FROM THE RESURRECTION TO THE ASCENSION: CHRIST’S POST-RESURRECTION APPEARANCES IN BYZANTINE ART (3rd – 12th c.) by POLYVIOS KONIS A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham November 2008 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This thesis examines the evolution and dissemination of the iconography of the post- Resurrection appearances of Christ. Special attention is given to the association between word and image, as well as the influence exerted on art by contemporary theology, liturgy and politics. The earliest use of these apparitions in art is associated with baptism while in literature they were successfully employed against heresies. The Virgin’s participation in the post-Resurrection narrative reveals the way in which homilies and hymns inspire art. Another important figure of these apparitions, which receives special attention, is the Magdalene, whose significance rivalled that of the Virgin’s. While the Marys at the Tomb and the Chairete were two of the most widely accepted apparitions, it was the Incredulity of Thomas that found its way in the so- called twelve-feast cycle and revealed the impact of liturgy upon the dissemination of an iconographic theme. The emergence of the Anastasis will rival their exclusive role as visual synonyms of Christ’s resurrection, but this thesis reveals that their relation was one of cooperation rather than rivalry, since the post-Resurrection scenes and the Anastasis complimented each other in terms of iconography and theology. Finally it becomes apparent that the pilgrimage in the Holy Land and the liturgy that was taking place there is responsible for many iconographic details which help us discern the dissemination of a particular iconography. To my parents for their love and support Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Professor Leslie Brubaker, whose inspirational teaching, expertise, understanding and patience added considerably to my graduate experience. Her assistance in grant proposals, scholarship applications and of course this thesis has been immense. I would also like to thank Dr. Mary Cunningham, who voluntarily acted as my second supervisor, and who patiently read through earlier chapters of this thesis and offered numerous suggestions. A special thanks goes out to Professor Dimitrios Triantafyllopoulos of the University of Cyprus for his care and support during my undergraduate years and to the members of the Centre for Byzantine Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies of the University of Birmingham: Bryer, Ruth, Joe, Dimiter, Vicky and many others, whose help was never short. My thanks should be extended from here to the academics and stuff of the IAA for their assistance in numerous occasions. I would also like to thank his Most Reverend Neophytos, Metropolitan of Morphou, for his guidance and support from my teenage years up to this day, and the director of the Cultural Foundation of Archbishop Makarios III, George Christodoulou, for his care. To the list I should add Professor Gerhard Wolf director of the Kunsthistorisches Institut for allowing me to use the extensive library and premises of the Institute and Dottoressa Manuela de Giorgi for facilitating the afore-mentioned visit and my stay in Florence but mostly for her friendship and support. I would also like to thank the directors of the Research Centre of Anatolian Civilizations (RCAC), of the Koç University, Professor Scott Redford and Dr. Alessandra Ricci, and the committee who entrusted me with a Senior Fellowship. I would also like to mention those individuals and institutions who entrusted me with their money. The Costakis and Leto Severis foundation, and especially his chairman Demosthenes Severis and his acting secretary Phoivos Vovides for a generous scholarship; the Leventis Foundation for a three-year research grant; and Professor Dimitrios Triantafyllopoulos, also for a research grant. And what is someone without his friends. At this point I would like to thank my friends and colleagues here at Birmingham, Dr. George Christodoulides, Dr. Savvas Kyriakides, Gianna Andreou, Athanasia Staurou, Eirini Panou, Maria Paphitis and many others for their many advices, support and lovely company during the last five years; and also my friends Dr. Dimitris Kamouzis and his wife Aude el Hawa for facilitating my numerous stays in London but mostly for their friendship. In the fear of becoming too melodramatic, I would like to extend my thanks to my friends from the Master’s degree, Gulru Tanman, Antri Christou and Dr Hiroyuki Hashikawa, who made my first graduate experience, a special one. Individual thanks go out to my friends from Cyprus: Andreas and Baso Constantinou, Antreas Kyriakides, Yiannis Sakkas, Soteris Tsolakis, Skevi Katsiari, Savvas Georgiou, Eleni Ioannidou, Popi Theophanous, and many others who supported me throughout these years and were always there for me, during my short spells on the island. Here I should add my godmother Stella Kalogerou, whose faith in me never faded, and my sister Maria Koni-Papaioannou, who first taught me the value of classical education. The present volume is dedicated to my parents, Anthony Konis and Emily, née Paruti, for infusing me with their love of antiquity, and for supporting me throughout this long and arduous journey. Their love and patience has been an inspiration to me. v Table of Contents List of Illustrations ........................................................................................................ vi List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: The Earliest Evidencnce .......................................................................13 1.1 The post-Resurrection Appearances of Christ and the Baptismal Rite ..................14 1.2 The post-Resurrection Appearances of Christ and the Arts of Palestine ...............28 1.3 Roman and Palestinian iconographic cycles.. .......................................................41 CHAPTER 2: The Virgin and the Magdalene as Myrrh-bearers .................................91 2.1 The Virgin in the post-Resurrection Appearances of Christ in the period before Iconoclasm ..................................................................................................................92 2.2 The Magdalene in the post-Resurrection Appearances of Christ in the period before Iconoclasm ......................................................................................................121 CHAPTER 3: Anti-Heretical, Ecclesiastical and Liturgical Influences .................... 140 3.1 The post-Resurrection Appearances as Polemics against Heresies ..................... 141 3.2 The role of Theology and Ecclesiastical policy in the evolution and dissemination of the post-Resurrection Appearances ....................................................................... 159 3.2.1 Ecclesiastical policy: The case of Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna ........... 159 3.2.2 Baptismal Rite ................................................................................................... 164 3.2.3 Changes in the Liturgical Calendar................................................................... 171 3.2.4 Theological Literature. The Canonical and the Apocryphal Tradition ............. 175 CHAPTER 4: The Maries, the Anastasis and the rise of the Chairete ...................... 183 4.1 Iconoclasm and its aftermath ............................................................................... 184 4.2 The post-Resurrection appearances in the ninth century ..................................... 191 4.2.1 The West in the ninth century ........................................................................... 192 4.2.2 The East in the ninth century ............................................................................ 221 vi CHAPTER 5: The Virign and the Magdalene after Iconoclasm ............................... 259 5.1 Maria sola assidente ad ostia monumenti ........................................................... 260 5.2 Mary Magdalene the Myrrh-bearer, the Sinner and the Apostle ......................... 276 CHAPTER 6: Festal or Narrative Cycles? ................................................................ 294 6.1 The post-Resurrection Appearances in the Twelve Feast Cycle ......................... 295 6.1.1 The Incredulity of Thomas in the festal cycle .................................................. 298 6.1.2 Narrative or festal cycle: The case of the Chairete ........................................... 319 6.2 Cappadocia and beyond ......................................................................................