ICONOCLASTIC
CONTROVERSY
What was it about? What does it reveal?
Through historical context, we will consider its importance to
the Byzantine Empire.
Historical Context: What was it about the character of the
Byzantine Empire that made this crisis possible?
• Casearopapism
• What was it?
(Consider middle of page 167)
• Where did it originate?
• Rise of Islam
• Why would
this matter? (Top of page 167) Constantinople
is a city of 1 million, and needs much outside support.
• Other reasons?
• A fight for power
– between Emperor and church priests.
Who would win the idea?
Islamic Conquests and Byzantine Revival
• 7th
•
century Arab Muslim expansion
What allowed it to grow so quickly?
• Besieged
Byzantium 674-678, 717-718
(taking important sources of grain – and
placing pressure of the ideas of the empire.)
• Also
broke up large estates into themes
and re-energized peasant class with land.
•
The theme system originally helped
distribute land and generate numbers for the
military. Still, eventually generals of themes
become allied with local aristocrats
• Defense
made possible through use of
“greek fire” – what was this?
Orthodox Christianity
• Legacy of Classical Greece
• Greek replaces Latin after 6th
c. CE; language of New Testament
• Also influences the character of the faith – weaving in the philosophical
concepts the classical world employed
• Monasticism and Popular Piety
• Monasteries did not become centers
of learning, but asceticism.
• Influences the laity through devotion – and a search for the mystical
union with God – through meditation and contemplation.
ICONOCLASTIC
CONTROVERSY
What was it about? What does it reveal?
Through historical context, we will consider its importance to the
Byzantine Empire.
• The
Byzantine Empire displayed an intense
preoccupation with religion. This could be discovered
by reading the observations people of the time made
that include stories like the following:
• An
early Byzantine writer said that when he asked a baker
for the price of bread, the answer came back, “the Father is
greater than the Son,” and when he asked whether his bath
was ready, was told that, “the Son proceeds from nothing.”
• Imagine how that religious context could impact people in
times of dissention. Might it also provide a sense of mission
and confidence when people were in agreement?
Iconodule Chludov Psalter illustrates the line "They gave
me gall to eat; and when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to
drink" with a picture of a soldier offering Christ vinegar on
a sponge attached to a pole. John the Grammarian is
depicted rubbing out a painting of Christ with a similar
sponge attached to a pole.
What was the debate about?
Plaque with the Crucifixion and the Defeat of Hades,
mid-10th century
Byzantine; Probably made in Constantinople
Ivory; 5 x 3 1/2 in. (12.7 x 8.9 cm)
It was probably used as a personal devotional object in a private
setting.
Underneath the foot support are three Roman soldiers who are
playing dice for Christ's seamless robe (John 19:23–24). At the bottom
of the composition, Christ's cross pierces the belly of a reclining,
bearded male figure representing Hades, ruler of the Underworld,
abode of the dead in classical mythology.
The complementary inscription affirms "the cross implanted in the
stomach of Hades." The figures of the Virgin Mary and the Apostle
John stand on either side of the cross; the Virgin makes a rhetorical
gesture toward Christ, while the Apostle raises his hand to his face in
sorrow.
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.44)
What was the debate about?
• Images
Medallion from an Icon Frame, ca. 1100
This medallion with its Greek inscriptions
identifying the image as Jesus Christ…the
medallion may have been sent as a gift from
the Byzantine court to the neighboring
Christian state of Georgia.
Byzantine; From the Djumati Monastery,
Georgia (now Republic of Georgia); Made in
Constantinople
Cloisonné enamel, gold; Diam. 3 1/4 in. (8.3
cm)
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.678)
What is an icon?
• The
word “icon” is Greek for image.
• “The
icon is like a pair of spectacles which you put on to see
heaven. You’re drawn through this picture into heaven because
Orthodox Christianity believes very strongly that you and I
can meet the godhead, that we can almost become like gods.”
• D. MacCulloch, Professor of History at Oxford University
Consider these rules for the drawing of an icon…
• Number
one, before starting work make the sign of the
cross, pray in silence and pardon your enemies. Two, work
with care on every detail of your icon as if you were
working in front of the Lord himself… Nine, never
forget…the joy of giving the Saint the possibility to shine
through the icon, the joy of being in union with a Saint whose
face you are painting…
A few quotes to consider
• The Horos (Definition of Faith) at the Council of Hiera, 754 A.D
• “The divine nature is completely unchangeable and cannot be depicted
or represented in any medium whatsoever. The word Christ
means both God and Man, and an icon of Christ would therefore
have to be an image of God in the flesh of the Son of God. But this
is impossible. The artist would fall either into the heresy which
claims that the divine and human natures of Christ are separate or
into that which holds that there is only one nature of Christ.”
• This
is the position of a Iconoclast (breaker of
Images or icons)
St. Irene’s Church, in Istanbul – rebuilt during the Iconoclastic
Controversy…
What is
missing?
What is
included?
A few quotes to consider
•
Qunisextum Council (in Trullo), 692 A.D., ruling by Justinian II (685-695; 705711). A. Bryer and J. Herrin, Iconoclasm (Birmingham, 1977), p. 182, no. 15.
• “Now,
in order that perfection be represented before the eyes of all
people, even in paintings, we ordain that from now on Christ our
God, the Lamb who took upon Himself the sins of the world, be set
up, even in images according to His human character, instead of
the ancient Lamb. Through this figure we realize the height of the
humiliation of God the Word and are led to remember His life in the flesh,
His suffering, and His saving death, and the redemption ensuing from it
for the world.”
• This
is the position of a Iconodule (supporter of Images or
icons)
John of Damascus (675-749)
•"I
do not worship matter; I worship the Creator
of matter who became matter for my sake, who
accepted to dwell in matter, who worked out
my salvation through matter. Never will I cease
adoring the matter, which wrought my
salvation!"
Page 169
In the end…a Schism in Christianity
• Arguments
over hierarchy, jurisdiction, food,
beards…
• Autonomy of Patriarchs, or Primacy of Rome?
• 1054 Patriarch of Constantinople and Pope of Rome
excommunicate each other
• East: Orthodox Church
• West: Roman Catholic