SESSION OF FREE COMMUNICATIONS New Feasts, New Sermons: The Cult of Mary on the Eve of Iconoclasm, in Byzantium and Beyond Convenors: Beatrice Daskas (Humboldt Stiftung, Institut für Byzantinistik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)​ Francesca Dell’Acqua (Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman, and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham) This proposed session aims to explore theological connections between Rome and Byzantium on the eve of Iconoclasm by highlighting both the textual tradition (especially homilies) and the accompanying iconographical developments. By the end of the 6th century, the two major feasts of the Hypapantē (i.e. the ‘meeting’, the Presentation of Christ to Symeon) and of the Koimēsis (or Dormitio) of the Virgin were already a part of the liturgical calendar of Constantinople. The Hypapantē was introduced under Justinian in 542, while the Koimēsis began to be celebrated a few decades later, during the reign of Maurice (582–602). Additionally, this is the time when, according to archaeology, the church at the Virgin’s burial site in Jerusalem (i.e. in Gethsemane) was rebuilt. In Rome, it was under the Greek-Palestinian pope Theodore I (642–49) that the celebration of the Hypapantē was established, with the Latin name of the Natalis Sancti Symeonis, and the Assumption. The Natalis Sancti Symeonis soon metamorphosed into the Purificatio Sanctae Mariae, apparently to add emphasis to the role of the Mother of God in the feast (i.e., her offering a sacrifice of purification for having been a woman in child-bed, as prescribed by the Mosaic Law). By the end of the 7th century in Rome, four Marian feasts are attested: the Purificatio Sanctae Mariae (February 2), the Annunciation (March 25), the Assumption (August 15), and the Nativity of the Virgin (September 8). To complement the new calendars in both Constantinople and Rome, there appeared an increasing number of homilies commemorating these recently formalized feasts. However, it is only from the 8th century onwards that systematic collections of Marian sermons began to be produced in the West. The earliest extant Latin homilies on the Hypapantē are those by Bede (†735) and by Ambrosius Autpertus (†784), while on the Koimēsis there is one by Autpertus. The latter author appears to draw inspiration directly from the Byzantine tradition, so much so, in fact, that numerous parallels of exegesis and imagery surrounding these same feasts can be found among the works of Andrew of Crete, Germanos of Constantinople, and John of Damascus. The Byzantine homilies, in turn, rely upon long-standing eastern hymnographic and homiletic traditions about the Virgin (e.g., in Sophronius of Jerusalem and Maximus the Confessor in the seventh century, but extending back to Romanos the Melode in the sixth, and Ephrem the Syrian in the fourth). New Feasts, New Sermons: The Cult of Mary on the Eve of Iconoclasm, in Byzantium and Beyond Convenors: Beatrice Daskas (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Institut für Byzantinistik) Francesca Dell’Acqua (Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman, and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham) Speakers Ernesto Sergio Mainoldi ​(Università degli studi di Milano)​ The Introduction of Marian Feasts in Byzantium Mary B. Cunningham (University of Nottingham) From Palestine to Constantinople: Seventh- and Eighth-Century Greek Homilies on the Dormition     Maria Lidova (British Museum/Oxford University) The Chalkoprateia Image of the Annunciation and Material Evidence for a Lost Iconography Beatrice Daskas (Humboldt Stiftung, Institut für Byzantinistik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) The Akathist Hymn in the Early Medieval West Diego Ianiro (Università di Salerno) “Credere virginem in corde per fidem.” Images of Mary in the Libri Carolini Natalia Teteriatnikov ​(independent scholar, Washington DC) On the Iconography of the Hypapante in Byzantine Art   Francesca Dell’Acqua (Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman, and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham) On the Iconography of the Hypapante in Western Art (an the Earliest Latin Homilies on the Feast) Abstracts Ernesto Sergio Mainoldi ​(Università degli studi di Milano)​ The Introduction of Marian Feasts in Byzantium The introduction of Marian feasts in the Byzantine liturgical calendar was planned according to the imperial project to promote the capital city as the Theotokoupolis. During the 5th and the 6th century Constantinople became gradually the centre of the cult of the Virgin, through the transfer into the capital of her relics, the development of the liturgical cult, and the insertion of new feasts in the liturgical calendar. Justinian took on this project, inaugurated by his predecessor Elia Pulcheria, and brought it to its almost definitive output. His vision of the role of Constantinople not only as the political guide of the empire, but also as the leading centre of the orthodoxy in the whole ekoumene, was destined to find in the cult of the Virgin a fundamental support. The development of the liturgical cult was also related to the reconstruction and embellishment of the Marian shrines already venerated in the Polis. The veneration of the vestments of the Virgin was also conceived to orient the providential and protecting intercession of the Virgin as following the geographical axis Jerusalem-Constantinople. The New feasts, celebrating the most important events in the life of Mary (the Presentation in the Temple, the Dormition etc.), were also accompanied by the construction of new Churches dedicated to these events, and were intended to fix a definitive hagiographical version of the life of the mother of God after the Crucifixion. Aim of this paper will be the reconstruction of the historical outline of the series of the Marian feast in the Byzantine liturgical cycle, especially in regards to their origins and theological definition. Mary B. Cunningham (University of Nottingham) From Palestine to Constantinople: Seventh- and Eighth-Century Greek Homilies on the Dormition    This paper will examine the development of the Greek homiletic tradition surrounding the feast of the Virgin’s dormition and assumption into heaven, which was celebrated in Palestine in the fifth century but added, by the late sixth and middle of the seventh centuries, to the Constantinopolitan and Roman liturgical calendars, respectively. Basing their teaching on the apocryphal ‘Palm of the Tree of Life’ version of the dormition narrative, preachers explored the doctrinal and devotional implications of the legend. The Palestinian writers, including Theoteknos of Livias and John of Damascus, linked their praise of the Virgin with physical landmarks in Jerusalem, including the house (containing the ‘upper room’ mentioned in Acts 1:13) at Sion and the tomb at Gethsemane. The focus for all early Byzantine preachers, however, remained the mysterious disappearance of the Virgin Mary’s body from her tomb and the nature of her afterlife in heaven. The surviving homilies reveal differences in their theological and pastoral interpretation of these events, which reflect not only the various geographical backgrounds in which they were composed, but also some diachronic development between the early seventh and mid-eighth centuries. Maria Lidova (British Museum/Oxford University) The Chalkoprateia Image of the Annunciation and Material Evidence for a Lost Iconography The Chalkoprateia church of Constantinople is known to have been one of the main Marian shrines in the city. Built most probably in the fifth century, it was decorated and renovated on several occasions in the course of its history. At the time of Justin II (565–78) the wall decoration of the church is said to have been expanded and two scenes were added to the original program representing the feasts, one if which, that of the Annunciation, would be traditionally celebrated in this basilica. Information on the Chalkoprateia image is provided in a famous ninth-century account of a miracle that happened to a boy, Elias, who was saved from death by the Virgin after he had fallen into a well. According to this source, the Chalkoprateia image was marked by the presence of an image of the Pre-Incarnate Lord being held by the Mother of God. Cyril Mango who studied this text in his classic article on “The Chalkoprateia Annunciation”, states that the only artistic equivalent of this scene known to him in Byzantine art is found in a couple of unusual twelfth-century representations of the Annunciation. Without questioning the validity of this association, this paper attempts to expand the range of material artifacts that can be considered in relation to the Chalkoprateia image. I intend to discuss a number of very small Late Antique objects that clearly indicate the existence of an early Byzantine Marian iconography. These images, to my knowledge, have not yet received scholarly attention or been included in the indices of Christian art. Beatrice Daskas (Humboldt Stiftung, Institut für Byzantinistik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) The Akathist Hymn in the Early Medieval West The aim of the present communication is to offer insights into the early reception of the Akathist hymn in the early medieval West. The evidence provided by early Latin homilists suggests that the imagery of this hymn was already circulating into specific western milieux, well before its alleged translation into Latin by the Bishop of Venice Christopher around AD 800. In this perspective, taking into account the hints offered by the Marian homilies of Ambrosius Autpertus (†784), monk and briefly abbot of the Benedictine monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno in central Italy, I will discuss the role played by Rome in conveying the eastern hymnographic and homiletic tradition about Mary to the West in the period of the “Greek Papacy” (678–752). Diego Ianiro (Università di Salerno) “Credere virginem in corde per fidem.” Images of Mary in the Libri Carolini    During the sixth session of the Second Nicene Council, the image of the Virgin holding the Christ child was taken as a visual evidence of the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son (Is 7, 14). For Byzantine theologians such a depicted prophecy could be misunderstood only by ignorant people; the learned ones, instead, should have to venerate and kiss it in order to be worthy of it. This statement is comprehensively commented in chapter IV, 21 of the Libri Carolini: as the prophecy is a matter of faith that cannot be seen but only believed; so the mysterium of virginity needs to be trusted “by faith in the heart.” Therefore, according to the Libri Carolini, the mystery of Mary cannot be seen or understood in pictures, and for the same reason adoring any image of the Virgin is a senseless act. This is the starting point for an enquiry on the representation of the Virgin in the eyes of Carolingian theologians, who seem to display a poor knowledge of – or a lack of interest in – the eastern Marian tradition. Natalia Teteriatnikov ​(indipendent scholar, Washington DC) On the Iconography of the Hypapante in Byzantine Art   The iconography of Hypapante from Antiquity till the Renaissance has been surveyed by Dorothy Shorr. Henry Maguire, on the other hand, focused on the depictions of the Christ Child in the hands of Symeon in the Middle and Late Byzantine periods which he proposed is based on homiletic literature. Yet the changes of iconography of Hypapante in late Antiquity and after Iconoclasm in Byzantium were not clearly defined and explained, which I intend to do here by using the contemporary homiletic literature and liturgy. Originally, the Hypapante (meeting) was an important but minor feast, which was a part of the liturgical calendar in Jerusalem already in the fourth century. Images of Hypapante for this period are rare. In ca. 542, emperor Justinian upgraded the status of the feast as one of the twelve major feasts celebrated (2 February) throughout the Byzantine Empire. One mosaic image of Hypapante is found in Constantinople, the mosaic icon of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple from the Kalenderhane, Constantinople (third quarter of the sixth century) shows only Mary presenting the Christ Child to Symeon. The kontakion Romanos the Melodist (sixth century) wrote for the feast and read in the Hagia Sophia, also focuses on Mary holding the Christ Child and Symeon. It therefore seems that the author of the Kalenderhane image was familiar with the kontakion and followed his model for constructing an image. During the eighth and ninth centuries the depiction of the scene underwent further changes; several images show the scene at the altar, such as the enameled cross of Pope Paschal I (817 – 24) from Museo Sacro, Vatican, the ninth-century cross from Pliska, and the mid-ninth-century Khludov Psalter, Moscow, Historical Museum, fol. 163v. As Henry Maguire has suggested, some late ninth-century images of Hypapante already show the Christ Child held by Symeon, an iconographic feature which was often depicted in the Middle and Late Byzantine art. Nonetheless from the mid-ninth century on the scene of Hypapante was always depicted at the altar, sometimes placed under a ciborium. By presenting an altar under ciborium, the image of the temple is transformed into a sanctuary of a contemporary church familiar to worshipers. The altar is described in the homilies of Patriarch Germanos of Constantinople († 733), Joseph the Hymnographer († 886), and George of Nicomedia (second half of ninth century), which were probably the sources for a new iconographic type of Hypapante in the Middle and late Byzantine period. Francesca Dell’Acqua (Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman, and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham) On the Iconography of the Hypapante in Western Art (an the Earliest Latin Homilies on the Feast) The celebration of the Presentation in the Temple of the newborn Christ recalled by the Gospel of Luke (2, 22–39) is first recorded in Jerusalem by the late fourth century, then in Constantinople, and by the seventh century in Rome at the latest. Involving the urban crowd, the candle-lit procession which re-enacted the arrival of the Holy Family in Jerusalem is recalled by the earliest original Latin homilies composed for the feast: those of Bede and Ambrosius Autpertus. The latter was an eye-witness of the celebration. Because of the many themes involved in the event – the presentation of the newborn in the Temple, the purification of the mother from giving birth, the prophecy of Symeon, the death of Symeon after recognizing the Christ-Light as the Saviour – the Presentation in the Temple became the object of different interpretations, as attested by texts and visual arts. As will be demonstrated, these various interpretations reflected substantial changes in the religious mentality, which were often a consequence of major doctrinal controversies tainted by international political tensions, especially between the seventh and the ninth centuries. In a scene that is absent in the earliest representations of the event, an altar appears below Christ Child while Mary hands him to Symeon in the early ninth century. This will be explained through reference to the emphasis placed on the Incarnation and the sacrifice of Christ by the on-going theological discourse, and by the homilies of Bede and Autpertus on the feast in particular. Email addresses of convenors, respondent, speakers: Cunningham mbcunningham.corran@btinternet.com Daskas b.daskas@gmail.com Dell’Acqua F.Dellacqua@bham.ac.uk Ianiro ianiro@gmail.com Lidova maria.lidova@wolfson.ox.ac.uk Mainoldi emainoldi@tiscali.it Teteriatnikov nteteriatnikov@yahoo.com