The reception of the old testament passages interpreted according to the trinitarian dogma in Byzantine аrt

Abstract

The trinitarian dogma is not mentioned in the Biblical text expressis verbis, but there are several passages which were interpreted, especially by the Church Fathers, as hints to the triune God. Most of them are to be found in the Old Testament and were illustrated in Early Christian and Byzantine art. Judging by these monuments, there is a difference between the Byzantine and the Western iconography. Whereas the artists in the West obviously had no qualms about depicting God as three persons, the Byzantines found other solutions to avoid the portrayal of God the Father, while showing that the God of the Old Testament is the Triune God of the Christians.

Keywords

• old testament
• trinity
• triunity
• god father
• iconography