The Workshop on Late Antiquity and Byzantium is pleased to announce our next meeting:
The Reception of the Mandylion at Constantinople
Madrid Skylitzes (Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid, MS Graecus Vitr. 26-2), fol. 131 r
Zach Ralston
MA Student, University of Chicago Divinity School
The Mandylion, one of the most widely known acheiropoieta (icons not made by human hand), was simultaneously an icon and a contact relic. Stored in the church of the Virgin of the Pharos with other relics associated with the life of Christ, the Mandylion functioned not only as a relic-image of the miracle of God Made Flesh, but also an object that takes part in the mystery. Though deeply associated with the miracle of the Incarnation, Constantinopolitan liturgy and rhetoric used the Mandylion as a multi-layered theological and political statement about the God-protected status of Constantinople and the imperial office by typological comparison with Scripture’s most sacred holy object: the Ark of the Covenant.
Tuesday, October 11 — 4:30 pm in CWAC 156
We look forward to seeing you there!