Images of imperial couples or of imperial families appeared as part of the monumental church decoration since Late Antiquity, and, in the last centuries of Byzantium, this type of imperial portraiture spread, becoming a feature in the territories in the Byzantine cultural sphere outside Constantinople. However, imperial family images were not particularly common in church decoration until after the Komnenian dynasty. This chapter analyzes imperial family images between the fourth century and the first half of the twelfth century, both simple representations (of the emperor and his sons or of the imperial couple) and extended family portraits, within the context of sacred monumental decoration. In these cases, the collective, familial imperial body was visualized in a monumental way and in locations that affected the meaning of such images. Ultimately, this chapter ascertains the significance of depictions of the imperial family in these sacred spaces – primarily in church buildings, but also in the imperial palace, which was universally declared sacred in the fifth-century Theodosian Code.Although a great part of the extant evidence survives only in written texts that cannot be compared to now-lost monuments and is mediated by the perception and intention of the writ- ers, by analyzing textual and visual evidence, this chapter aims at understanding the relationship between the imperial family image and the sacred place in which it was represented. Images of the imperial family do not appear to be simple donor portraits or devotional depictions, but involve deeper and more complex meanings that are closely connected to their historical and physical contexts. This approach sheds new light on a crucial point for the conceptualization of sacred space in Byzantium: whether space also became sacred by the presence of images depict- ing the sacred body of the emperors, or if imperial representations just added an imperial feature to a space already considered as sacred.
Carile, M.C. (2018). Imperial bodies and sacred space? Imperial family images between monumental decoration and space definition in Late Antiquity and Byzantium. London and New York : Routledge. Taylor & Francis Group [10.4324/9780203711170].
Imperial bodies and sacred space? Imperial family images between monumental decoration and space definition in Late Antiquity and Byzantium
CARILE, MARIA CRISTINA
2018
Abstract
Images of imperial couples or of imperial families appeared as part of the monumental church decoration since Late Antiquity, and, in the last centuries of Byzantium, this type of imperial portraiture spread, becoming a feature in the territories in the Byzantine cultural sphere outside Constantinople. However, imperial family images were not particularly common in church decoration until after the Komnenian dynasty. This chapter analyzes imperial family images between the fourth century and the first half of the twelfth century, both simple representations (of the emperor and his sons or of the imperial couple) and extended family portraits, within the context of sacred monumental decoration. In these cases, the collective, familial imperial body was visualized in a monumental way and in locations that affected the meaning of such images. Ultimately, this chapter ascertains the significance of depictions of the imperial family in these sacred spaces – primarily in church buildings, but also in the imperial palace, which was universally declared sacred in the fifth-century Theodosian Code.Although a great part of the extant evidence survives only in written texts that cannot be compared to now-lost monuments and is mediated by the perception and intention of the writ- ers, by analyzing textual and visual evidence, this chapter aims at understanding the relationship between the imperial family image and the sacred place in which it was represented. Images of the imperial family do not appear to be simple donor portraits or devotional depictions, but involve deeper and more complex meanings that are closely connected to their historical and physical contexts. This approach sheds new light on a crucial point for the conceptualization of sacred space in Byzantium: whether space also became sacred by the presence of images depict- ing the sacred body of the emperors, or if imperial representations just added an imperial feature to a space already considered as sacred.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
