纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 067正信凯旋圣像（2）（在线收听）

This week our programmes are about how people use objects to get closer to their gods. And how states use religious imagery to help rally the public. For the Byzantine Empire around 1400, it had never been more important to seek divine help. The successor to the Roman Empire, the defender of Orthodox Christianity, and for centuries the superpower of the Middle East, the Empire had shrunk to a shadow of its former greatness. By 1370 it was no more than a minor state that extended barely beyond the walls of Constantinople - modern Istanbul. All its provinces had been lost, most of them conquered by the Muslim Ottoman Turks, who now threatened the city on every side, and even the survival of Orthodox Christianity itself seemed to be in question.

There was little hope of military help from further away. Two brave attempts from western Europe to send reinforcements had been catastrophically defeated in the Balkans. On several occasions the emperor himself travelled from Constantinople to the kingdoms of the west - even as far as London - to plead for money and soldiers, but to no avail. By 1370 it was clear that there was going to be no earthly salvation. Only God could help in a situation so desperate. These were the bleak circumstances in which the icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was painted. It shows the world of the Byzantine Empire not as it actually was, but as it needed to be if God was going to protect it.

对拜占庭帝国而言，寻求神的帮助永远是第一位的。作为罗马帝国的继承者、东正教的捍卫者以及称霸中东数百年的强大帝国，拜占庭昔日的荣光早已逐日消散，只留下一抹淡影。一三七年，帝国的领士缩减到几乎仅剩君士坦丁堡，即今伊斯坦布尔。所有的行省都已失陷，大部分被奥斯曼土耳其帝国蚕食，君士坦丁堡已处于包围之中。东正教本身能否幸存都是个问题。

从远方搬救兵的希望也很渺茫。西欧曾做过两次勇敢的尝试，但增援队伍都在巴尔干半岛遭到惨败。皇帝本人也曾数次离开君士坦丁堡前往西欧各国，甚至远赴伦敦，寻求财力和军事方面的支援，但都无功而返。一三七年，形势已很明朗：拜占庭无望得到俗世的救助，境地之绝望，只能仰仗上帝的援手。正信凯旋圣像便绘制于如此走投无路的背景之下。它所表现的并非拜占庭的现实，而是若想得到上帝的庇护，它需要呈现的状态。