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Apostle Andrew and the church of Thessaloniki

Μελέτες

• Μέντζος, Αριστοτέλης

The unusual place of the Apostle Andrew in two compositions of the Ascension in Hagia Sophia and the Rotunda of Thessaloniki was noticed a long time ago. A particular characteristic of the compositions in the churches of Thessaloniki is that Andrew, holding a staff, comes second behind Paul among the other Apostles, while his normal position is usually in the opposite group behind Peter. It has been assumed that this particular position of Andrew is due to the influence of Constantinople, where Andrew was supposedly venerated as the founder of the local Church and Andrew was depicted thus on the central dome of the church of the Holy Apostles.There is no evidence that a mosaic scene of the Ascension actually existed in the Justinianic dome of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. The oldest surviving compositions of the Ascension come from apse semi-domes, not domes. The arrangement of figures in the Palestinian pilgrim flasks as well as in the dome of Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki suggests an apse original model. Furthermore, there are close analogies between the Ascension composition in the Rabbuia gospel and that of the dome mosaic at Hagia Sophia. This evidence shows that the Thessalonian compositions are based upon an Early Christian model of Palestinian origin and the Rotunda apse was the model for the Hagia Sophia dome, therefore precedes it. The hypothesis of the Constantinopolitan origin of the composition is not based on the written sources, either. The older tradition of Apostle Andrew's travels does not include Byzantium and the notion of Andrew as the founder of the Church of Constantinople has grown gradually, as the rivalry between Rome and Constantinople develops in intensity. The iconographie tradition of Thessaloniki finds its match in a sermon to St. Demetrius by the archbishop John of Thessaloniki (late 6th - early 7th century). In it he calls Andrew a teacher of the Faith to Macedonians together with Apostle Paul. Hints on this tradition we find in the known Martyria and Vitae of Andrew. This position is based on an apocryphal text of Andrew’s Acts; this apocryphal tradition circulated widely in the later Antiquity but it was suppressed and eventually forgotten because of its doctrinal deviations. Andrew’s Acts or Andrew’s Travels was lost in its Greek original but was preserved in a Latin abridgment by Gregory of Tours (end of the 6th century). According to this text the Apostle on his way from the coast of the Black Sea to Achaia landed on Macedonia, stayed and taught in Philippi and Thessaloniki, where he attracted people to Christianity and performed miracles. It was this apocryphal tradition about Andrew that was used by archbishop John. The same person in his sermon on the Dormition of Virgin Mary makes an explicit mention to Andrew’s Travels together with the Travels of the Apostles Peter, Paul and John.The same tradition has left its mark on two objects of Thessalonian provenance. A mould for die casts found near the church of Hagios Demetrios shows two Saints around the Cross, topped with Christ’s bust. The inscription gives the identity of the object, the name of Andrew and an initial P. It is my belief that the two figures around the Cross of Christ, a symbol of the Church, are Paul and Andrew. The possible use of the mould for casts offered to pilgrims of St. Demetrios corroborates the idea that the scene on the mould represents the Church of Thessaloniki.A silver reliquary from the 5th century, found in the vicinity of Thessaloniki expresses the same tradition: On the front side it shows a Traditio Legis with two persons interpreted as Peter receiving the Law and Paul. A closer examination of the figure receiving the Law shows that it is probably Andrew, not Peter. In the light of the evidence connecting Andrew with Thessaloniki it is not unlikely that the silver reliquary represents an adaptation of the Roman iconography to suit the claims of the Thessalonian Church to primacy among the Churches of Illyricum. This iconographie motive was also used in the decoration of the apses of the most important churches in the city, and was preserved until the post-iconoclastic times.

• History and Archaeology
• Arts

• Ιστορία, Αρχαία
• Χριστιανικές αρχαιότητες

Η εργασία αυτή ανακοινώθηκε σε πρόδρομη μορφή, στο ΙΣΤ Επιστ. Συμπόσιο «Χριστιανική Θεσσαλονίκη», 7-9/11/2002., Περιέχει εικόνες