Depicting Orthodoxy in the Russian Middle Ages: The Novgorod Icon of Sophia, the Divine Wisdom (Oxford Studies in Byzantium)

"The image of Divine Wisdom, traditionally associated with the Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, is an innovation of the fifteenth century. The icon represents the winged, royal, red-faced Sophia flanked by the Mother of God and John the Baptist. Although the image has a contemporaneous commentary, and although it exercised a profound influence on Russian cultural history, its meaning, together with the dating and localisation of the first appearance of the iconography, has remained an art-historical conundrum. By exploring the message, roots, function, and historical context of the creation of the first, most emblematic and enigmatic Russian allegorical iconography, Depicting Orthodoxy in the Russian Middle Ages deciphers the meaning of this icon. In contrast to previous interpretations, Kriza argues that the winged Sophia is the personification of the Orthodox Church. The Novgorod Wisdom icon represents the Church of Hagia Sophia, that is, Orthodoxy, as it was perceived in fifteenth-century Rus. Depicting Orthodoxy asserts that the icon, together with its commentary, was a visual-textual response to the Union of Florence between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, signed in 1439 but rejected by the Russians in 1441. This interpretation is based on detailed interdisciplinary research, drawing on philology, art history, theology, and history. Kriza's study challenges some key assumptions concerning the relevance of Church Schism of 1054, the polemics between the Greeks and the Latins about the bread of Eucharist, and the role of the Union of Florence in the history of Russian art. In particular, by studying both well- and lesser-known works of art alongside overlooked textual evidence, this volume investigates how the Christian Church and its true faith were defined and visualized in Rus and Byzantium throughout the centuries"--Publisher's description Cover Depicting Orthodoxy in the Russian Middle Ages: The Novgorod Icon of Sophia, the Divine Wisdom Copyright Foreword Acknowledgements Contents List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Introduction The Novgorod Sophia Icon and the Viskovatyi Affair The Novgorod Sophia Icon and the Sophiological Controversy The State of Research Research Questions and Objectives PART I: WORD 1: The Icon and Its Commentary 2: The Winged Bride: Quotations in the Sophia Commentary The ‘God-seeing bird’—Ephrem the Syrian: Homily on the Beauteous Joseph ‘The fire is Divinity’—Slavonic Liturgical Commentaries The Wedding Garments and Eschatology—The Fountain of Wisdom 3: Medieval Russian Sophiology: The Context of the Sophia Commentary in the Manuscripts The Hagia Sophia in Constantinople Wisdom as Orthodoxy ‘Wisdom has Christ above the head as the head is Wisdom’ PART II: IMAGE 4: Representations of Wisdom in Rus 5: The Novgorod Sophia Icon as a Deesis The Royal Deesis in Novgorod Deesis, The Image of the Church The Coronation of the Virgin and Anti-Greek Visual Polemics in the West The Royal Deesis and Anti-Latin Visual Polemics in the East The Sophiological Synthesis 6: Sophia in the Womb of the Virgin Sophia Has Built Her Temple The Theotokos Nikopoios at the Ohrid Saint Sophia Church The Theotokos Nikopoios and Byzantine Imperial Orthodoxy PART III: IDENTITY 7: Slavonic Sophia Churches and the Schism of 1054 A New Byzantine Apse Decoration The Azymes Controversy and Visualizing a New Orthodox Identity 8: Leaven and Byzantine Marian Iconography The Marian Aspect of the Azymes Controversy The Theotokos Blachernitissa-Znamenie as a Eucharistic Image The Rite of the Elevation of the Panagia 9: Depicting Orthodoxy in Rus Visualized Theology of Theosis The Hetoimasia The Iconography of Light Anti-Latin Ecclesiology of Novgorod Icons PART IV: HISTORY 10: Sophia, the Divine Wisdom, and the Union of Florence Novgorod and the Union of Florence The Apostolic Church of Divine Wisdom, Saint Sophia 11: Evfimii II, Archbishop of Novgorod Evfimii’s Patronage Evfimii’s Icons 12: The Hagia Sophia in Rome Monk Efrosin and the Third Redaction of the Sophia Commentary Sophia—‘The Mother of God, that is, virginal soul’ Sophia in Novgorod, the Third Rome Sophia in Moscow, the Third Rome Conclusions: Towards the Viskovatyi Affair APPENDIX Critical Edition of the Sophia Commentary with English Translation The Content of the Sophia Commentary The Context of the Sophia Commentary Dating and Localization of the Sophia Commentary The Recensions of the Sophia Commentary in the Fifteenth Century Text N Text K English Translation Selected Words from Numerous Books, Questions-and-Answers and Different Passages: Sermon on Wisdom I. II. III. Catalogue: The Iconography of the Novgorod Sophia in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries General Iconographic Characteristics Types of the Novgorod Sophia Iconography until the End of the Sixteenth Century The History of the Novgorod Sophia Iconography until the End of the Sixteenth Century Catalogue References Index "The image of Divine Wisdom, traditionally associated with the Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, is an innovation of the fifteenth century. The icon represents the winged, royal, red-faced Sophia flanked by the Mother of God and John the Baptist. Although the image has a contemporaneous commentary, and although it exercised a profound influence on Russian cultural history, its meaning, together with the dating and localisation of the first appearance of the iconography, has remained an art-historical conundrum. By exploring the message, roots, function, and historical context of the creation of the first, most emblematic and enigmatic Russian allegorical iconography, Depicting Orthodoxy in the Russian Middle Ages deciphers the meaning of this icon. In contrast to previous interpretations, Kriza argues that the winged Sophia is the personification of the Orthodox Church. The Novgorod Wisdom icon represents the Church of Hagia Sophia, that is, Orthodoxy, as it was perceived in fifteenth-century Rus. Depicting Orthodoxy asserts that the icon, together with its commentary, was a visual-textual response to the Union of Florence between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, signed in 1439 but rejected by the Russians in 1441. This interpretation is based on detailed interdisciplinary research, drawing on philology, art history, theology, and history. Kriza's study challenges some key assumptions concerning the relevance of Church Schism of 1054, the polemics between the Greeks and the Latins about the bread of Eucharist, and the role of the Union of Florence in the history of Russian art. In particular, by studying both well- and lesser-known works of art alongside overlooked textual evidence, this volume investigates how the Christian Church and its true faith were defined and visualized in Rus and Byzantium throughout the centuries"-- Provided by publisher The image of Divine Wisdom, traditionally associated with the Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, is an innovation of the 15th century. The icon represents the winged, royal, red-faced Sophia flanked by the Mother of God and John the Baptist. Although the image has a contemporaneous commentary, and although it exercised a profound influence on Russian cultural history, its meaning has remained an art-historical conundrum. By exploring the message, roots, function and historical context of the creation of the first, most emblematic and enigmatic Russian allegorical iconography, this title deciphers the meaning of this icon This volume offers an interpretation of the image of Divine Wisdom, traditionally associated with the Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod. Kriza argues that the figure stands for the Orthodox Church, in response to events in the fifteenth century.