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The Representation of Christ as the Great Arch-Priest

Articles

• Papamastorakìs, Titos
• ΠΑΠΑΜΑΣΤΟΡΑΚΗΣ, Τίτος

The representation of Christ as Arch-priest constitutes an iconographical theme characteristic of the Palaeologan era. It is typified by a significant change in Christ's garments that no longer consist of a chiton and himation, but of a patriarchal sakkos, epimanikia, omophorion, epitrachilion and epigonation. Christ is usually depicted in this manner in two liturgical scenes: the Communion of the Apostles and the Heavenly Liturgy. In the Communion of the Apostles, Christ the Arch-priest is already encountered by the beginning of the 14th century, while He first appears in depictions of the Heavenly Liturgy around the middle of the 14th century. In these scenes, Christ is shown performing liturgical ritual; in accordance with Byzantine custom, His head is uncovered. Scenes depicting Christ in Patriarchal vestments performing liturgical functions that encapsulate crucial moments of the Orthodox liturgy which specifically differentiate it from that of the Latins, should be interpreted as a form of opposition to the Latinophile policy of Michael VIII Palaeologus (1258-1282). This climate helped bring about certain changes in both ecclesiastical and political life that contributed to the increase in both the power and prestige of the Patriarchal throne of Constantinople. In the author's opinion, these changes also precipitated the iconographical type of Christ in Patriarchal vestments. By way of contrast to Michael VII Palaeologus, his son Andronicus II (1282-1328) implemented an Orthodox policy which brought about the appointment of an extreme Orthodox hesychast, Athanasius I (1289-1293 and 1303-1309) to the Patriarchal throne. Beginning with his Patriarchate and extending throughout the 14th century, the power of the institution of the Patriarchate continued to increase to a point where, at least in certain areas, it tended to supercede the authority of the Emperor. In this context, the remark made by Nicephorus Gregoras stating that the position of the Emperor Andronicus was inferior to that of the Patriarch shouid be associated with the written statement of servitude given by Andronicus to Athanasius on the latter's request on the Patriarch's enthronement in 1303. This statement represents the first instance in which an Emperor officially submitted himself to a Patriarch. In letters to Andronicus, Athanasius never fails on the one hand to remind the Emperor that the ecclesiastical is of greater importance than the secular authority, and on the other of the Emperor's obligations of submission to the church. Andronicus IPs ecclesiastical policy resulted in the reinforcement of the Church's authority which remained the most stable element of the Byzantine empire and led the Patriarchate of Constantinople to constitute the axis of the entire Orthodox world. In 1312, Andronicus' grant to the Patriarch of Constantinople of Jurisdiction over Mt. Athos, which from its official foundation had been the prerogative of the Emperor, turned the Patriarch into the most significant spiritual leader of Orthodoxy, given that the monastic community on the Holy Mountain was by its very nature a multi-ethnic community of Orthodox monks that unified all the Orthodox nations in the Byzantine constellation. Despite the fact that the increase in the powers of the Patriarchate under Andronicus II were realised through the Emperor's voluntary concessions, the extension of the political role of Patriarch John Kalekas (1334-1347) along with the exaggerated increase in his powers were realised as the result of changes he undertook during the regency of the minor John V Palaeologus following the death of Andronicus III in 1341. Nicephorus Gregoras himself regarded the unification of secular and ecclesiastical authority in the person of the Patriarch as unheard of. After 1347, the aspirations of the hesychasts of Mt. Athos for the Patriarchal throne not only upgraded that monastic centre, but also helped in further spreading the Hesychast movement and in consolidating the power of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. After the middle of the 14th century, the Patriarchs lost no opportunity to remind their multi-national flock of their oecumenical authority as representatives of Christ on earth. Consequently, as protectors of the Othodox oecumene, they made it clear that the Emperor no longer represented Christ as leader of the international Orthodox community. As the institution of imperial authority withered in the consciousness of the Orthodox due to the Latinophile policies of John V Palaeologus, the Patriarchate of Constantinople found new ways of achieving its political objectives in the Balkans. As the empire declined with the parallel limitation of the Emperor's authority, so the Jurisdiction, interventions and embroilments of the Patriarch of Constantinople surpassed the empire's boundaries to extend to all the peoples of the Balkans, to whom he never tired of stressing his position as their spiritual protector and father. At the same time, the institution in the 13th century of the Patriarch's anointing the Byzantine Emperor with the Holy Myrrh shifted the balance to the former, since Divine favour was now given to the Emperor only with the intervention of the Church. This conception was clearly expressed in the address written on the occasion of the cessation of the Arsenite schism in 1310. The redistribution of fundamental authority between the Patriarch and the Emperor was the reason not only for the creation of a new iconographical type for Christ, i.e. that of the Great Arch-priest, but went further to associate that type with Christ's royal attributes. The conclusions presented above are supported by depictions of Christ where His garments combine archieratic and royal attributes. Examples include the Deesis on the north wall of the church of the Dormition of the Theotokos at Kovalevo (1380-1390), and the Serbian Deesis icon now in the Kremlin (end of the 14th century), both of which indicate that the iconographical type of Christ combining the qualities of Great Archpriest and King of Kings had been created prior to the collapse of the Byzantine empire. The host of works depicting Christ as King of Kings and Great Archpriest, whether enthroned or in bust form, dating from after the Fall of Constantinople make it clear that in the mind of the Orthodox, the Patriarch of Constantinople would from now on wield not only religious but also secular authority.

• Arts
• History and Archaeology

• Arts and religion

• http://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/deltion/article/view/4710
• http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/dchae.1092