consensus, medieval illustrated manuscripts were produced in a stable environment, shaped by the common habits of a monastic community where scribes, miniaturists and illuminators remained fixed and immovable, fastened to tradition and consecrated models. Challenging this widespread assumption, the present chapter proposes an alternative interpretation, based on the possibility that twelfth-century Constantinople hosted itinerant artists, working for and within a circle of like-minded patrons, sharing similar tastes and ideologies. This view is corroborated by recent scholarship highlighting the mobility of twelfth-century Constantinopolitan intelligentsia. In an attempt to test this hypothesis, this chapter relies on the case study of the so-called Kokkinobaphos master to explore the idea of an independent artist operating within a network of horizontal and synchronic relationships and ad hoc circumstances. This, in turn, will allow to re-conceptualize and re-interpret Komnenian book production and aristocratic tastes.
Keywords
Crucifixion, ivory, Macedonian renaissance, Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, cryptomorph, acheiropoietos, relic, Mandylion, visuality, gaze
book the verbal and the visual based on a discussion of the visual enactment of Adam’s lament. Finally, I attempt to recreate a hypothetical setting for the performance of the book as such.
According to scholarly consensus, medieval illustrated manuscripts were produced in a stable environment, shaped by the common habits of a monastic community where scribes, miniaturists and illuminators remained fixed and immovable, fastened to tradition and consecrated models. Challenging this widespread assumption, the present chapter proposes an alternative interpretation, based on the possibility that twelfth-century Constantinople hosted itinerant artists, working for and within a circle of like-minded patrons, sharing similar tastes and ideologies. This view is corroborated by recent scholarship highlighting the mobility of twelfth-century Constantinopolitan intelligentsia. In an attempt to test this hypothesis, this chapter relies on the case study of the so-called Kokkinobaphos master to explore the idea of an independent artist operating within a network of horizontal and synchronic relationships and ad hoc circumstances. This, in turn, will allow to re-conceptualize and re-interpret Komnenian book production and aristocratic tastes.
Keywords
Crucifixion, ivory, Macedonian renaissance, Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, cryptomorph, acheiropoietos, relic, Mandylion, visuality, gaze
book the verbal and the visual based on a discussion of the visual enactment of Adam’s lament. Finally, I attempt to recreate a hypothetical setting for the performance of the book as such.