From the mother’s arms to the holy table. On the influence of the iconography of the presentation of Christ in the temple on the programmatic evolution of altar paintings in Byzantine churches

Abstract

This research explores the relationship between iconographicprogrammatic innovations in altar wall paintings of post-Iconoclastic churches intended to facilitate liturgical interpretation and depictions of the Theotokos (with Christ) usually placed in the apsidal conch. The conclusion on the existence of direct semantic ties between this type of portrait and the discovery of the motif of Christ-Child-on-the-Altar-Table is the result of a contextual analysis of a specific series of artistic explorations based on the spatial dispersion of Presentation of Christ in the Temple compositions on the very edges of the altar spaces, which preceded this iconographic discovery and were ended shortly thereafter.

Keywords

• byzantine art
• theotokos with christ
• incarnation
• sacrifice
• kenosis
• melismos
• eucharist
• presentation of christin the temple