It shows us the Empress Theodora and that great restoration of 843. She stands beside the Hodegetria image of the Virgin and Child, and with her is her child, the boy Emperor Michael, both of them wearing elaborate Imperial crowns. Below them, in the...
So a great wave of iconoclastic violence swept the Orthodox Church in the years following 700. The theological debates went on for well over a century, and were very complex. But throughout, the people remained on the whole very firmly attached to th...
But what exactly is the Triumph of Orthodoxy, as shown in our painting at the British Museum? To find out, we've got to go back about seven hundred years. Given the centrality of icons in Orthodox worship, and the fervour with which they're described...
The painting of icons was primarily a spiritual rather than an artistic activity, and it was governed by strict guidelines. The particular artist is not important, what's key is motivation and methodology. It's an aspect of icons that fascinates the...
'Icon' is simply the Greek word for picture, and this picture is about a foot (30 cm) high, in fact it is almost exactly the same shape as a laptop computer. It's painted on a wooden panel, the figures in black and red, the background shining gold. I...
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 succ...
067:EPISODE 67 - Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy 正信凯旋圣像 Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (painted in the late fourteenth century), from Istanbul What does a great empire do when it's faced with imminent invasion and destruction? It can...
Certainly the veneration of the Crown of Thorns remains very much alive. It was Napoleon who decided that it should be housed permanently in Notre Dame, and there, on the first Friday of every month, the whole Crown of Thorns, from which our one thor...
We're not sure who he gave it to, but by 1544 it was in the treasury of the Habsburg emperors in Vienna. And from there its secularisation begins - the gold, enamel and jewels become far more valuable and interesting than the humble thorn that they h...
To have a relic particularly connected with the Passion of Christ was the best thing you could have. But there were also relics of the saints, particularly the martyrs. I think they provoked a lot of envy, especially the French collections. The rival...