ICONS OF THE ICONODULE: GENDER, POLITICS, AND ORTHODOXY IN THE
PALAIOLOGAN IMAGERY OF SAINT THEODOSIA
by
HELENA ANN DEAN
A THESIS
Presented to the Department of Art History
and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Master of Arts
June 2009
"Icons of the Iconodule: Gender, Politics, and Orthodoxy in the Palaiologan Imagery of
Saint Theodosia," a thesis prepared by Helena Ann Dean in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Department of Art History. This thesis
has been approved and accepted by:
D s G. Harper, CHair of the Examining Committee
11
Date M~
Committee in Charge:
Accepted by:
Dr. James G. Harper, Chair
Dr. Kate Mondloch
Dr. Stephen J. Shoemaker
Dean of the Graduate School
© 2009 Helena Ann Dean
111
IV
An Abstract of the Thesis of
Helena Ann Dean
in the Department of Art History
for the degree of
to be taken
Master of Arts
June 2009
Title: ICONS OF THE ICONODULE: GENDER, POLITICS, AND ORTHODOXY IN
THE PALAIOLOGAN IMAGERY OF SAINT THEODOSIA
Approved:
Saint Theodosia of Constantinople, an iconodule martyr of the eighth century,
was credited with leading the resistance to the destruction of the icon of Christ on the
Chalke Gate. This thesis focuses on the icons of Theodosia, which date largely to the
Palaiologan period (1261-1453). The icons are examined through an investigation of the
cult of Theodosia in the Palaiologan period, taking into account important contemporary
political and religious issues, such as the relationship between Byzantium and the West
and the nature of Orthodox doctrine. Issues regarding women and icons will also be
considered.
CURRICULUM VITAE
NAME OF AUTHOR: Helena Ann Dean
PLACE OF BIRTH: Hollywood, Florida
GRADUATE AND lJNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
University of Oregon
New College of Florida
DEGREES AWARDED:
Master of Arts, Art History, June 2009, University of Oregon
Bachelor of Arts, Art History, June 2004, New College of Florida
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:
Byzantine Art
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Volunteer, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, 2009
Graduate Teaching Fellow, University of Oregon, 2007-2009
GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS:
Kari Travel Grant, Conference Travel, University of Oregon, 2006
Gloria Tovar Lee Scholarship, University of Oregon, 2006
v
Vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to express sincere appreciation to those who made this thesis possible. I am
indebted to: Mary-Lyon Dolezal, for sharing her passion for Byzantine art and for guiding
this thesis in its inception, Stephen Shoemaker, for his enthusiasm and expertise, and Kate
Mondloch, for her encouragement and indispensable guidance. I am especially grateful to
my adviser, James Harper, for his invaluable suggestions and for helping me see this
, project to completion. Research for this thesis was supported by a generous grant from the
Department of Art History at the University of Oregon for which I am truly grateful. I
would like to thank my fellow graduate students in the Department of Art History, for their
constant support and love. Finally, 1would like to thank my family, for always being there
forme.
I dedicate this thesis to my mother, for always believing in me.
VB
V111
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1
II. THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF ST. THEODOSIA OF CONSTANTINOPLE..... 6
III. THE CULT OF ST. THEODOSIA IN THE PALAIOLOGAN PERIOD... ..... ... 17
IV. THE ICONS OF ST. THEODOSIA................................................................... 29
V. ST. THEODOSIA IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM ICON OF THE TRIUMPH OF
ORTHODOXy................................................................................................... 41
VI. CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................... 54
APPENDIX: FIGURES........................................................................................... 56
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 80
IX
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1. ICON WITH THE TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY. Circa 1400.
British Museum, London 57
2. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. Early 13th century. The Monastery of Saint
Catherine, Sinai, Egypt...................................................................................... 58
3. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. Early 13th century. The Monastery of Saint
Catherine, Sinai, Egypt............ 59
4. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. Circa 1400. The Monastery of Saint Catherine,
Sinai, Egypt....................................................................................................... 60
5. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. Early 15th century. The Monastery of Saint
Catherine, Sinai, Egypt...................................................................................... 61
6. ICON WITH NICHOLAS AND THEODOSIA. Early 15th century. The
Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt................................... 62
7. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. First half of the 15th century. Naxos...................... 63
8. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. Mid-14th century. Museum of Byzantine Culture,
Thessaloniki 64
9. TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP OF CONSTANTINOPLE IN THE 14TH AND
15TH CENTURIES............................................................................................. 65
10. CROSS WITH FOLIATE DECORATION (REVERSE OF FIG. 5) 66
11. ICON WITH PHEVRONIA. Second half of the 13th century. The Monastery
of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt......................................................................... 67
Figure Page
x
12. ICON WITH MARINA. 12th century (7). The Monastery of Saint Catherine,
Sinai, Egypt....................................................................................................... 68
13. ICON WITH CATHERINE AND MARINA. 13th century. The Monastery
of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt......................................................................... 69
14. ICON WITH MARINA AND CATHERINE. 13th century. The Monastery
of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt......................................................................... 70
15. ICON WITH ANASTASIA (PHARMAKOLYTRIA). Late 14th - early 15th
century. State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. 71
16. UGOLINO DI PRETE ILARIO, The Annunciation ofSaint Anne. Fresco,
c. 1370. Duomo di Orvieto................................................................................. 72
17. UGOLINO DI PRETE ILARIO, The Nativity ofthe Virgin. Fresco, c. 1370.
Duomo di Orvieto ~............................................................................. 73
18. STANZA 24 OF THE AKATHISTOS HYMN. Markov manastir...................... 74
19. STANZA 24 OF THE AKATHISTOS HYMN. MS gr. 429, fo1. 33v. State
Historical Museum, Moscow............................................................................. 75
20. ICON WITH THE TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY. Circa 1500. Velimezis
Collection. 76
21. ICON WITH THE TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY. First half of the 16th
century. Benaki Museum, Athens 77
22. ICON WITH THE TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY. Emmanuel Tzanfournaris,
fIrst half of the 16th century. Greek Institute, Venice.......................................... 78
Xl
Figure Page
23. THEOPHANES THE CRETAN. Fresco of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, 1545-
1546. The Monastery of Stavronikita, Mount Athos........................................... 79
1CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In 726 the iconoclast emperor Leo III (717-741) ordered the destruction of the
icon of Christ that hung on the Chalke Gate, the entrance to the palace in Constantinople.
This incident generated legendary accounts of the defense of the image by the
Constantinopolitan nun Theodosia and her companions, who became the first martyrs of
Byzantine Iconoclasm (726-787 and 815-843). This thesis focuses on the icons of St.
Theodosia of Constantinople, which date largely to the Palaiologan period (1261-1453),
and the saint's image in the British Museum icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, which
dates to around 1400 (fig. 1). Five of the icons of Theodosia are housed in the Monastery
of Saint Catherine at Sinai, Egypt (figs. 2-6). Another icon of Theodosia is in the
homonymous church at Niochori in the Chora ofNaxos, and another, T 179, is in the
Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki (figs. 7-8). These seven are the only
published icons of Theodosia, although there may be other examples that are either
undiscovered or have yet to be published.
Although this thesis deals with the icons of Theodosia, it should be noted that the
saint is represented in manuscripts and frescoes as well. The saint is depicted in
illustrations in the Menologium ofBasil II and in synaxaries. Monumental representations
of the saint can be found in Prizren at Bogorodica LjeviSka (1307-9), in Yugoslavia at
2Staro NagoriCino (1317), and in the narthex of the church at Pee (1561).1 At both Staro
NagoriCino and Pee, Theodosia is accompanied by Saints Yakinthos and Aimilianos, both
of whom share Theodosia's feast day of 18 July.
The icons of Theodosia are noteworthy because icons of female saints are
relatively rare in Byzantine art. The five icons ofTheodosia at Sinai constitute a
relatively large number-no other female saint (excluding the Virgin and St. Catherine,
the patron saint of the monastery) is represented in as many icons in the monastery's
collection. The Naxos icon and the Thessaloniki icon ofTheodosia add to this number.
The icons of Theodosia all follow a standardized iconography. She is dressed in
the garb of a nun and usually holds a gold cross, signifying her status as a martyr.
Sometimes she is depicted holding an icon of Christ, presumably meant to represent the
Chalke icon associated with her legend. Theodosia's face is invariably rendered as
youthful, with large eyes, plump cheeks and full lips.
Doula Mouriki has studied the Sinai icons ofTheodosia in an article entitled
"Portraits of St. Theodosia in Five Sinai Icons," from 1994. 2 The article is valuable for
its reproduction of the icons, three of which had not been previously published, and for
its formal analysis of the icons. Mouriki states that the five icons of Theodosia "represent
a large number even for the richest collection of icons to have been preserved at a Greek
1 For Bogorodica Ljeviska, see Draga Panic and Gordana Babic, Bogorodica Ljeviska (Belgrade:
Srpska knjizevna zadruga, 1975),57, drawing 15; For Staro Nagoricino, see Pavle Mijovic, Menolog:
istorijsko-umetnicka istrazivanja (Belgrade: Arkheoloski Institut, 1973),283; for Pec, see ibid., 375.
2 Mouriki, "Portraits of St. Theodosia in Five Sinai Icons," in Thymiama Stemneme tes Laskarina
Bouras, 213-219 (Athens: Benaki Museum, 1994). George Galavaris takes up Mouriki's approach to the
icons in "Two Icons ofSt. Theodosia at Sinai," Deltion tes Christianikes Archaiologikes Hetaireias, 4th
ser., 17 (1993-1994): 313-316.
3Monastery," and goes on to relate the icons to the written sources about the cult of
Theodosia and her representation in Byzantine art.3 She states that she has been unable to
trace any other icons with the figure of Theodosia as its sole representation; thus she was
evidently unaware of the other three icons that will be included in this thesis. Although
she acknowledges that the Sinai icons represent a relatively large number, she states that
the number of icons "can be judged in a more correct perspective if it is related to the
evidence provided by the written sources about the cult of St. Theodosia and her portraits
in Byzantine art.''''" After an overview of the written sources and images of Theodosia,
Mouriki comments on the "rarity" of the images of Theodosia and argues that the
presence of the icons in the Monastery of St. Catherine reflects connections between
Sinai and Constantinople.5 Mouriki does not relate the icons of Theodosia to other
representations of holy women in icons. Nor does she include the Naxos icon or the
Thessaloniki icon in her discussion of the Byzantine portraits of Theodosia. And despite
her statement about the written sources, Mouriki's largely formalist analysis of the Sinai
icons does not provide a contextual framework through which to understand them.
The icons of Theodosia stand as visual evidence of the popularity of her cult
during the Palaiologan period, and they should be considered together as important
examples of female saintly portraiture in icons. No previous study has included a survey
of all seven of the icons of Theodosia. This is also the first time that the icons of
Theodosia will be explored along with her image in the British Museum icon and other
3 Mouriki, "Portraits of 81. Theodosia," 216.
4 Ibid., 216.
5 Ibid., 219.
4depictions of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Theodosia's inclusion in icons of the Triumph
of Orthodoxy, all of which date from the Palaiologan period and later, provides further
evidence of the popularity and importance of this saint during the Late Byzantine period.
Furthermore, an analysis of the British Museum icon offers the opportunity to compare
the image of Theodosia with those of the other iconophile saints depicted in the icon.
Chapter One of this thesis examines the evidence provided by the written sources
about Theodosia's life and legend. The highly problematic written sources on the
removal of the icon of Christ from the Chalke Gate are compared in order to understand
how 81. Theodosia came to be accepted as the fIrst martyr of Iconoclasm. The role
women might have played in opposing Iconoclasm is also discussed. Chapter Two
explores the political and religious climate of the Palaiologan period in order to
contextualize both the cult and the icons of Theodosia. The evidence of devotional
practices and miraculous healing at Theodosia's shrine is examined in order to shed light
on the icons of Theodosia, which stand as visual documents of the popularity of the
saint's cult. This chapter also deals with the relationship between Byzantium and the
West, focusing on the historical events of the restoration of Constantinople under
Michael VIII (1259-1282) and the reversal of the Union of Lyons under Andronikos II
(1282-1328). In light of the information provided in the previous two chapters, Chapter
Three takes an iconographical approach to the analysis of the icons of Theodosia. The
seven icons of Theodosia, looked at together here for the fIrst time, are compared to the
representation of other female saints. Issues concerning provenance and function are also
considered. Chapter Four deals with the image ofTheodosia in the British Museum icon
of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. The icon represents the Restoration of the Holy Images,
understood as the final defeat of Iconoclasm. The British Museum icon is discussed in
relation to the concern over Orthodoxy in the Palaiologan period and to the state of the
Empire in its last centuries. The depiction of the Triumph of Orthodoxy is viewed as a
symbol of hope and Byzantine faith.
5
6CHAPTER II
THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF ST. THEODOSIA OF CONSTANTINOPLE
Information on the life of St. Theodosia of Constantinople comes primarily from a
short notice in the Synaxarion ofConstantinople for 18 July.6 According to this source,
Theodosia was born and raised in Constantinople and placed in a nunnery at the age of
seven by her widowed mother, whose fortune was bequeathed to Theodosia. The
Synaxarion does not provide any further information on Theodosia's life within the
convent, except that she was a defender of icons during the Iconoclasm of the eighth
century and commissioned three gold and silver icons of Christ, the Theotokos, and St.
Anastasia the martyr.? According to the Synaxarion, the iconoclast emperor Leo III (717-
741) deposed the patriarch Germanos and "hastened to remove and commit to the flames
the holy and sovereign icon of Christ our God, the one fixed above the gates among
which was one called the Holy Chalke Gate because of this image."g Leo's destruction of
the Chalke icon is considered the first official act of Byzantine Iconoclasm. The Chalke
(Bronze) Gate was a key focus of the city; it was the vestibule through which one entered
6 The earliest reference to Theodosia in the Synaxarium is in the Paris, Biliotheque Nationale de
France, MS gr. 1617, dated 1071. See Berge Aran, "The Church of St. Theodosia and the Monastery of
Christ Euergetes," Jahrbuch osterreichischen Bzyantinistik 28 (1979): 212. For the text see Hippolyte
Delehaye, ed., Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinoploitanae e Codice Sirmondiano (Brussels: Society of the
Bollandistes, 1902),828,55-56; 830, 1-3.
7 Probably the Roman martyr of the third century. See Nicholas Constas, "Life of St. Theodosia of
Constantinople," in Byzantine Defenders ofImages: Eight Saints' Lives in English Translation, ed. Alice­
Mary Talbot (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998),5, n. 25.
8 Constas, "Life of St. Theodosia," 6. Constas (note 28) notes that the Synaxarium, following the
Life ofSt. Stephen the Younger (PG 100: 1085c), conflates the outbreak of Iconoclasm in 726 with Leo's
deposition of Germanos in 730, thereby situating the Chalke incident in the patriarchate of Anastasios.
7into the imperial palace complex in Constantinople and was situated at one end of the
Mese, a main thoroughfare in the city.9 Leo ordered the spatharios (a member of the elite
imperial guard) to remove the icon with an ax. Theodosia, "together with other pious
women," knocked the spatharios down from his ladder, killing him. They then proceeded
to the patriarchate and threw stones at the patriarch Anastasios (730-754). As a result, the
women were sentenced to death. All but Theodosia were decapitated. A public
executioner dragged Theodosia through the streets of Constantinople to the Forum of the
Ox, where she was slain with a horn. lO Theodosia is thus credited with being the first
martyr of Byzantine Iconoclasm (726-787 and 815-843).
The icon, one of the most important icons in Byzantium, was called Our Lord of
the Chalke, and was popularly known as Christos Chalkites. 11 Its history prior to
Iconoclasm is uncertain and obscure, and it is not known exactly when or by whom it was
placed on the Chalke Gate. 12 There are no descriptions of an icon of Christ on the Chalke
Gate and no record of Leo's removal of any such portrait in written accounts before
9 Cyril Mango, The Brazen House: A Study ofthe Vestibule ofthe Imperial Palace of
Constantinople (Copenhagen: I Kommission hos Munksgaard, 1959),97.
10 Constas, "Life of St. Theodosia," 7. Another version of the Synaxarium notes that Theodosia
was taken to a place near the Forum of the Ox by a soldier, who slit her throat with a ram's horn. Hippolyte
Delehaye, ed., Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinoploitanae e Codice Sirmondiano (Brussels: Society of the
Bollandistes, 1902),827-828.48-50, as cited in Constas, "Life ofSt. Theodosia," n. 36.
11 Mango, Brazen House, 108.
12 On the Chalke image before Iconoclasm, see ibid., 108-112.
8800. 13 The eighth-century chronicler, Nicephorus, writes of Leo Ill's destruction of holy
images, but he does not mention the Chalke icon of Christ, 14
The only independent account of Leo Ill's removal of an icon from the Chalke
Gate comes from the ninth-century Scriptor lncertus, which records the removal of a
copy of the Chalke icon of Christ in 814 by Leo V (813-820), in imitation of Leo 111. 15
The icon Leo V removed had been put up by the iconodule empress Eirene (797-802)
around 800. Eirene ruled as regent for her nine-year-old son Constantine VI from 780 to
797, after her iconoclast husband Leo IV died, and it was under her regency that the first
restoration of icons took place in 787. According to the Scriptor lncertus, "Above the
image [of Christ] was the inscription, 'This which aforetime the Emperor Leo took down,
Eirene has restored here,' and it was that Leo who removed the image which had existed
13 Scholars have questioned the significance of the Chalke icon before Iconoclasm and whether or
not the icon actually existed under Leo III, because it is not mentioned in the sources until the ninth
century. According to Marie-France Auzepy, the icon of Christ on the Chalke Gate did not exist before
Eirene, who put the image into place for political reasons and claimed to be restoring what the Iconoclasts
had taken down in 726. Robin Cormack agrees with Auzepy's interpretation that the idea of the Chalke
Christ icon was an iconophile myth invented around 800, when the new icon was hung over the Chalke
Gate by Eirene. The tradition was invented, he asserts, so that the iconophiles would not be viewed as
heretical innovators. Cyril Mango puts forth that the Chalke icon did exist under Leo III, but that it held no
special significance up to the time of its destruction because it is not mentioned in any documents dated
before Iconoclasm. Mango argues that the icon was probably not in place before the seventh century and
only gained importance in the eighth century with the outbreak ofIconoclasm. Similarly, Haldon and
Ward-Perkins state, " ... one can imagine a scenario in which a quietly-accepted piece of religious
decoration in such an important position assumed deep significance only after it had been removed or
destroyed." See Marie-France Auzepy, "La destruction de l'icone du Christ de la Chalce de Leon III:
Propagande ou realite?" Byzantion 60 (1990): 445-492; Robin Cormack, "Women and Icons, and Women
in Icons," in Women, Men, and Eunuchs: Gender in Byzantium, ed. Liz James (New York: Routledge,
1997),41; Mango, Brazen House, 111-112; John Haldon and Bryan Ward-Perkins, "Evidence from Rome
for the Image of Christ on the Chalke Gate," Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 23 (1999): 296.
14 Haldon and Ward-Perkins, "Evidence from Rome," 289.
15 Ibid., 291.
9since the foundation of the City.,,16 Leo V's removal of the Chalke icon that Eirene had
previously restored ushered in the second period of Iconoclasm (815-843). There is no
way to know for certain when the Chalke icon was originally put into place, but the
account of its removal from the Chalke Gate, generated in the years between the two
periods of Iconoclasm (787-815), continued in popularity after the end of Iconoclasm in
843. 17
Conflicting narratives describing Leo Ill's destruction of the Chalke icon of
Christ have prompted scholars to question the historicity of St. Theodosia, as certain
versions of the story exclude her altogether. One such account comes from the First
Letter of Pope Gregory II to emperor Leo III, widely accepted as a forgery dating to
around 800. 18 In the letter the Pope praises a group of "zealous women" for attempting to
save the Chalke icon and rebukes Leo for his actions. 19 This dubious account places the
destruction of the icon at the Chalkoprateia, the location of an icon of Christ
Antiphonetes, instead of at the Chalke Gate. The Life of St. Stephen the Younger, written
around 809, situates the removal of the icon in 730, the year Anastasios was placed on the
patriarchal throne. According to the Life, a group of "honorable women" defended the
16 Cyril Mango, The Art ofthe Byzantine Empire 312-1453: Sources and Documents (Englewood
Cliffs, NJ : Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972), 157.
17 Leslie Brubaker, "The Chalke Gate, the Construction of the Past, and the Trier Ivory,"
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 23 (1999): 280-281.
18 Mango, Brazen House, 113-114.
19 Jean Gouillard, "Aux origins de l'iconoc!asme: Ie temoignage de Gregoire lIT' Travaux et
memoires 3 (1968), 293.221, as quoted in Constas, "Life of St. Theodosia of Constantinople," 2.
10
icon, which Leo had ordered to be taken down and burned?O After killing the spatharios
who was carrying out the emperor's orders, the women rushed to the patriarchal palace
and threw stones at Anastasios, who fled to Leo and convinced him to execute the
women?! This version of the incident is similar to the account of the Synaxarion;
however here, no mention is made of Theodosia. According to the Chronicle of
Theophanes, it was the "populace of the Imperial City" that defended the image of Christ
and killed Leo's soldiers. Many of the citizens, especially those "who were prominent by
birth and culture," were subsequently punished with "mutilation, lashes, banishment, and
fines." This in turn led to the "extinction of schools and of the pious education. ,,22
Theophanes' account is interesting for the emphasis placed on the punishment of the
upper class and the destruction of educational institutions. Theodosia does not appear in
Theophanes' account of the destruction of the Chalke icon.
Two hagiographic versions of the incident, the older "Marian" redaction and the
"Theodosian" account, further complicate matters. The "Marian" version comes from an
anonymous Passio of the martyrs of the Chalke written in 869, which is largely based on
20 Vita Stephani Junioris, Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, 100:1069-186, 1085c.l2,
as quoted from Nicholas Constas, "Life of St. Theodosia of Constantinople," in Byzantine Defenders of
Images: Eight Saints' Lives in English Translation, ed. Alice-Mary Talbot (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton
Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998),2. Constas notes that the Synaxarium notice for St.
Theodosia reproduces verbatim the description of the Chalke Gate incident found in the Vita of St. Stephen.
Constas, "Life of St. Theodosia," 2, n. 4.
21 Mango, Brazen House, 115.
22 Theophanes (Cyril Mango and Roger Scott, eds. ), The Chronicle ofTheophanes Confessor:
Byzantine and Near Eastern History AD 284-813 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997), 559-560.
11
the Chronicle of Theophanes and the Life of St. Stephen the Younger.23 According to the
text, known as the Passio Ss. Martyrum Constantinopolitanorum, a group often men, led
by an aristocratic woman named Maria, killed the spatharios in an attempt to save the
Chalke icon of Christ.24 Leo was willing to pardon Maria because of her imperial descent,
but she chose instead to be executed along with her companions. The "Theodosian"
account of the defense of the Chalke icon, which appears first in the Menologion ofBasil
II (c. 1000), replaces Maria with Theodosia of Constantinople.25 Although the
Menologion states that Theodosia lived during the reign of Constantine V (741-775),
anachronistically it credits her with defending the icon of Christ during the reign of Leo
One of the most intriguing aspects of the defense of the Chalke icon is the role
that these writers give to women in opposing Iconoclasm. Anonymous groups of pious
women are repeatedly credited for defending the Chalke icon in the sources, and the only
named protagonists, Maria and Theodosia, are women. Looking at the connection
between women and icons more broadly, two of the most notable iconodules in
Byzantine history include the empresses Eirene and Theodora. The restoration of images
in 787 and 843 came under the respective reigns of Eirene and Theodora, both of whom
ruled on behalf of their young sons after the deaths of their iconoclast husbands.
23 Acta sanctorum quotquot toto orbe coluntur: vel a catholicis scriptoribus celebrantur (Paris:
Apud Victorem Palme, 1863-1940), Aug. vol. 11,428-448, as cited in Mango, Brazen House, 116, n. 27.
24 Constas, "Life of 81. Theodosia," n. 6.
25 Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca 117, 580 B, as cited in Mango, Brazen House, 117.
26 Mango, Brazen House, 118.
12
However, although anonymous women are often mentioned in the sources for their role
in opposing Iconoclasm, individual female iconophile saints are poorly represented in
Byzantine hagiography.
Alexander Kazhdan and Alice-Mary Talbot have approached the topic of women
and Iconoclasm through an examination of the evidence of the hagiography of iconodule
women and the letters of Theodore of Stoudios?7 Their study raises several interesting
points regarding the role of women in Iconoclasm. Very few female saints are noted for
their resistance to Iconoclasm, especially in comparison to the number of male saints.28
Only eight women of the eighth century and first half of the ninth century were
commemorated as saints in the tenth.:.century version of the Synaxarion, and of these only
three are specifically noted as opponents of Iconoclasm: Theodosia of Constantinople,
Anthousa of Mantineon, and the empress Theodora?9 Entries for male saints between 700
and 850 significantly outnumber female saints in the Synaxarion, and a higher proportion
of male saints are noted for their resistance to Iconoclasm.3D Furthermore, in the
Synodikon ofOrthodoxy, produced sometime between 843 and 920, only male saints are
27 Alexander Kazhdan and Alice-Mary Talbot, "Women and Iconoclasm," Byzantinische
Zeitschrijt 84/85 (1991/1992); 391-408.
28 Ibid., 395-396.
29 Anthousa of Mantineon was an abbess who suffered torture under Constantine V for her
iconodule beliefs. Persecution of Anthousa ceased after she predicted the birth of a son and daughter to the
emperor and his wife. See Kazhdan and Talbot, "Women and Iconoclasm," 393; Alice-Mary Talbot, "Life
of St. Anthousa of Mantineon," in Byzantine Defenders ofImages: Eight Saints' Lives in English
Translation, ed. Alice-Mary Talbot (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection,
1998), 13-20.
30 Kazhdan and Talbot, "Women and Iconoclasm," 396.
13
included in the section devoted to acclamations of heroes of the iconodule movement.3 !
Thus, a reading of the hagiographic evidence alone suggests that women did not play an
important role in opposing Iconoclasm.
However, a different picture emerges when one examines the correspondence of
Theodore of Stoudios. His letters date to the first half of the ninth century and offer
insight on the role women played in the second phase of Iconoclasm. Almost all of the
female correspondents of Theodore of Stoudios held iconophile views, and a large
number of them maintained their views even when their husbands or other male relatives
were iconoclasts.32 In order to make sense of the evidence, Kazhdan and Talbot
hypothesize that Byzantine society of the eighth century assumed a more patriarchal
character than it had in the previous century, and that this patriarchal tendency incited
women's resistance. They go on to suggest that the iconophile victors inherited the
iconoclasts' misogynist position, creating a society under which women's role in cultural
life decreased, the evidence of women's participation in opposing Iconoclasm was
obscured, and the celebration of saintly women who defended icon veneration was
1· . d 33ImIte .
Judith Herrin has investigated the relationship between women and icons in the
early Christian and Iconoclast periods. Through an examination of women's roles in the
development of icon veneration, she came to the conclusion that the cult of icons was
31 Ibid., 397.
32 Ibid., 398-399.
33 Ibid., 404.
14
particularly suitable to women because of their secluded position within the home and the
limited opportunities available to them in ecclesiasticallife.34 Icons thus offered women,
who were excluded from public services, an unrestricted, personal, and private form of
worship. Upon first reading Byzantine accounts of female devotion to icons, Herrin had
dismissed them as "yet another example of the common slurs on womankind perpetrated
by uniformly male writers.,,35 That is, male writers positioned women as a deviant group
of icon venerators, unable to understand higher points of theology. According to Robin
Cormack, Herrin's initial response to the evidence was correct, and he argues that the
documents of Iconoclasm should be understood as reflective of the discourses of religious
polemics; the textual and visual evidence should be read not as evidence for women, but
as representations of women, written by men. 36 He suggests that the story of rioting
women at the Chalke Gate might have originally been iconoclast polemic, absorbed
somehow into later iconophile writing.3? Thus, for Cormack the iconophile texts are not
to be taken at face value or as historical fact.
A mixture of the above scenarios might offer a possible explanation of the
relationship between women and icons, since these ideas are not necessarily mutually
exclusive. It seems likely that women did have a special affinity for icon veneration and
were subsequently positioned as the deviant group by the iconoclasts. Cormack's
34 Judith Herrin, "Women and the Faith in Icons in Early Christianity," in Culture, Ideology, and
Politics: Essays/or Eric Hobsbawn (Boston Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982),56-83.
35 Ibid., 68.
36 Cormack, "Women and Icons," 24-51.
37 Ibid., 37-38.
15
assertion that iconoclast polemic was subsumed under later iconophile writing seems to
make sense, although it does not necessarily exclude the idea of women as especially
devoted to icons. Even though relatively few women achieved sanctity and are noted in
hagiography for their role in opposing Iconoclasm, it does not mean that women in
general were not opposed to Iconoclasm, as the letters of Theodore of Stoudios seem to
suggest. Kazhdan and Talbot's idea that iconophiles inherited the iconoclasts' misogynist
position and subsequently obscured their role in opposing Iconoclasm would explain
them being underrepresented in hagiographic sources.
Whether or not women in general had a special role in opposing Iconoclasm, it
was St. Theodosia who was credited with attempting to save the Chalke icon of Christ.
Although the confusion surrounding her life and legend may frustrate scholars, her role as
a defender of icons was clearly defined to believers from as early as circa 1000, when her
story first appears in the Menologium ofBasil II. Theodosia developed a cult following,
which grew especially strong during the Palaiologan period (1261-1453). Nearly all
depictions of Theodosia in icons date to this period, and in them Theodosia is represented
alternately in single portraits, in icons with other saints, and in icons of the Triumph of
Orthodoxy, where she is depicted alongside other important iconophile saints. In addition
to the icons that stand as visual evidence of her cult, there are several written accounts of
miracles of healing occurring at her shrine in Constantinople. The written sources are also
useful for the information they provide concerning cult devotion at Theodosia's shrine.
The next chapter will investigate Theodosia's cult during the Palaiologan period,
particularly during the reign of the emperor Andronikos II (1282-1328), through an
examination of the evidence of pilgrimage accounts and the works of the hagiographer
Constantine Akropolites and the historian Georgios Pachymeres.
16
17
CHAPTER III
THE CULT OF ST. THEODOSIA IN THE PALAIOLOGAN PERIOD
The Pa1aio10gan period witnessed a revival of hagiography, which had
experienced a decline in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and during the Latin
occupation (1204-1261).38 With the revival of hagiography also came the increased
production of accounts of miraculous healing. Palaiologan collections of such miracula
were for the most part devoted to saints of previous centuries, indicating a renewed
interest in previously established cultS.39 Theodosia, as an eighth-century martyr, is a
perfect example of such a saint. The hagiographic sources show that Theodosia
developed a significant cult following in Constantinople during the Palaiologan period,
and nearly all of the existing accounts of miraculous healing at her shrine date to this
time. The visual evidence of her surviving icons, all of which date to between the
thirteenth and fifteenth century, provides further proof of the popularity of her cult and
will be discussed in the next chapter. An examination of the cult of Theodosia and a look
at the historical, political, and religious climate of the Palaiologan period follows, in
order to contextualize the icons of Theodosia.
38 Alice-Mary Talbot, "Pilgrimage to Healing Shrines: The Evidence of Miracle Accounts,"
Dumbarton Oaks Papers 56 (2002): 165. On hagiography in the Palaiologan period, see Alice-Mary
Talbot, "Old Wine in New Bottles: The Rewriting of Saints' Lives in the Palaeologan Period," in Twilight
o/Byzantium, ed. Slobodan Curci6 and Doula Mouriki (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, 1991),15-26.
39 Stephanos Efthymiadis, "Late Byzantine Collections of Miracles and Their Implications," in
The Heroes o/the Orthodox Church: The New Saints, 8th_16th c., ed. Eleonora Kountoura-Galake (Athens:
The National Hellenic Research Foundation, 2004), 241.
18
The Church of Theodosia, built soon after the end ofIconoclasm in 843, is
generally accepted as located on the north coast of Constantinople on the slope leading
down to the gate now known as the Aya kapl (fig. 9).40 This gate, located in the sea walls
along the Golden Horn, has been identified as the Byzantine Gate of 51. Theodosia.41 It is
unclear whether the body buried in the Church of Theodosia is that of Theodosia of
Caesara (Tyre) or of Theodosia of Constantinople.42 The identities of the two saints seem
to have merged during the fourteenth century, when the relic in the church along the
Golden Horn was assumed to be the body of Theodosia of Constantinople.43 This is
reflected by the fact that synaxaria dating from 1071 through the fourteenth century list
the feast day of 51. Theodosia of Constantinople as 18 July, but the Cod. Coisl. gr. 223,
40 Schafer's archaeological study has shown that the traditional identification of Gill Camii, or
Rose Mosque, with the Church of St. Theodosia is incorrect. Hartrnut Schafer, Die Gill Camii in Istanbul.
Ein Beitrag zur mittelbyzantinischen Kirchenarchitektur Konstantinopels, IstMitt, Suppl. 7 (Tilbingen,
1973),82-85, as cited in George P. Majeska, Russian Travelers to Constantinople in the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Centuries (Washington, D.C., Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1984),347.
41 Majeska, Russian Travelers, 347; Aran, "Church of St. Theodosia," 211.
42 Anthony of Novgorod claims to have seen Theodosia's body near the Monastery of S1. Aninas
in the southwest part of Constantinople in 1200. Russian pilgrims of the fourteenth century alternately
record the body of Theodosia of Constantinople as housed in the Kyra Martha Convent, located on the
hillside south of the Church of the Holy Apostles in the central part of Constantinople, and in a nunnery
bearing the saint's name. Since these accounts differ from Anthony's description of the location of
Theodosia's relics, Majeska argues that Theodosia's body was transferred to Kyra Martha sometime
between 1200 and 1349. The fifteenth-century pilgrim Zosimos, however, does not mention Theodosia's
body among the relics he saw at Kyra Martha and places it in the Monastery of Christ Evergetes instead,
suggesting that by the fifteenth century Theodosia's cult had been completely merged with that of St.
Theodosia of Caesara (Tyre), whose body lay in the church overlooking the Golden Horn. See Majeska,
Russian Travelers, 346-351.
43 Majeska argues that the Church of Theodosia on the Golden Horn originally housed the body of
Theodosia of Caesarea, not Theodosia of Constantinople. For one, the patronal feast of the church was
originally 29 May, the feast day ofSt. Theodosia of Caesarea. Furthermore, Stephen ofNovgorod, the
Russian Anonymous, and Alexander the Clerk record seeing the body of Theodosia in the Kyra Martha
Convent and two of them specify that it was the Theodosia who was killed with a goat horn; this must be
Theodosia of Constantinople. In the same text, however, Stephen and the Anonymous pilgrim see the relics
of Theodosia in a shrine overlooking the Golden Horn. Majeska points out that this must be the body of
Theodosia of Caesara. See Majeska, Russian Travelers, 350.
19
dated 1301, records the saint's feast day as 29 May, the feast day of Theodosia of
Caesarea, and subsequent synaxaria list this date as well.44
Russian pilgrims who traveled to Constantinople have described cult practices
that took place at Theodosia's shrine in their accounts. As early as 1200 Anthony of
Novgorod records that Theodosia's relics were contained in a silver casket and carried in
procession through Constantinople and used to heal the sick.45 Stephen ofNovgorod
(1349) describes what he saw at Theodosia's shrine:
Then we returned from there [the Monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian] to the
city and went to the convent near the sea named after St. Theodosia the Virgin
where we kissed her [body]. It is quite wonderful; every Wednesday and Friday is
like a holiday [there]. Many men and women contribute candles, oil, and alms,
and many sick people suffering from various diseases lie [there] on beds, receive
cures, and enter the church. Others are carried in and are laid before her one at
a time. She intercedes, and those who are ill receive healing. Singers chant from
morning to the ninth hour, and so they perform the liturgy late.46
Stephen's description tells us that both men and women sought healing from Theodosia
and that her relics were used to cure a variety of ailments. The Russian Anonymous
(1390s) writes:
You go east from there [the Monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian] to St.
Theodosia. There is a Monastery of St. Theodosia; the body of St. Theodosia
reposes there. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday they carry her and place
her on the sick, and healing comes from her.47
44 Aran, "Church of Saint Theodosia," 212.
45 Majeska, Russian Travelers, 349.
46 Ibid., 346-347.
47 Ibid., 150.
20
Thus, according to Anthony and the Russian Anonymous Chronicle, Theodosia's relics
were carried in procession and placed on the sick to promote healing, whereas according
to Stephen people visited Theodosia's relics within her church to receive cures. It is
likely that on feast days people were cured through contact with her relics carried in
procession, while at other times people received cures within the church. These accounts
demonstrate the widespread popularity of Theodosia's shrine as a site of pilgrimage and
miraculous healing. Although the accounts of Russian pilgrims do not record seeing icons
of Theodosia at her shrine, they were no doubt present, since icons were integral to the
cult devotion of any saint. Furthermore, at least one of the encomia written for Theodosia
mentions an icon of the saint.
We know of three encomia written for St. Theodosia. The earliest, composed by
an anonymous author, is preserved in the twelfth-century manuscript at Mount Athos,
Koutloumousiou Monastery, cod. 109.48 Ioannis Stavrakios, deacon and chartophylax in
Thessaloniki, wrote another encomium for the saint in the thirteenth century, although the
text remains unpublished.49 Constantine Akropolites, the most prolific hagiographer
during the Palaiologan period, wrote a third encomium for Theodosia around the year
1300.50 Akropolites, termed "the new Metaphrastes," was the son of the historian George
48 M. I. Gedeon has published part of the text, which he considers a vita of St. Theodosia.
According to this work, after the Chalke Gate incident Theodosia returned to her convent near Skoteinon
Phrear and was martyred ten years later at Leomakellon under Constantine V (741-775). See M. Gedeon,
Bui;;av'l"LVDV 'Eop'L"oMYlOV (Constantinople, 1899), 130-133, as cited in Constas, "Life of St. Theodosia of
Constantinople," n. 10.
49 Mouriki, "Portraits of Theodosia," 216, n. 17.
50 Sermo in S. Martyrem Theodosiam, Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca 140:893-936,
as cited in Constas, "Life of St. Theodosia of Constantinople," 3.
21
Akropolites and had served the emperor Andronikos II (1282-1328) as logothetes tou
genikou and later as megas logothetes, from 1294-1321.51
At the end of his encomium, Akropolites describes three miraculous healings that
took place at the shrine of Theodosia. The healed included Akropolites himself, his son-
in-law, Michael ofTrebizond, and a crippled boy; each was cured through contact with
Theodosia's relics and anointment with oil from the lamp that hung at her shrine. The
first miracle involves a severely crippled boy who was unable to walk upright and was
forced to drag himself along the ground. Akropolites, familiar with the boy, was amazed
to see him standing straight up one day. The youth told Akropolites that he had been
taken to Theodosia's shrine where he had anointed himself with oil from the lamp that
hung above her reliquary. Upon doing so, he miraculously regained the use of his limbs
and kissed Theodosia's icon in gratitude.52 The icon mentioned here likely had much in
common with the icons of Theodosia that will be discussed in the following chapter. This
account confirms the obvious: that icons of Theodosia were present at her shrine and
were part of devotion to her cult. Akropolites also recounts the miraculous healings of
Michael of Trebizond and himself. A riding accident had left Michael in a coma from
which he awakened in a deranged state. After doctors tried unsuccessfully to cure
Michael by bleeding him, Akropolites took him to the shrine of 8t. Theodosia, where he
was miraculously healed through contact with her relics and anointment with oil from her
51 Talbot, "Old Wine in New Bottles," 17.
52 Alice-Mary Talbot, "Healing Shrines in Late Byzantine Constantinople," in The
'Constantinople and Its Legacy' Series. The Hellenic Canadian Association o/Constantinople (Toronto,
2000),10.
22
lamp.53 Akropolites was also healed at the shrine of Theodosia. He had been kicked in the
legs by a horse and long suffered from chronic pain. Doctors proved ineffective, but he
was miraculously healed when he visited the shrine of St. Theodosia.54 Akropolites'
encomium was probably connected to the growing reputation of Theodosia's shrine as a
site of miraculous healing, and was likely written either in gratitude for the cures of
himself and his son-in-law or as a commissioned piece.55 Andronikos II might even have
commissioned Akropolites' work, since some encomia were meant to be read at the
dedication ceremonies of churches restored by the emperor.
Another account of miraculous healing at Theodosia's shrine comes from the
historian Georgios Pachymeres, who recorded the miraculous cure of a deaf and mute
boy, Pegonites, in 1306.56 The boy had a dream in which Theodosia appeared to him and
pointed him to her shrine.57 After the boy visited her church and anointed himself with
the oil from her lamp, his hearing and voice were miraculously restored. The event
attracted the attention of the emperor Andronikos II, who requested that the cured boy be
tested in the presence of the patriarch.58 After witnessing the boy's cure, the emperor,
53 Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca 140:925D-932A as cited in Talbot, "Old Wine in
New Bottles," 18.
54 Ibid., 140:932A-933B.
55 Talbot, "Old Wine in New Bottles," 18.
56 Georges Pachymeres, Relations Historiques, ed. A. Failler [CFHB 24/4], Paris 1999),
XI.32:497-50 1.
57 Efthymiadis, "Late Byzantine Collections of Miracles," 243.
58 Ibid., 243.
23
accompanied by the patriarch and the senate, held an all-night vigil of thanksgiving at the
Church of Theodosia.59
The visit paid by Andronikos II to Theodosia's church is of interest because it
provides evidence for significant imperial involvement with her cult. Constantine
Akropolites' encomium further supports the idea of official involvement with her cult,
because Akropolites was a trusted official of Andronikos II and part of the imperial elite.
Thus, there seems to have been imperial promotion of Theodosia's shrine as a site of
healing. Andronikos II's participation with the cult of Theodosia was not unique;
imperial involvement with healing cults was widely documented during his reign. The
fourteenth-century writer Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos recorded the miracula that
occurred at the shrine of the Theotokos of the Pege, which was built over a spring whose
waters had miraculous healing powers. In addition to recounting miracles that occurred
there in the tenth century, Xanthopoulos included seventeen contemporary miraculous
cures. Among the beneficiaries the author includes Andronikos' son Michael IX and his
daughter-in-law Eudocia.60 Xanthopoulos praises Andronikos II by associating his reign
with the occurrence of countless miracles.61 Xanthopoulos also authored an account of
miracles taking place at the healing shrine of Saint Euphrosyne the Younger. He includes
the first and second wives of Andronikos II as two of the recipients of miraculous
59 Georgii Pachymeris de Michaele et Andronico Palaeologis libri tredecim, ed. Immanuel
Bekker, 2 vols. (Bonn: Weber, 1835),2:452-55, as cited in Constas, "Life of 81. Theodosia of
Constantinople," 3.
60 Efthymiadis, "Late Byzantine Collections of Miracles," 248.
61 Ibid., 248.
24
healing.62 These accounts suggest Andronikos' own participation in the healing cults of
saints, which would have been further promoted by the miraculous cures of the imperial
family.
Alice-Mary Talbot, who has studied healing miracula in Byzantium, notes that
there are three periods of intense interest in pilgrimage to healing shrines: the fifth to
early-seventh century, the post-Iconoclastic period of c. 850-1000, and the period in the
late thirteenth century following the Latin occupation; she suggests that increased
pilgrimage to healing shrines was "a reaction to triumph over crises within the Church
and empire."63 The increased pilgrimage to healing shrines most likely occurred in
tandem with an increase in the number of miracles being performed at the shrines. The
hagiographic sources seem to suggest that the efficacy of healing shrines was linked to a
harmonious political and religious climate within the Empire. Talbot proposes a
connection between the abundance of miracula and the spiritual climate under the pious
Andronikos II and suggests that a number of texts were composed to mark the
consecration of new or restored churches or to revive their cultS.64
With regard to miracles occurring at the shrine of Theodosia, the following can be
observed. The accounts of Russian pilgrims show that miracles were believed to have
occurred at the shrine of Theodosia as early as 1200, when Anthony ofNovgorod
witnessed the use of Theodosia's relics to heal the sick. Theodosia's healing powers are
documented throughout the fourteenth century, and cult practices at her shrine seem to
62 Talbot, "Healing Shrines," 11-12.
63 Talbot, "Pilgrimage to Healing Shrines," 168.
64 Talbot, "Healing Shrines," 24; Talbot, "Old Wine in New Bottles," 26.
25
have been set in place by the middle of the fourteenth century. Stephen of Novgorod and
the Russian Anonymous provide similar descriptions on the festivities that took place at
her shrine every Monday (according to Stephen), Wednesday, and Friday. The two texts
by Akropolites and Pachymeres offer the most detailed descriptions of miracles occurring
at Theodosia's shrine, and both were written during the reign of Andronikos II. Although
none of the icons of Theodosia discussed in this thesis is dated securely to the reign of
Andronikos, it is easy to imagine the creation of icons of the saint during this time, since
the emperor played a role in promoting Theodosia's cult.
The fact that the icons of Theodosia all roughly date to the Palaiologan period
reflects the strength of her cult during this time and the reputation of her shrine as a
miraculous site of healing. Important events and issues of the Palaiologan period might
shed light on the prevalence of icons of Theodosia during this era. An exploration of the
issues that faced Byzantium in the Palaiologan period follows in order to contextualize
the icons of Theodosia and to help understand her inclusion in representations of the
Triumph of Orthodoxy, which will be discussed later.
The Palaiologan period begins with the restoration of Constantinople in 1261 by
the emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (1259-1282). The capital had been under
occupation by the Latin Crusaders since 1204. Hagiographers of the Palaiologan period
often write of the interruption of miraculous activities during the time of the Latin
occupation of Constantinople. This is not surprising, considering the fact that Byzantine
hagiographers tended to be both anti-Unionist and anti-Latin. Miracles had reportedly
ceased to occur at Theodosia's shrine in Constantinople during the time of the Latin
26
occupation.65 Miracles also ceased to occur at the monastery of 8ts. Kosmas and Damian
at the Kosmidion during the Latin occupation, according to Maximos the Deacon.66
These examples suggest that the Latin occupation of Constantinople was viewed as a
period of adulterated sanctity.
Once Constantinople was restored to Byzantine rule, Michael VIII focused on
strengthening what was left of the Empire after the Latin occupation. In 1274, Michael
VIII made a strategic diplomatic move to reunite the churches of Rome and
Constantinople under the Union of Lyons. The Union was politically necessary for it
aligned Michael with the papacy and ensured that Charles of Anjou could not lead a
religious crusade against Byzantium; however, monks, clerics, and a large majority of the
population were staunchly anti-Unionist and saw the Union as anathema to Orthodoxy.
Andronikos II's first official act as emperor was to reverse the unpopular policy
of political and religious Union with the West that his father had established. The
emperor Andronikos II ascended the throne when his father, Michael VIII, died on
December 11, 1282. The empire was in religious turmoil, and the controversy over the
Union of the churches was just one of the problems Andronikos II faced upon his ascent
to the throne. The empire he inherited was in disrepair. The financial situation was
deplorable; the treasury was empty and the coinage devalued. Michael VIn had neglected
Asia Minor, which was not adequately defended, and almost all of it had been lost to the
Turks. The new emperor faced the hostility of western powers including Venice, Angevin
65 Majeska, Russian Travelers, 349, n. 74.
66 Efthymiadis, "Late Byzantine Collections of Miracles," 242.
27
Naples, the papacy, and France. Needless to say, Andronikos had many challenges to
face upon his ascent to the throne, challenges that the Empire would continue to face until
its demise in 1453.
The major goals of Andronikos' religious policy were to restore Orthodoxy and to
bring peace and unity to the Byzantine Church. Andronikos II was a deeply religious man
whose personal piety guided many of his decisions as emperor.67 The reversal of the
Union of Lyons greatly improved relations between the emperor and the Byzantine
clergy, and the spiritual climate under Andronikos II was one of increased religiosity. Of
the saints who lived during this period, most were of monastic background, and many
were noted for their opposition to the Union of Lyons.68 The efflorescence of
hagiographical accounts of miraculous healing during the reign of Andronikos II, such as
the descriptions of miracles attributed to Theodosia, reflects the return to a more
Orthodox rule.
Devotion to Theodosia's cult during the Palaiologan period can be explained in
part by the political and religious state of affairs, particularly during the reign of
Andronikos II. As Constantinople was restored to Byzantine rule under Michael VIII, the
city underwent a revitalization that included church building and restoration, and which
continued to be carried out under Andronikos II. The restoration of Constantinople seems
67 On the foreign policy of Andronikos II, see Angeliki E. Laiou, Constantinople and the Latins:
The Foreign Policy ofAndronicus 111282-1328 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972).
68 See Ruth Macrides, "Saints and Sainthood in the Early Palaiologan Period," in The Byzantine
Saint. University ofBirmingham Fourteenth Spring Symposium ofByzantine Studies, ed. Sergei Hackel
(London: Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, 1981),67-87; Interestingly, there are no new female
saints documented during the Palaiologan period. See Talbot, "Old Wine in New Bottles," 15-16.
28
to be connected to the promotion of healing shrines and cult devotion, especially to
previously established cults of older saints, such as Theodosia. The renewed interest in
the cults of older saints offers yet another explanation to the prevalence of icons of
Theodosia dating to the Palaiologan period. The healing cult of Theodosia flourished in
the Late Byzantine period, an era of increasingly troubled times, as the Empire faced
imminent collapse. The image of Theodosia would have recalled in the mind of the
viewer the miraculous healing powers of the saint as well as her role as a heroic defender
of icons. In an idea that will be explained further in Chapter four, Theodosia's image
would have also been associated with Orthodoxy, which was understood as vital to the
survival of the Byzantine Empire.
29
CHAPTER IV
THE ICONS OF ST. THEODOSIA
Icons that feature female saints are extremely rare in Byzantine art, which makes
the relatively large number of icons of Theodosia all the more interesting. The seven
icons of Theodosia range in date roughly from the early thirteenth century to the first half
of the fifteenth century, placing them for the most part in the Palaiologan period (1261­
1453). There are five icons of Theodosia in the Monastery of Saint Catherine at Sinai
(figs. 2-6). In addition to these, there is one large icon of Theodosia in Naxos (fig. 7) and
another in the Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki (fig. 8).
The icons of Theodosia follow a standardized iconography. A strong nose, small
fleshy mouth, and large brown eyes characterize Theodosia's face, and she is dressed in
the garb of a nun, complete with chiton, mantle, and headdress. In all of the icons
Theodosia carries a cross, symbolizing her status as a martyr saint. Theodosia is depicted
with the attribute of an icon of Christ (presumably the Chalke icon) in one of the Sinai
icons, as well as in representations of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (figs. 1, 4, 18-20). The
figure of Theodosia is represented in bust-length in three of the icons and in full-length in
the other four.
The majority of the icons of Theodosia are located in the Monastery of Saint
Catherine at Sinai, which contains the largest collection of icons in the world, numbering
over two thousand. Between 548 and 565, the Byzantine emperor Justinian (527-565)
30
built the fortified monastery and church, which was originally dedicated to the
Theotokos. Around the tenth or eleventh century the relics of St. Catherine of Alexandria
were translated to the monastery, and it was subsequently renamed in her honor. St.
Catherine had already been widely venerated in the West, and the translation of her relics
brought the monastery even greater prestige. The impressive collection of icons housed in
the monastery is one of the great treasures of the world, and includes some of the earliest
extant icons, which escaped Iconoclasm because Sinai was no longer part of the
Byzantine Empire after the Islamic conquests of the seventh century.
There are problems concerning the study of icons at Sinai and their attribution.
Kurt Weitzmann has studied the collection, and divides the icons into three
chronologically organized groups: (l) sixth through early seventh century; (2) later
seventh through the first half of the ninth century; and (3) later ninth through the tenth
century.69 Weitzmann's methodology is problematic in part because his dating relies on
his comparison of the Sinai icons with each other. His method, however, is
understandable given the lack of comparanda from the sixth through tenth centuries
outside of Sinai. His dating of the icons is based almost entirely on his analysis of their
formal qualities, as none of the icons belonging to this period bear evidence of
provenance, date, or artist. With regard to provenance, it is important to remember that
while some of the icons housed at Sinai were actually made there, others were made by
69 See Kurt Weitzmann, The Monastery ofSaint Catherine at Mount Sinai, the Icons (Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976).
31
artists elsewhere and brought to the monastery either by monks or pilgrims. Furthennore,
artists from outside of Sinai could have come to the monastery to paint icons in situ.
The earliest of the five Sinai icons of St. Theodosia dates to the early thirteenth
century (fig. 2).70 This work is the most frequently published icon of Theodosia, and is
generally accepted as being from Constantinople,71 The small scale of the panel and the
thickness of the board suggest that the icon might have been placed on a proskynetarion,
a stand used for the display and veneration of icons on a saint's feast day, or used for
private devotion.72 This is the largest of the five Sinai icons of Theodosia. The icon is
made of tempera and gold on wood, and the reverse side is covered with white gesso. The
icon's gold is of high quality and in very good condition, with evidence of red
underpainting underneath. The inscription, HArIA eEOiJOCIA, written in red, identifies
the saint. The half-length figure of Theodosia holds a gold martyr's cross with her left
hand and holds her right hand, palm outwards, in a gesture of acknowledgement. The
face and clothing of Theodosia are delicately modeled with highlights. A finely incised
nimbus surrounds her head. Theodosia is dressed in the garb of a nun with a pinkish-
brown chiton, a purple-brown mantle, and a black headdress.73 This costume is typical:
70 I am relying on Doula Mouriki's dating of the Sinai icons. See Mouriki, "Portraits ofSt.
Theodosia," 213-219.
71 On this icon, see Robert S. Nelson and Kristen M. CoIlins, ed., Holy Image, Hallowed Ground:
Iconsfrom Sinai (Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2006), cat. no. 46, 241; Konstantinos A.
Manafis, ed., Sinai: Treasures ofthe Monastery ofSaint Catherine (Athens: Ekdotike Athenon, 1990), 1I I,
fig. 39; Helen C. Evans, ed., Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557) (New York: The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, 2004), cat. no. 238, 383.
72 Mouriki, "Portraits of St. Theodosia," 213.
73 On the headdress worn by St. Theodosia, see Galavaris, "Two Icons ofSt. Theodosia," 315-316.
32
St. Phevronia, a nun who was martyred under Diocletian (284-305), wears a similar
costume in an icon from Sinai (fig. 11).74
The high quality of the image and the Constantinopolitan origins of the saint
suggest that this icon might have been brought from the "Byzantine capital to Sinai. The
presence of five icons of Theodosia at Sinai might indicate a close relationship between
the Monastery of Saint Catherine and Constantinople, the center of Theodosia's cult,
since no chapel of Theodosia has been identified in the monastery or nearby.75 It would
be useful to know more about the relations of the monastery with Constantinople during
the Palaiologan period. Their small size suggests that Sinai icons were probably used
primarily for private devotion. Monks at the monastery likely venerated the icons of
Theodosia, since female monastic saints could serve as models for both nuns and monks.
The next Sinai icon of Theodosia also dates to the early thirteenth century (fig. 3).
The icon is made of tempera and gold on wood and the back of the panel is covered in
white gesso decorated with red brushstrokes. The saint's name, HArIA eEOLJOCIA, is
inscribed on the front of the icon. Here Theodosia is represented in full-length, holding a
cross in her right hand and making a gesture of acknowledgment with her left hand. She
wears a light brown chiton, a black analabos, a red brown mantle, and a black head
74 This is the only panel of St. Phevronia preserved at the Monastery of Saint Catherine. On this
icon, see Doula Mouriki, "Icons from the 12th to the 15th Century," in Sinai: Treasures ofthe Monastery of
Saint Catherine, ed. Konstantinos A. Manafis (Athens: Ekdotike Athenon, 1990), 111, fig. 38.
75 See Evans, Byzantium: Faith and Power, cat. no. 238, 383; Mouriki, "Portraits of St.
Theodosia," 219.
33
covering.76 A small nimbus is incised around her head. This icon has much in common
with the previous one in terms of the way Theodosia's face. and headdress are rendered.
The next icon of Theodosia dates to the middle of the fourteenth century and is
located in the Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki (fig. 8). Theodosia is rendered
in half-length, with a nimbus surrounding her head. She holds a thin cross with her right
hand and makes a gesture of prayer with her left. A folded wimple decorated with trim
drapes her highpolos. The turban-like headdress can be compared to that in the Sinai
icon of Nicholas and Theodosia (fig. 6). Sharply delineated folds characterize the
costume in this icon, and the neck covering is not as pronounced as in the Naxos icon
(fig. 7). The panel is highly abraded, especially in the lower-right corner.
The next icon of Theodosia is located at Sinai and dates to around 1400 (fig. 4).77
The back ofthe icon is covered with white gesso painted red brown. There are traces of
two hinges on the left side of the panel, indicating that the icon formed the right leaf of a
diptych or triptych. Mouriki suggests that the missing leaf may have depicted one of the
protagonists of the iconophile cause, such as Stephen the Younger or Theodore of
Stoudios.78 The full-length figure of Theodosia stands under an arch in relief and on a
green ground. Images of single saints are generally represented in busts or in half-figures;
full-length figures are usually found in icons with more than one saint,79 This would be
76 Since I was not able to view the next four Sinai icons in person, I have relied here on
photographs and Doula Mouriki's descriptions. See Mouriki, "Portraits of St. Theodosia," 213-219.
77 On this icon of Theodosia, see Galavaris, "Two Icons of St. Theodosia," 313-316.
78 Mouriki, "Portraits of St. Theodosia," 214.
79 Galavaris, "Two Icons ofSt. Theodosia," 315.
34
the case with this icon, since the missing leaf must have included another saint.
Theodosia's name is inscribed, H AT(za) eEOi1[O]CIA. The saint wears an olive chiton,
a black analabos, a red brown mantle, and a black headdress with a grayish-white
covering over her neck. Theodosia holds a thin gold cross with her right hand and with
her left an icon of Christ, presumably meant to represent the Chalkites icon of Christ.
Several tiny punched-out holes surround the figure of the saint, revealing that the icon
had once been covered with a metallic revetment.80 This icon has several characteristics
that set it apart from the others in the Sinai group. The light-colored neck covering and
the icon of Christ that Theodosia holds are not present in the other icons of Theodosia
from Sinai, nor is the integrated arch under which the saint stands. This is also the only
icon to evidently have been covered with a metallic revetment.
Another icon of Theodosia from Sinai dates to the early fifteenth century (fig.
5).81 A cross, surrounded by foliate decoration, is carved into the back of the panel (fig.
10).82 The cross is inverted, which suggests that the panel had a prior use and was reused
for the depiction of Theodosia.83 The gold ground, which is only preserved around the
saint's head, is highly abraded and reveals an orange ochre underpainting. The inscription
of Theodosia's name is partly preserved: H [O]C[IA] e[EOi1]OCIA. A small nimbus is
80 Mouriki, "Portraits of St. Theodosia," 214.
81 On this icon, see Galavaris, "Two Icons of St. Theodosia," 313-316; John Galey, Sinai and the
Monastery a/St. Catherine (Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1980), fig. 68.
82 The carved design is associated with Coptic works. See Mouriki, "Portraits of St. Theodosia,"
215.
83 Ibid., 215.
35
incised around her head. Theodosia stands on a strip of ground painted red and is
represented in full length. The inclusion of a painted ground is similar to that in the
previous icon (fig. 4). Theodosia holds a thin cross in her right hand and makes a gesture
of speech or blessing with her left hand. She wears a red brown chiton, brown mantle,
and red brown headdress. Her costume resembles female monastic garb as represented in
some works from the thirteenth century on.84
The fifth Sinai icon of Theodosia is the only example of the group that pairs
Theodosia with another saint, St. Nicholas of Myra (fig. 6). It dates to the early fifteenth
century. The back is covered with white gesso decorated with wavy brushstrokes in red.
Two hinges on the left edge indicate that the panel was the right leaf of a diptych or
triptych, similar to the earlier Sinai icon (fig. 4). The diptych or triptych form of the icon
suggests that it had a more complex theological program. The icon was likely intended
for the private devotion due to its small size.85 Inscriptions identify both saints.
Theodosia's name reads, H Ar(za) ArIA (sic) eE[OjiJOCIA. Theodosia and Nicholas are
each represented in full-length. Theodosia holds a double cross with her right hand and
holds her left palm outwards in a gesture of acknowledgement. She wears a deep olive
chiton, a black analabos, a red brown mantle, and a black headdress. Nicholas, dressed in
a bishop's garb, wears an omophorion decorated with large crosses. He holds a Gospel
book in his right hand and gestures to the left. The figures of both Nicholas and
Theodosia are each depicted with the left leg slightly bent.
84 Ibid., n. 9.
85 Ibid., 215.
36
St. Nicholas of Myra is a composite of two different homonymous saints, the
fourth-century bishop of Myra and the sixth-century Nicholas of Sion, co-founder and
archimandrite of the monastery of Sion. By the tenth century the cult of Nicholas of Sion
was subsumed by that of Nicholas of Myra, with the miracles of Nicholas of Sion added
to the rather sparse life story of Nicholas of Myra.86 This conflation is parallel to that of
St. Theodosia of Constantinople and St. Theodosia of Caesara. The popularity of St.
Nicholas of Myra is interesting because he was not martyred, he left no theological
writings, and his name is virtually never mentioned in polemical literature of the eighth
and ninth centuries.87 Ninth-century writers, however, lauded Nicholas's staunch
Orthodoxy and his effectiveness as a miracle-worker.
The pairing ofNicholas and Theodosia is interesting for several reasons. For one,
the fact that Theodosia is shown next to one of the most widely revered saints
underscores her own importance. The feast day of St. Nicholas is 6 December and
Theodosia's feast day is 16 July, which eliminates the possibility of a calendrical
arrangement.88 It is not known which other saints were included in the missing leaf(s),
but we can hypothesize why Nicholas and Theodosia were paired. Both were staunch
defenders of Orthodoxy; St. Theodosia defended icons and St. Nicholas was active in
driving out paganism and eliminating heresy in his see.
86 Nancy P. Sevcenko, The Life a/St. Nicholas in Byzantine Art (Torino: Bottega D'Erasmo,
1983),19.
87 Ibid., 22.
88 Such a chronological arrangement can be found at Staro Nagoricino and Pee, where Saints
Yakinthos and Aimilianos accompanied St. Theodosia.
37
The large icon of St. Theodosia from Naxos is dated to the first half of the
fifteenth century and is meant for placement on the iconostasis (fig. 7).89 The bust-length
figure of Theodosia is represented under an arch supported by two columns. The arch
frames the saint in a similar manner as the Sinai icon from circa 1400 (fig. 4). In the
Naxos icon Theodosia grasps a substantial gold cross in her right hand and holds her left
hand palm outwards. She wears a cream-colored scarf around her neck, as does the figure
in the Sinai icon mentioned above (fig. 4). Her olive-green wimple, bordered in gold,
falls over a high polos. Chrysanthi Baltoyanni has focused on the iconographic elements
of Theodosia's dress in the Naxos icon, and points out that the highpolos was a
distinctive trait of saintly women of high birth, like Theodosia.
The icons of Theodosia share certain characteristics with images of other female
saints. Most female saints, with the exception of ascetics, are represented as young and
beautiful, with a facial type consisting of large eyes, fleshy faces, and plump lips. A
round face was considered by the Byzantines to be a mark ofbeauty.9o Female martyrs
are generally represented with a simple maphorion covering the head, closed at the
breast, and usually hold a cross in the right hand and make a gesture of prayer with the
left. Three Sinai icons of St. Marina, a martyr under Diocletian, include these features
(figs. 12_14).91 Certain female saints have identifying attributes, like Theodosia's icon of
89 Chrysanthi BaltoY\ll1ni, "An leon of Saint Theodosia the Constantinopolitan in Naxos," (In
Greek) Deltion tes Christianikes Archaiologikes Hetaireias KB (2001), 227.
90 Henry Maguire, The Icons o/their Bodies: Saints and their Images in Byzantium (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1996.
91 St. Catherine, who is depicted with Marina in two of the Sinai icons, was also a martyr, but she
is not shown wearing a simple maphorion; instead, she is clad in imperial dress since she was a princess of
38
Christ (fig. 4). In an icon from Thessaloniki, St. Anastasia the Healer (Pharmakolytria) is
depicted with her attributes of a green maphorion and a vessel of healing balm, as in an
icon from Thessaloniki (fig. 15).92
Although the icons of Theodosia have much in common with depictions of other
female saints, there are some notable differences. The light scarf wrapped around
Theodosia's neck in two of the icons is a distinctive trait (figs. 4, 7). The neck covering is
also present in the representations of Theodosia at Bogorodica Ljeviska and at Staro
NagoriCino.93 Mouriki points out the Western influence exhibited by the neck covering,
which is similar to the Western wimple in the garb of nuns and other women in Western
art, such as in the depiction of St. Anne in the frescoes by Ugolino di Prete Hario in the
Duomo of Orvieto (figs. 16, 17).94 However, in the icons of Theodosia a high rectangular
polos accompanies the scarf The rectangular headdress, without the scarf, is represented
in the early fifteenth century Sinai icon of Theodosia (fig. 5). Baltoyanni argues that the
scarf worn around her neck alludes to her martyrdom by emphasizing the site of her fatal
wound. She cites the twelfth-century MS 109 in the Koutloumousiou monastery, the
Jerusalem Stavros codex 40, a vita of Theodosia by Nikodemos the Athonite, and the
Alexandria. The pairing of Catherine and Marina is probably due to the fact that the sixth-century Church
of St. Catherine contained a chapel specially dedicated to Marina. On these icons, see Jaroslav Folda, "The
Saint Marina Icon: Maniera Cypria, Lingua Franca, or Crusader Art?," in Four Icons in the Menil
Collection, ed. Bertrand Davezac (Houston: Menil Foundation, 1992), 114-117.
92 On this icon, see Evans, Byzantium: Faith and Power, cat. no. 115, 195; Yuri Piatnitsky, ed.
Sinai, Byzantium, Russia: Orthodox Artfrom the Sixth to the Twentieth Century (London: Saint Catherine
Foundation, 2000), cat. no. B126, 150-151.
93 Baltoyanni, "An Icon of Saint Theodosia," 227.
94 See Mouriki, "Portraits of St. Theodosia," 214, n. 6; See also, Galavaris, "Two Icons of St.
Theodosia," 316.
39
encomia of Constantine Akropolites, which all tell of the saint's grisly execution by a
ram's horn to her throat.95 The iconography of the scarftogether with the high
rectangular polos seems to be unique to Theodosia, but these elements have not been
examined. A thorough study of the costume of nuns and a more systematic study of the
icons of female saints needs to be undertaken.
The relatively large number of icons of Theodosia underscores the importance of
the saint. As previously mentioned, the five Sinai icons outnumber the representations of
other female saints (excluding the Virgin and St. Catherine) at the monastery. The
presence of five icons of Theodosia at Sinai suggests her popularity there, and reflects a
connection between Constantinople, where her cult was centered, and the monastery. The
popularity of the cult of Theodosia becomes more apparent when the Naxos icon and the
Thessaloniki icon of Theodosia are considered together with the five Sinai icons. The
seven icons of Theodosia stand together as important visual documents of the strength of
Theodosia's cult. The icons seem to suggest that the cult of Theodosia reached beyond
the capital, since it is unlikely that they were all created in Constantinople.
The fact that the image of Theodosia developed a standardized iconography is
further evidence of the importance of the saint, and might suggest a greater pictorial
tradition in icons. Of course, there is no way of knowing just how many icons of
Theodosia actually existed. As is the case with the icons of other female saints, other
extant icons may not yet be published. A systematic study of the icons of female saints is
much needed. Such a study would provide valuable comparative material and should
95 See Baltoyanni, "An Icon of St. Theodosia," 227-228.
40
include the icons of Theodosia, which stand as important examples of the representation
of female saints.
41
CHAPTER V
ST. THEODOSIA IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM ICON OF THE TRIUMPH
OF ORTHODOXY
The British Museum icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy dates to about 1400 and
represents the celebration of the official end ofIconoclasm on 11 March 843, when a
Constantinopolitan church council declared icons as integral to Orthodox Christian
practice (fig. 1). The event is commemorated each year in the Orthodox Church as the
Festival of Orthodoxy on the first Sunday of Lent. The British Museum icon most likely
functioned as the display icon for devotion in a church on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. The
British Museum icon is the earliest known pictorial representation of the restoration of
icons and includes an image of Theodosia in the lower left section of the panel.
Theodosia and the empress Theodora (who presided over the Restoration of the Holy
Images while serving as regent for her son Michael III (843-867)) are the only two
female saints depicted in the icon. This chapter will compare their images, and examine
Theodosia's image in the British Museum icon in light of the evidence surrounding her
cult and the political and religious milieu of the Palaiologan period.
The British Museum icon is divided into two horizontal registers and depicts
important defenders of image veneration, some of whom who played a part in ending
Iconoclasm. The icon also features the "icon-within-an-icon" of the Virgin and Child in
the center of the upper register of the panel and two smaller ones of Christ in the lower
42
register. The large central icon represents one of the most renowned icons of
Constantinople, the Hodegetria. It is believed that the evangelist St. Luke painted the
Hodegetria from life, and regardless of whether or not that was the case, it was
considered an authentic portrait of the Virgin and Child. A miracle-working icon, it
functioned as the palladium of Constantinople. It was housed in the Monastery of the
Hodegetria in Constantinople and was carried in a public procession every Tuesday. In
the British Museum icon, the Hodegetria rests on a red draped podea with red curtains
drawn back, and is carried by two members of the confraternity, wearing red robes and
domed hats. They are depicted with angels' wings, added to elevate the confraternity and
the feast to a "heavenly" or "liturgical" level.96
The British Museum icon depicts several important iconophiles, many of whom
were directly involved with the re-establishment of Orthodoxy. In the upper left corner of
the icon, in imperial dress, stand the regent empress Theodora and her young son,
Michael III, who ruled the Byzantine Empire at the time of the official ending of
Iconoclasm in 843. All of the figures in the icon are identified with inscriptions, though
many of these are considerably abraded. To the right of the Hodegetria icon is the
iconodule Methodios (843-847), who replaced John VII on the patriarchal throne.
Methodios is shown wearing a cross-covered sakkos. Three unknown monks stand to his
right. In the middle of the lower register two saints are shown holding a small icon of
Christ. Partial inscriptions identify the figures as Theophanes the Confessor on the left
and Theodore the Stoudite on the right. At the far left, her name clearly inscribed, is St.
96 Nancy P. Sevcenko, "Icons in the Liturgy," Dumbarton Oaks Papers 45 (1991): 48.
43
Theodosia, who holds a martyr's cross and an icon of Christ. The icon Theodosia holds
alludes to her attempted protection of the image that hung from the Chalke Gate. It also
refers to the liturgical procession, which passed through the Gate on the day of the
Restoration of the Holy Images in 843. The next three inscriptions are illegible, but Nano
Chatzidakis identifies the fourth figure as Saint Ioannikios.97 Dimitra Kotoula identifies
the seventh and eighth figures as the Graptoi brothers, Theodore and Theophanes.98 The
identity of the next figure is uncertain. The last two figures are inscribed as
Theophylaktos the Confessor and Arsakios.
The iconography of an icon of the Virgin surrounded by the faithful has been
related to council representations and to representations of the procession of the
Hodegetria icon, especially in cycles of the Akathistos Hymn (figs. 18, 19).99 The annual
feast celebrating the restoration of icons, presumably instituted by Methodios and
established by the end of the ninth century, included a procession that led from the church
of the Theotokos at the Blachernai to Hagia Sophia. The church of the Theotokos, located
in the northwest corner of Constantinople, became the most famous shrine to the Virgin
after the Virgin's Robe was brought there from Palestine in the fifth century. At the end
97 Nano Chatzidakis, Icons. The Velimezis Collection (Athens: Benaki Museum, 1998), 88.
98 It is not entirely clear to which figures the inscriptions apply. It seems as though the bishop is
labeled Theodoros and the figure to his right, Theophanes, which would suggest that the two are the
Graptoi brothers. However, it was Theophanes who was elected bishop, not Theodore. The two saints are
usually both depicted as monks. Dimitra Kotoula suggests that this iconography is based on the illustration
of the Skylitzis manuscript, where Theophanes is shown as a bishop confronting the emperor Theophilos.
See Dimitra Kotoula, "The British Museum Triumph of Orthodoxy Icon," in Byzantine Orthodoxies:
Papers from the Thirty-sixth Spring Symposium ofByzantine Studies, University ofDurham, 23-25 March
2002, ed. Andrew Louth and Augustine Casiday (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2006), 126-127.
99 Sevcenko, "Icons in the Liturgy," 47.
44
of the procession a banquet was given either by the patriarch or the emperor at Hagia
Sophia. A church service would then be held that included a reading of the anathema of
843 and the singing of the kanones composed by Theophanes Graptos and Methodios. loo
What is interesting about the British Museum icon as far as Theodosia is
concerned is that she is the only saint of those identified who is not directly connected
with the events of 843 and the Festival of Orthodoxy.101 She is not recognized in the
Synodikon ofOrthodoxy. The empress Theodora is the only female saint included in the
Synodikon ofOrthodoxy, in the section for acclamations of emperors.102 The Patriarch
Methodios played an instrumental role in restoring icon veneration, and, according to
Jean Gouillard, he wrote the first version of the Synodikon ofOrthodoxy along with a
hymn commemorating the Triumph of Orthodoxy in 843. 103 Theophanes the Confessor
(c. 760-c. 817) founded a monastery at Sigriane in the Propontis and authored a chronicle
of the seventh and eighth centuries. He was a steadfast iconodule who was harshly
critical of the emperors.104 Theodore ofStoudios (759-826) was a theologian, icon
theorist, and abbot of the Constantinopolitan Monastery of Saint John Stoudios. He wrote
a refutation of iconoclast ideas, developed John of Damascus's theory of the image, and
100 Alexander P. Kazhdan, ed. Oxford Dictionary ofByzantium (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1991), s.v. "Triumph of Orthodoxy."
101 Kotoula, "Triumph of Orthodoxy Icon," 126.
102 Talbot and Kazhdan, "Women and Iconoclasm," 397.
103 Kotoula, "Triumph of Orthodoxy Icon," 125.
104 Kazhdan, Oxford Dictionary ofByzantium, s.v. "Theophanes the Confessor."
45
led the monastic opposition to Iconoclasm.105 Methodios wrote an important version of
the Life of Theophanes the Confessor and initiated the translation of Theodore the
Stoudite's relics to Constantinople in 844.106 The Graptoi brothers, Theodore and
Theophanes, were monks from the Lavra of Saint Sabas outside of Jerusalem. They were
exiled by Leo V (813-820) in 815 and later summoned by the emperor Theophilos (829-
842) for interrogation and beating. Theophilos had their foreheads tattooed with 12
iambic lines declaring them heretics, thus earning them the nickname Graptoi
(inscribed).107 Theophanes Graptos was elected archbishop of Nicaea after the end of
Iconoclasm and wrote a hymn on the day of the Restoration of the Holy Images, which
influenced the development of the feast of the Sunday of Orthodoxy.108 According to the
Life of St. Theodora, Arsakios and Ioannikios, hermits from Mt. Olympus in Bithynia,
urged Theodora and Methodios to restore the veneration of icons.109 Ioannikios was a
prominent and influential saint who is frequently mentioned in other saints' vitae and in
writings of the ninth century. Theophylaktos, a monk of the Agauroi monastery, was a
disciple of Ioannikios. The feast on the Sunday of Orthodoxy ended with a ceremonial
105 Ibid., s.v. "Theodore of Stoudios."
106 Kotoula, "Triumph of Orthodoxy Icon," 125-126.
107 Dorothy Abrahamse and Douglas Domingo-Foraste, "Life of Sts. David, Symeon, and George
of Lesbos," in Byzantine Defenders ofImages: Eight Saints' Lives in English Translation, ed. Alice-Mary
Talbot (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998),204 n. 302.
lOS Kotoula, "Triumph of Orthodoxy Icon," 126.
109 Martha P. Vinson, "Life of St. Theodora the Empress," in Byzantine Defenders ofImages:
Eight Saints' Lives in English Translation, ed. Alice-Mary Talbot (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks
Research Library and Collection, 1998),375 n. 77.
46
proskynesis at the chapel of Saint Theophylaktos."o Each of these saints, with the
exception of Theophylaktos, is lauded in the Life of St. Theodora as "champions of virtue
and the orthodox faith. ,,111 It seems possible that Theodora's Life might have served as
one possible source for the British Museum icon, although no mention is made of
Theodosia.
Presumably, St. Theodosia is included in the British Museum icon because ofthe
legend of her defense of the Chalkites icon of Christ and subsequent martyrdom. The first
martyr of the iconophile cause, Theodosia is the only martyr saint depicted in the British
Museum icon. She is placed in the lower register of the icon along with other monastic
saints who together represent the monastic opposition to imperially sponsored
Iconoclasm. The icon is not composed chronistically; although most of the figures were
alive during the restoration of icons in 843, three were not-Theophanes the Confessor,
Theodore of Stoudios, and Theodosia, the earliest of the saints depicted. However, the
anachronism is permissible, for the icon deals with the timeless realm of the divine and is
a symbolic rather than a literal representation of the celebration of the Triumph of
Orthodoxy.
Theodosia and Theodora are the only female saints represented in the British
Museum icon (not including the image-within-an-image of the Virgin Hodegetria).
Theodosia is a monastic saint martyred for her iconophile beliefs, while Theodora is an
imperial saint whose power enabled her to restore image veneration. These two female
110 Kotoula, "Triumph of Orthodoxy Icon," 126.
III Vinson, "Life of 81. Theodora," 370.
47
saints bracketed Iconoclasm; its outbreak coincided with the martyrdom of Theodosia,
and the end of Iconoclasm and the restoration of icons came under the rule of the empress
Theodora.
The Life of Theodora tells the story of a woman of provincial origins who became
the wife of the iconoclast emperor Theophilos (829-842). After his death she ruled as
regent for her son Michael III (843-867) and presided over the Restoration of Icons. Mter
Michael III ascended the throne, Theodora eventually withdrew from court life and died
in a convent. Theodora's sainthood was political rather than strictly religious in nature;
she was recognized for her leadership in defending icon veneration, rather than for more
typical saintly qualities. No prophecies or miracles were attributed to her, and she did not
develop a personal cult following. I 12 Nothing is known of her relics or any posthumous
miracles. Despite her role in restoring image veneration, Theodora is virtually absent
from Byzantine icons. This is probably due to the fact that she did not develop a cult
following, unlike Theodosia, whose icons reflect the popularity of her cult during the
Palaiologan period. Only three Byzantine iconic images of Theodora survive: in the
Menologium ofBasil II, in a fresco in the fourteenth-century Cretan church of the Virgin
Gouverniotissa, and in the British Museum icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. 113
Nevertheless, Theodora's Life is useful for the information it provides on the
Iconoclast period. Martha Vinson states, "The portrait of Theodora that emerges from the
Life is that of an exemplary wife and mother, whose defining virtue, moreover, appears
112 See ibid., 353-382.
113 Ibid., 356.
48
to be her deference to male authority, be it civil, religious, or domestic."ll4 Theodora is
praised for her piety, charity, wisdom, and maternal virtue. Her Life tells how, fearful of
her iconoclast husband, Theophilos, Theodora was forced to hide her veneration of icons:
She feared her husband'B angry and irascible disposition, his foul moods, his
implacability in matters of punishment, the vehemence of his anger, the harshness
of his voice, how very ferocious he looked when little by little he screwed his face
up into a knot. So, in terror of him, she held her tongue. llS
With God's intervention, Theodora restored icon veneration:
But God the humane and merciful, Who ever and always cares for the salvation of
mankind and in His providence manages everything for the good, did not
overlook her good intentions but soon revealed through her the blameless and
soul-saving orthodox religion and restoration of the holy and venerable
images... 116
After Theophilos died on 20 January 842, Theodora succeeded to the throne with her son,
Michael III, who, "at the urging, encouragement, and instruction of his venerable and
holy mother Theodora,,,ll? restored the veneration of icons:
For even though in chronological age the emperor Michael was still a babe-after
all, as mentioned above, he was only five and a half years old-still God
Himself, Who out ofthe mouths ofbabes and sucklings hath furnished praise,
enabled [one even so young as] this to celebrate and demonstrate and affirm with
brilliant clarity the truth of the divine doctrine ... 118
114 Ibid., 354.
115 Ibid., 370.
116 Ibid., 370.
117 Ibid., 374.
118 Ibid., 374-375.
49
Theodora's virtue seems to be bound up in her role as mother to Michael and the wisdom
and guidance she imparts to her son. After Michael succeeds the throne, Theodora, the
"truly good mother and wise preceptor,,,1l9 responds:
She did not delay her retirement from imperial life, nor did she seek to regain the
sovereignty that her husband had entrusted to her even through a substantial
portion of the senatorial order wanted her to. On the contrary, she asked her son to
come see her and expressed to him the following views with regard to the state
and provided her son with expedient advice as wel1. 120
Theodora is once again portrayed in her Life as an acquiescent and humble woman who is
celebrated for her maternal virtues and wisdom.
However, in the British Museum icon Theodora is given prominence of place at
the top, right next to the Hodegetria icon in the center. St. Theodosia also stands out as
the sole female monastic and because she holds the Chalkites icon of Christ, one of the
most important icons in Byzantium. Robin Cormack asserts that Theodora and Theodosia
are present in the British Museum icon because they had a part to play in the discourses
of heresy and persecution. He is against reading the icon as a visual document of the
importance of women in the promotion of icons.121 Cormack does not give these two
female saints enough credit, however; Theodora and Theodosia do not represent the
average woman-they are particular female saints who were understood to have
important roles, Theodora especially, in the defense of icons. Theodora and Theodosia,
along with all of the other figures in the British Museum icon, represent spiritual models
119 Ibid., 378.
120 Ibid., 378.
121 Cormack, "Women and Icons," 43.
50
of Byzantine Orthodoxy for their fervent support of icon veneration and, in Theodora's
case, for their connection to the Restoration of Icons.
The Restoration of Orthodoxy was a popular subject in Post-Byzantine icons as
well. An icon from the Velimezis collection, dated to around 1500, is strikingly similar to
the British Museum icon (fig. 20).122 The iconographic similarities suggest either the
direct copying of one icon from the other or the use of a common model or working
drawing. 123 Nano Chatzidakis identifies the following figures: Michael III and Theodora,
Methodios, Theodosia, Theophanes the Confessor, Theodore the Stoudite, and St.
Ioannikios. All of these figures in the Velimezis icon occupy the same position as in the
British Museum icon. In addition, Chatzidakis identifies the figure to the right of
Methodios as the bishop Theodore, and the figure to the right of Theodore the Stoudite as
Arsenios.124 Another icon, from the Benaki Museum in Athens, entitled the Restoration
(Anastelosis) ofIcons), dates to the first half of the sixteenth century (fig. 21).125 This
large icon contains many figures, including several women and singers, some holding
candles or inscriptions anathematizing iconoclasts. l26 A third icon of the subject can be
found in the collection of the Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in
122 Chatzidakis, Icons. The Velimezis Collection, no. 5, 86-91.
123 Ibid., 90.
124 Ibid., 86-88.
125 This icon has the forged signature of the Corfiot painter Emmanuel Tzanfoumaris (1570175-c.
1631). See Andreas Xyngopoulos, The Collection ofHelen A. Stathatos (Athens: Athenais Archaiologike
Hetaireia, 1951), no. 6,8-10.
126 David Buckton, Byzantium: Treasures ofByzantine Art and Culture from British Collections
(London: British Museum Press, 1994), 130.
51
Venice. The Corfiot painter Emmanuel Tzanfournaris painted this icon, entitled
Orthodoxia, in the first half of the sixteenth century (fig. 22).127 The icon includes the
figures of Michael III, Theodora, Methodios, Theophylaktos ofNicomedia, Michael of
Synnada, Euthymios of Sardis, and Emilianos of Cyrica in the upper register, and the
figures of Theodosia, Ioannikios, Stephanos the Higoumenos, Thomas, Peter, Markarios
ofPelekete, Stephen the Younger, Joseph, John Katharon, Arsenios, and Andrew in the
register below. 128 The addition of figures not found in the British Museum icon suggests
a different literary source for the work. Other sixteenth-century depictions of the Triumph
of Orthodoxy can be found in the wall paintings of Mount Athos. Theophanes the Cretan
painted these works, which are located in the Lavra Monastery (1535) and the Monastery
of Stavronikita (1545-1546).129 Theophanes reverses the figures represented in each of
the two registers, placing the Hodegetria icon, the imperial figures and Methodios below
and the monastic saints in the register above (fig. 23). St. Theodosia is represented in all
of these representations of the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
The British Museum icon is the earliest extant pictorial representation of the
subject of the Restoration of Holy Images, though it was created over five hundred years
after the actual event of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. No icons representing the subject
exist from the ninth or tenth centuries, when the Festival of Orthodoxy was being
127 See Manolis Chatzidakis, leones de Saint-Georges des Grecs (Venice: Neri Pozza, 1962), no.
63,96.
128 Buckton, Byzantium, 130.
129 See Gabriel Millet, Monuments de ['Athos (Paris: E. Leroux, 1927), pI. 131-132; Manolis
Chatzidakis, The Cretan Painter Theophanes (Athos: Holy Monastery ofStavronikita, 1986), pis. 122-123.
52
instituted. The British Museum Triumph ofOrthodoxy icon might be considered an
expression of Orthodox faith during a time of great uncertainty about the future of the
Byzantine Empire. The icon's inclusion of the Hodegetria, the protector of
Constantinople, further supports this idea. As Annemarie Weyl Carr states, "Welding the
theme of icon veneration to the icon of defense, and that of right belief to that of
invincibility, our painting offers a veritable icon of Byzantine faith.,,130 The strength of
the Church and Orthodoxy were thought by many contemporaries to be integral to the
future survival of the Empire. The Empire was in distress and facing imminent collapse
during the Palaiologan period. Donald M. Nicol points out that the historian Giorgios
Pachymeres "admits that there were those who believed that, since the Church had been
restored to peace by the Emperor [Andronikos II], God had rendered all the Empire's
enemies powerless and ineffectual.,,131
Both Andronikos II's reversal of the Union of Lyons in 1282 and the Restoration
of the Holy Images in 843 put an end to heretical policies and restored Orthodoxy to the
Church and Empire as a whole. A parallel between the resistance to Iconoclasm in the
eighth and ninth centuries and the resistance to the Unionist policies of Michael VIII can
be found in Theodora Raoulaina's composition of the vita of Theodore and Theophanes
Graptoi. Theodora was a nun, part of the intellectual elite, and a contemporary of the
hagiographer Constantine Akropolites (who wrote the encomium for Theodosia,
130 Annemarie Weyl Carr, "Icon with the Triumph of Orthodoxy," in Byzantium: Faith and
Power: 1261-1453, ed. Helen C. Evans (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004), cat. no. 78,155.
131 Donald M. Nicol, The Last Centuries ofByzantium 1261-1453 (New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1993), 107.
53
discussed earlier).132 Theodora wrote the vita while imprisoned by Michael VIn for her
rejection of the emperor's conciliatory policy with the Latins in the Union of Lyons.
Theodora clearly related to the Graptoi brothers' persecution under the emperor
Theophilos. Her choice of subject matter can also be connected with the blinding and
imprisonment of her own brothers-in-law by the emperor Michael VIn for their anti-
Unionist beliefs.
The parallel between the repeal of the Union with the West and the Restoration of
Icons might be connected to the appearance of the depiction ofthe Triumph of Orthodoxy
in the Palaiologan period. The British Museum icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy can be
viewed as representative of a period in Byzantine history when the heresy of Iconoclasm
was overcome and Orthodoxy restored. A similar situation occurred in the late thirteenth
century with the reversal of the Union of Lyons by Andronikos n. Even though the
British Museum icon is roughly dated to about 1400 (on stylistic grounds), just over a
hundred years after the renunciation of union with Rome, its theme of Orthodoxy was
still highly relevant-the definition of Orthodoxy was a key theological interest in
Constantinople, and was the subject of the Constantinopolitan councils of 1341, 1347,
and 1351.133 Furthermore, the British Museum icon would have given its viewer hope as
a symbol of the strength of the Empire to overcome its enemies, both spiritual and
political.
132 On Theodora Raoulaina, see Donald M. Nicol, The Byzantine Lady: Ten Portraits 1250-1500
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994),33-47.
133 Maria Vassilaki, Mother ofGod: Representations ofthe Virgin in Byzantine Art (Athens: Skira,
2000), cat. no. 32, 340.
54
CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSIONS
This dreadful day on which the city was captured happened to be the festival and
holy day on which the holy martyr Saint Theodosia was commemorated. The
whole community was represented at this celebration, and there were many, both
men and women, who had passed the night, from evening onwards, at the tomb of
the saint. When dawn came, they were proceeding to make their act of worship,
men and women together, carrying tapers and incense, and arrayed in their finest
clothing and ornaments, when most of them were trapped by the TurksY4
MICHAEL DUCAS
fifteenth-century historian
This thesis has shown that the icons of St. Theodosia stand as important evidence of the
popularity of her cult in the Palaiologan period. The icons of Theodosia functioned in
several ways. Icons were used in devotional practices at Theodosia's shrine in
Constantinople. The small icons from Sinai suggest both the portability of her cult and
their intimate use in private devotion, perhaps by monks who lived at the Monastery of
Saint Catherine. The large Naxos icon, with its placement on the iconostasis, shows that
icons of Theodosia could be used in public devotion as well. The presence at Sinai of
icons of Theodosia, whose healing cult was centered in Constantinople, might suggest
that icons could offer access to the healing powers of the saint in distant locations.
The image of Theodosia can be considered as a symbol of Orthodoxy when the
information on her life and cult is looked at in relation to the political and religious
1341. R. Melville Jones, The Siege ofConstantinople 1453: Seven Contemporary Accounts
(Amsterdam: AdolfM. Hakkert, 1972), 100.
55
concerns of the Palaiologan period. Theodosia's role in opposing Byzantine Iconoclasm,
which was retrospectively viewed as a period of heresy, associates her with the Orthodox
cause, since icon veneration was central to Orthodox doctrine. The inclusion of
Theodosia in representations of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, such as the British Museum
icon, furthers this association. The popularity of the healing cult of Theodosia in the
Palaiologan period coincides with important political and religious issues concerning
Orthodoxy. In the written sources the reign of Andronikos II was associated with the
Empire's return to Orthodoxy, after having suffered both the Latin occupation and the
Union of Churches under the emperor Michael VIII. The definition of Orthodoxy was the
concern of the Constantinopolitan councils of the fourteenth century. The strength of the
Church and Orthodoxy were understood to be integral to the survival of the Empire.
Ironically, the fall of Constantinople occurred on the feast day of Theodosia, May 29,
1453.
When the icons of Theodosia are considered together, they show that Theodosia's
image followed a standardized iconography unique to the saint. These icons stand as
important examples of portrait icons of female saints. There is a need for a systematic
study of female saints in icons, which would provide scholars with valuable comparative
material, much of which remains unpublished. Analysis of the icons of Theodosia should
be a cornerstone of such a study.
APPENDIX: FIGURES
56
Fig. 1. ICON WITH THE TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY. Constantinople (?), tempera
and gold on wood, c. 1400. British Museum, London. (39 x 31 cm)
57
Fig. 2. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. Constantinople, tempera and gold on wood, early
13th century. The Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt. (33.9 x 25.7 x 2 cm)
58
59
Fig. 3. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. Tempera and gold on wood, early 13th century. The
Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt. (26.7 x 21 x 2 cm)
;1
jiJ.jI,, ,I
..
. ,
I.
60
Fig. 4. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. Tempera on wood, e. 1400. The Monastery of Saint
Catherine, Sinai, Egypt. (25.5 x 17.4 x 1.7 em)
61
Fig. 5. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. Tempera and gold on wood, early 15th century. The
Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt. (22.4 x 14.1 x 2.3 cm)
62
Fig. 6. ICON WITH NICHOLAS AND THEODOSIA. Tempera and gold on wood, early
15th century. The Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt. (23.8 x 18 cm)
Fig. 7. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. Tempera (and gold?) on wood, first half of the 15th
century. Naxos. (98.4 x 69 cm)
63
64
Fig. 8. ICON WITH THEODOSIA. Tempera (and gold?) on wood, mid-14
th
century.
Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki.
65
(45)
79
14
13 11
U
16 (12)
15
27
ll. TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP OF CONSTANTINOPLE IN FOURTEENTII
AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES
(31)
(30)
50
33
32
(257)
34
20
137) (22) (21)
pal
(41)
Fig. 9. TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP OF CONSTANTINOPLE IN THE 14TH AND 15TH
CENTURIES. (51): Church ofSt. Theodosia (Source: George P. Majeska, Russian
Travelers to Constantinople in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries)
Fig. 10. Cross with foliate decoration. (Reverse of fig. 5)
66
67
Fig. 11. ICON WITH PHEVRONIA. Tempera and gold on wood, second half of the 13th
century. The Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt. (58 x 36 em)
68
Fig. 12. ICON WITH MARINA. Tempera on wood, 12th century (?). The Monastery of
Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt.
69
Fig. 13. ICON WITH CATHERINE AND MARINA. Tempera (and gold?) on wood,
13th century. The Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt.
r~~~'&t:'~ l~J •
Fig. 14. ICON WITH MARINA AND CATHERINE. Tempera (and gold?) on wood,
13th century. The Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt.
70
71
Fig. 15. ICON WITH ANASTASIA (PHARMAKOLYTRIA). Thessaloniki, tempera and
silver on wood, late 14th - early 15th century. State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.
(99 x 65.5 x 3 cm)
Fig. 16. UGOLINO DI PRETE ILARIO, The Annunciation ofSaint Anne. Fresco, c.
1370. Duomo di Orvieto.
72
Fig. 17. UGOLINO Dl PRETE lLARIO, The Nativity a/the Virgin. Fresco, c. 1370.
Duomo di Orvieto.
73
Fig. 18. STANZA 24 OF THE AKATHISTOS HYMN. Markov manastir.
74
Fig. 19. STANZA 24 OF THE AKATHISTOS HYMN. MS gr. 429, fo1. 33v. State
Historical Museum, Moscow.
75
76
Fig. 20. ICON WITH THE TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY. Tempera and gold on wood,
c. 1500. Velimezis Collection. (36.4 x 31 x 1.9 cm)
Fig. 21. ICON WITH THE TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY. Tempera (and gold?) on
wood, first half of the 16th century. Benaki Museum, Athens.
77
78
Fig. 22. ICON WITH THE TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY. Emmanuel Tzanfournaris,
tempera (and gold?) on wood, first half ofthe 16th century. Greek Institute, Venice. (43.5
x 37.5 cm)
Fig. 23. THEOPHANES THE CRETAN. Fresco of the Triumph ofOrthdooxy, 1545­
1546. The Monastery of Stavronikita, Mount Athos.
79
80
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abrahamse, Dorothy and Douglas Domingo-Foraste. "Life of Sts. David, Symeon, and
George of Lesbos." In Byzantine Defenders ofImages: Eight Saints' Lives in
English Translation, ed. Alice-Mary Talbot, 143-242. Washington, D.C.:
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998.
Acta sanctorum quotquot toto orbe coluntur: vel a catholicis scriptoribus celebrantur. 71
vols. Paris: Apud Victorem Palme, 1863-1940.
Aran, Berge. "The Church of Saint Theodosia and the Monastery of Christ
Euergetes." Jahrbuch osterreichischen Byzantinistik 28 (1979): 211-228.
Auzepy, Marie-France. "La destruction de l'icone du Christ de la Chalce par Leon III:
propogande ou realite?" Byzantion 60 (1990): 445-492.
Baltoyanni, Chrysanthi. "An Icon of Saint Theodosia the Constantinopolitan in Naxos."
Deltion tes Christianikes Archaiologikes Hetaireias KB (2001): 215-228 (in
Greek with English summary).
Brown, Peter. The Cult ofthe Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1981.
Brubaker, Leslie. "Image, Audience, and Place: Interaction and Reproduction." In The
Sacred Image East and West, ed. Robert Ousterhout and Leslie Brubaker, 204­
220. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995.
--. "The Chalke Gate, the Construction of the Past, and the Trier Ivory. Byzantine
and Modern Greek Studies 23 (1999): 258-285.
Buckton, David. Byzantium: Treasures ofByzantine Art and Culture from British
Collections. London: British Museum Press, 1994.
Chatzidakis, Manolis. leones de Saint-Georges des Grecs. Venice: Neri Pozza, 1962.
--. The Cretan Painter Theophanes. Athos: Holy Monastery of Stavronikita, 1986.
Chatzidakis, Nano. leons. The Velimezis Collection. Athens: Benaki Museum, 1998.
81
Constas, Nicholas. "Life of St. Theodosia of Constantinople." In Byzantine
Defenders ofImages: Eight Saints Lives in English Translation, ed. Alice­
Mary Talbot, 1-7. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library
and Collection, 1998.
Cormack, Robin. Painting the Soul: Icons, Death Masks and Shrouds. London: Reaktion,
1997.
--. "Women and Icons, and Women in Icons." In Women, Men and Eunuchs:
Gender in Byzantium, ed. Liz James, 24-51. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Dagron, Gilbert. "Holy Images and Likeness." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 45 (1991): 23­
33.
Delehaye, Hippolyte, ed. Synaxarium ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae e codice
Sirmondiano nunc Berolinensi .. Propylaeum ad Acta sanctorum Novembris.
Brussels: Society of the Bollandistes, 1902.
Drandaki, Anastasia. "The Sinai Monastery from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century."
In Pilgrimage to Sinai: Treasures from the Holy Monastery ofSaint Catherine,
26-45. Athens: Benaki Museum, 2004.
Efthymiadis, Stephanos. "Late Byzantine Collections of Miracles and Their
Implications." In The Heroes ofthe Orthodox Church: The New Saints, 8th_16th c.,
ed. Eleonora Kountoura-Galake, 239-250. Athens: The National Hellenic
Research Foundation, 2004.
Evans, Helen c., ed. Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557). New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004.
Evans, Helen C. and William D. Wixom. The Glory ofByzantium: Art and Culture ofthe
Middle Byzantine Era A.D. 843-1261. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, 1997.
Fisher, Elizabeth. "A Note on Pachymeres' De Andronico Palaeologo." Byzantion 40
(1970): 230-235.
Folda, Jaroslav. "The Saint Marina Icon: Maniera Greca, Lingua Franca, or Crusader
Art?" In Four Icons in the Menil Collection, ed. Bertrand Davezac, 106-133.
Houston: Meni! Foundation, 1992.
Forsyth, George H. and Kurt Weitzmann. The Monastery ofSaint Catherine at Mount
Sinai: The Church and Fortress ofJustinian. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press, 1973.
82
Galavaris, George. "Two Icons of St. Theodosia at Sinai." Deltion tes
Christianikes Archaiologikes Hetaireias, 4th ser., 17 (1993-1994): 313­
316.
Galey, John. Sinai and the Monastery ofSt. Catherine. Garden City, NY:
Doubleday and Company, 1980.
Gouillard, Jean. "Aux origins de l'iconoclasme: Ie temoignage de Gregoire II?" Travaux
et memoires 3 (1968):
Haldon, John and Bryan Ward-Perkins. "Evidence from Rome for the Image of Christ on
the Chalke Gate in Constantinople." Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 23
(1999): 286-296.
Harvey, Susan Ashbrook. "Women in Early Byzantine Hagiography: Reversing the
Story." In That Gentle Strength: Historical Perspectives on Women in
Christianity, ed. Lynda L. Coon, Katherine J. Haldane, and Elisabeth W. Sommer,
36-59. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1990.
Herrin, Judith. "Women and the Faith in Icons in Early Christianity." In Culture,
Ideology, and Politics. Essays for Eric Hobsbawn, ed. Raphael Samuel,
56-83. Boston: Routledge and Regan Paul, 1982.
--. "In Search of Byzantine Women: Three Avenues of Approach." In Images of
Women in Antiquity, ed. Averil Cameron and Amelie Kuhrt, 167-189. London:
Croom Helm, 1983.
Hetherington, Paul, trans. The 'Painter's Manual' ofDionysius ofFourna. London: The
Sagittarius Press, 1974.
James, Liz. Empresses and Power in Early Byzantium. London: Leicester University
Press, 2001.
--, ed. Women, Men, and Eunuchs: Gender in Byzantium. New York: Routledge,
1997.
John of Damascus. Three Treatises on the Divine Images. Translated by Andrew Louth.
Crestwood: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2003.
Jones, J. R. Melville. The Siege ofConstantinople 1453: Seven Contemporary Accounts.
Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert, 1972.
83
Kazhdan, Alexander and Alice-Mary Talbot. "Women and Iconoclasm." Byzantinische
Zeitschrift 84/85 (1991/1992): 391-408.
Kotoula, Dimitra. "The British Museum Triumph of Orthodoxy Icon." In Byzantine
Orthodoxies: Papers from the Thirty-sixth Spring Symposium ofByzantine
Studies, University ofDurham, 23-25 March 2002, ed. Andrew Louth
and Augustine Casiday, 121-130. Burlington: Ashgate, 2006.
Laiou-Thomakadis, Angeliki E. Constantinople and the Latins: The Foreign Policy of
Andronicus II 1282-1328. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972.
--. "Saints and Society in the Late Byzantine Empire." In Charanis Studies: Essays
in Honor ofPeter Charanis, ed. Angeliki E. Laiou-Thomadakis, 84-114. New
Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1980.
Macrides, Ruth. "Saints and Sainthood in the Early Palaiologan Period." In The
Byzantine Saint, University ofBirmingham Fourteenth Spring Symposium of
Byzantine Studies, ed. Sergei Hackel, 67-87. London: Fellowship of St. Alban
and St. Sergius, 1981.
Maguire, Henry. The Icons oftheir Bodies: Saints and their Images in Byzantium.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996.
Majeska, George P. Russian Travelers to Constantinople in the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Centuries. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research
Library and Collection, 1984.
Manafis, Konstantinos A., ed. Sinai: Treasures ofthe Monastery ofSaint
Catherine. Athens: Ekdotike Athenon S.A., 1990.
Mango, Cyril. The Brazen House: A Study ofthe Vestibule ofthe Imperial Palace
ofConstantinople. Copenhagen: I Kommission hos Munksgaard, 1959.
--. The Art ofthe Byzantine Empire 312-1453: Sources and Documents. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972.
Migne, Jacques Paul, ed. Patrologiae cursus completus, series graeca, 161 vols. Paris,
1857-66.
Mijovic, Pavle. Menolog: istorijsko-umetnicka istrazivanja. Belgrade: Arkheoloski
Institut, 1973.
Millet, Gabriel. Monuments de I 'Athos. Paris: E. Leroux, 1927.
84
Mondzain, Marie-Jose. Image, Icon, Economy: The Byzantine Origins ofthe
Contemporary Imaginary. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005.
Mouriki, Doula. "Icons from the lih to the 15th Century." In Sinai: Treasures ofthe
Monastery ofSaint Catherine, ed. Konstantinos A. Manafis, 102-123. Athens:
Ekdotike Athenon, 1990.
--. "Portraits of St. Theodosia in Five Sinai Icons." In Thymiama stemneme tes
Laskarina Boura, vol. 1,213-219. Athens: Benaki Museum, 1994.
Nelson, Robert S. "Where God Walked and Monks Pray." In Holy Image, Hallowed
Ground: Iconsfrom Sinai, ed. Robert S. Nelson and Kristen M. Collins, 1-37. Los
Angeles: Getty Publications, 2006.
Nelson, Robert S. and Kristen M. Collins, ed. Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons
from Sinai. Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2006.
Nicol, Donald M. The Last Centuries ofByzantium 1261-1453. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1993.
--. The Byzantine Lady: Ten Portraits 1250-1500. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1994.
Panic, Draga and Gordana Babic. Bogorodica Ljeviska. Belgrade: Srpska knjizevna
zadruga, 1975.
Pentcheva, Bissera. "The Performative Icon." Art Bulletin 88 (2006): 631-655.
Piatnitsky, Yuri, ed. Sinai, Byzantium and Russia: Orthodox Artfrom the Sixth to the
Twentieth Century. London: Saint Catherine Foundation, 2000.
Rapp, Claudia. "Figures of Female Sanctity: Byzantine Edifying Manuscripts and Their
Audience." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 50 (1996): 313-344.
Schafer, Hartmut. Die Gul Camii in Istanbul. Ein Beitrag zur mittelbyzantinischen
Kirchenarchitektur Konstantinopels, Istanbuler Mitteilungen, 7. Tiibingen: E.
Wasmuth, 1973.
Sevcenko, Nancy P. The Life ofSaint Nicholas in Byzantine Art. Torino: Bottega
D'Erasmo, 1983.
--. "Icons in the Liturgy." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 45 (1991): 45-57.
85
Talbot, Alice-Mary. "Old Wine in New Bottles: The Rewriting of Saints' Lives in the
Palaeologan Period." In Twilight ofByzantium, ed. Slobodan CurCi6 and Doula
Mouriki, 15-26. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, 1991.
--. "Life of St. Anthousa of Mantineon." In Byzantine Defenders ofImages: Eight
Saints' Lives in English Translation, ed. Alice-Mary Talbot, 13-20. Washington,
D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998.
--. "Healing Shrines in Late Byzantine Constantinople." In The 'Constantinople and
Its Legacy' Lecture Series. The Hellenic Canadian Association ofConstantinople
(1997), 1-24. Toronto, 2000.
--. "Female Sanctity in Byzantium." In Women and Religious Life in Byzantium, VI
1-16. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001.
--. "Pilgrimages to Healing Shrines: The Evidence of Miracle Accounts."
Dumbarton Oaks Papers 56 (2002): 153-173.
Sullivan, Denis F. "Life of St. Ioannikios." In Byzantine Defenders ofImages: Eight
Saints' Lives in English Translation, ed. Alice-Mary Talbot, 243-352.
Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998.
Theophanes (Cyril Mango and Roger Scott, eds.). The Chronicle ofTheophanes
Confessor: Byzantine and Near Eastern History AD 284-813. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1997.
Theophanes (Harry Turtledove, ed.). The Chronicle ofTheophanes: An English
Translation ofAnni Mundi 6095-6305 (A.D. 602-813). Philadelphia, PA:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982.
Vassilaki, Maria. Mother ofGod: Representations ofthe Virgin in Byzantine Art. Athens:
Skira, 2000.
Vinson, Martha P. "Life of St. Theodora the Empress." In Byzantine Defenders of
Images: Eight Saints' Lives in English Translation, ed. Alice-Mary Talbot, 353­
382. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998.
Weitzmann, Kurt. The Monastery ofSaint Catherine at Mount Sinai, the Icons. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1976.
--. "Icon Programs of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries at Sinai." Deltion tes
Christianikes Archaiologikes Hetaireias, 4th ser., 12 (1984): 63-116.
Xyngopoulos, Andreas. The Collection ofHelen A. Stathatos. Athens: Athenais
Archaiologike Hetaireia, 1951.
86