Le statue nell’immaginario dell’Occidente latino in eta’ carolingia e postcarolingia (secoli VIII-X)

Between the 8th and 10th century, Eastern and Western Christianity differentiated their attitudes towards the cult of painted icons, as witnessed by the appearance of the first Latin wooden crucifixes. In earlier centuries, Christians expressed considerable mistrust towards the statues, seen as a legacy of the pre-Christian culture; later, in the Latin West, they gradually received legitimation as devotionals, beginning with the reliquary statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary, and later, around year one thousand, also of saints. Furthermore, starting from Rabanus Maurus’ carmen figuratum, the worship of the Cross shifted gradually towards a worship of the Christ crucifix, represented with open eyes and regal attitude, and without signs of suffering (Christus triumphans). At the same time, other texts, such as the Chronicon Salernitanum, highlighted the persistence of magical beliefs related to ancient statues. Likewise, for a long time, an ambivalence persisted in the attitude towards the statues of kings and emperors (such as those of Theodoric). Again, the image of the statue in king Nebuchadnezzar's dream (which evoked the succession of earthly empires) was exploited during the so-called Gregorian Reform: considered a symbol of idolatry and of emperor worship, it was used to condemn the Reform enemies, accused to defend the sacrality of the imperial figure.