Folia Historica Cracoviensia (Dec 2019)
The Gift of Emperor Michael, Papal Textiles with Chrysoclabas and Figurative Art in the Period of Iconoclasm
Abstract
On Christmas of the year 811, Emperor Michael I Rhangabe solemnly crowned his elder son Theophylact in the church of Hagia Sophia. On this occasion, he offered to the cathedral numerous precious gifts, among which was a set of four curtains embroidered with gold and purple. Sacred images were depicted on them. These textiles did not survive to our times, and are known to us only thanks to the short record in the Theophanes’ Chronicle. However, it is possible to reconstruct their form on the basis of preserved contemporary examples. The practice of donating silks decorated with figural religious motifs to churches is confirmed by the Book of Pontiffs. The source mentions gifts given by popes Hadrian I (772–795), Leo III (795–816), Paschal I (817–824), Gregory IV (827–844) and Leo IV (847–855) to shrines in Rome and Ravenna. The textiles mentioned by the source include both those decorated with ornamental motifs (griffins, crosses) and those adorned with evangelical scenes (Annunciation, Nativity, Entry into Jerusalem, Passion, Ascension, Descent of the Holy Spirit) and images of Christ and saints. The word chrisoclabum (or chrisoclavum), which is repeated in written sources, seems to relate to compositions placed inside medallions, and perhaps also to exceptionally precious appliqués of gold and purple fastened to the textile background. Already 75 years ago, Wolfgang F. Volbach sought to associate two pieces of silk samits with the Annunciation and Nativity scenes (kept at the Vatican Museo Sacro; initially dated to the 6th c.) with papal gifts from the turn of 8th and 9th c. His hypothesis, accepted by most scholars, has recently been disputed by Anna Muthesius, who suggests a later date for both silks (after 843). Due to this fact, it seems necessary to offer a new analysis and interpretation of both textiles that will rely on the current body of knowledge about the Byzantine art of 8th and 9th c.
Keywords
