Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”

Constantine Vapheiades

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12

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Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”

Constantine Vapheiades

Published in American Journal of Art and Design (Volume 2, Issue 3)

Received: 2 August 2017 Accepted: 14 August 2017 Published: 5 September 2017

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to provide information from the field of art concerning the Church’s power over the late Byzantine state and society. This is based on the unequivocal fact that art works were always an appropriate source of information about the social, religious and political developments. So, in the introductory chapter a number of literary sources are submitted testifying that important political and religious events were destined to change the balance of power in Byzantium from the second half of the 13^th century onwards. In the main chapter the iconographic subject of the “Imperial Deesis”, emerged in the 14^th century, is looked at from all sides. This is due to the fact that this subject is more convenient than others in revealing the Church’s supremacy over the emperor. Given that every single one of the Orthodox Bishops constitute a vicar of Christ on earth as, it can be said that the portrait of Christ as High Priest and King of all Kings is indicative of the double role of the Church in Late Byzantium, religious and political.

Published in	American Journal of Art and Design (Volume 2, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12
Page(s)	79-83
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Byzantine Art, Byzantine Church, Imperial Deesis, Hesychasm, Christ-High Priest

References

[1]	Angelov D. (2006), Imperial ideology and political thought in Byzantium, 1204-1330, Cambridge, 223, 351, 462-63.
[2]	Cvetković B. (2012), Sovereign portraits at Markov Manastir revisited, Icon 5.
[3]	Dagron G. (2003), Emperor and Priest: The imperial office in Byzantium, Cambridge.
[4]	Dmitrieva Sv. (2005), The depictions of warrior saints in frescoes of 1380 at the church of the Holy Savior in Kovaliovo. Whether Balkan masters painted the Novgorod church? Zograf 33, 121-135.
[5]	Georgitsoyanni E. N. (1993), Les peintures murales du Vieux Catholicon du monastère de la Transfiguration aux Metèores (1483), Athènes. 272-75.
[6]	Gligorijević-Maksimović M. (2005), Slikarstvo XIV beka u manastiiru Treskavacu, ZRBI 42, 77-171, figures 28-35.
[7]	Harris J. (2010), The End of Byzantium, New Haven and London, 46-78.
[8]	Meyendorff J. (1988), Βυζάντιο και Ρωσία. Μελέτη των βυζαντινο-ρωσικών σχέσεων κατά το 14° αιώνα, Athens, 161, 369-70.
[9]	Miklosich F., Müller I. (1862), Acta et Diplomata graeca medii aevi, sacra et profana, II, Vindobonae, no. 447, 188-92.
[10]	Nicol D. M. (1977), Church and Society in the Last Century of Byzantium, Cambridge, 19-20.
[11]	Nicol D. M. (1993), The last centuries of Byzantium 1261-1453, Cambridge (= in Greek, Athens 2012).
[12]	Nikolopoulos O. P. (1981/82), Ανέκδοτος Λόγος εις τoν Aρσένιον Αυτωρειανόν, ΕΕΒΣ 45, 460-461.
[13]	Papamastorakis T. (1993/94), Η μορφή του Χριστού-Μεγάλου Αρχιερέα, ΔΧΑΕ 17, 67-78.
[14]	Schopeni L. (ed.) (1830), Nicephori Gregorae, Historiae Byzantinae, (Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae), vol. II, Bonnae.
[15]	Sisiou I. (2001), Μια άγνωστη σύνθεση στον Άγιο Νικόλαο του Τζώτζα Καστοριάς. Συνένωση δύο σημαντικών θεμάτων της Βασιλικής Δέησης και της Αγίας Τριάδας, Αφιέρωμα στην μνήμη του Σωτήρη Κίσσα, Thessaloniki, 121-35.
[16]	Sisiou I. (2013), Η καλλιτεχνική Σχολή της Καστοριάς κατά τον 14° αιώνα (unpublished Ph. D. Dissertation), Florina.

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Constantine Vapheiades. (2017). Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”. American Journal of Art and Design, 2(3), 79-83. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12

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Constantine Vapheiades. Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”. Am. J. Art Des. 2017, 2(3), 79-83. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12

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AMA Style

Constantine Vapheiades. Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”. Am J Art Des. 2017;2(3):79-83. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12,
  author = {Constantine Vapheiades},
  title = {Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”},
  journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
  volume = {2},
  number = {3},
  pages = {79-83},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20170203.12},
  abstract = {The aim of this study is to provide information from the field of art concerning the Church’s power over the late Byzantine state and society. This is based on the unequivocal fact that art works were always an appropriate source of information about the social, religious and political developments. So, in the introductory chapter a number of literary sources are submitted testifying that important political and religious events were destined to change the balance of power in Byzantium from the second half of the 13th century onwards. In the main chapter the iconographic subject of the “Imperial Deesis”, emerged in the 14th century, is looked at from all sides. This is due to the fact that this subject is more convenient than others in revealing the Church’s supremacy over the emperor. Given that every single one of the Orthodox Bishops constitute a vicar of Christ on earth as, it can be said that the portrait of Christ as High Priest and King of all Kings is indicative of the double role of the Church in Late Byzantium, religious and political.},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”
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PY  - 2017
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AB  - The aim of this study is to provide information from the field of art concerning the Church’s power over the late Byzantine state and society. This is based on the unequivocal fact that art works were always an appropriate source of information about the social, religious and political developments. So, in the introductory chapter a number of literary sources are submitted testifying that important political and religious events were destined to change the balance of power in Byzantium from the second half of the 13th century onwards. In the main chapter the iconographic subject of the “Imperial Deesis”, emerged in the 14th century, is looked at from all sides. This is due to the fact that this subject is more convenient than others in revealing the Church’s supremacy over the emperor. Given that every single one of the Orthodox Bishops constitute a vicar of Christ on earth as, it can be said that the portrait of Christ as High Priest and King of all Kings is indicative of the double role of the Church in Late Byzantium, religious and political.
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Author Information

Constantine Vapheiades

Department of Social Theology, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

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APA Style

Constantine Vapheiades. (2017). Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”. American Journal of Art and Design, 2(3), 79-83. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12

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ACS Style

Constantine Vapheiades. Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”. Am. J. Art Des. 2017, 2(3), 79-83. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12

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AMA Style

Constantine Vapheiades. Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”. Am J Art Des. 2017;2(3):79-83. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12,
  author = {Constantine Vapheiades},
  title = {Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”},
  journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
  volume = {2},
  number = {3},
  pages = {79-83},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20170203.12},
  abstract = {The aim of this study is to provide information from the field of art concerning the Church’s power over the late Byzantine state and society. This is based on the unequivocal fact that art works were always an appropriate source of information about the social, religious and political developments. So, in the introductory chapter a number of literary sources are submitted testifying that important political and religious events were destined to change the balance of power in Byzantium from the second half of the 13th century onwards. In the main chapter the iconographic subject of the “Imperial Deesis”, emerged in the 14th century, is looked at from all sides. This is due to the fact that this subject is more convenient than others in revealing the Church’s supremacy over the emperor. Given that every single one of the Orthodox Bishops constitute a vicar of Christ on earth as, it can be said that the portrait of Christ as High Priest and King of all Kings is indicative of the double role of the Church in Late Byzantium, religious and political.},
 year = {2017}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Sacerdotium and Regnum in Late Byzantium: Some Notes on the “Imperial Deesis”
AU  - Constantine Vapheiades
Y1  - 2017/09/05
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12
T2  - American Journal of Art and Design
JF  - American Journal of Art and Design
JO  - American Journal of Art and Design
SP  - 79
EP  - 83
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-7802
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20170203.12
AB  - The aim of this study is to provide information from the field of art concerning the Church’s power over the late Byzantine state and society. This is based on the unequivocal fact that art works were always an appropriate source of information about the social, religious and political developments. So, in the introductory chapter a number of literary sources are submitted testifying that important political and religious events were destined to change the balance of power in Byzantium from the second half of the 13th century onwards. In the main chapter the iconographic subject of the “Imperial Deesis”, emerged in the 14th century, is looked at from all sides. This is due to the fact that this subject is more convenient than others in revealing the Church’s supremacy over the emperor. Given that every single one of the Orthodox Bishops constitute a vicar of Christ on earth as, it can be said that the portrait of Christ as High Priest and King of all Kings is indicative of the double role of the Church in Late Byzantium, religious and political.
VL  - 2
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download