International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Mabi Angar
Institut für Altertumskunde,
Abteilung Byzantinistik und Neugriechische Philologie, Cologne, Germany; 
[e-mail]
Types and Archetypes of Byzantine Head Reliquaries
Even to this day, the handbook 
Die Reliquiare des christlichen Kultes und ihre Entwicklung 
(Freiburg im Breisgau, 1940), one of several compendia on the sacred arts of the Middle Ages by the 
renowned theologian and art historian Joseph Braun SJ (1857-1947), provides an indispensable tool 
for the study of medieval reliquaries. Based primarily on the small corpus of surviving Byzantine 
reliquaries, however, Braun postulated a scarcity of types for the Byzantine realm in contrast to the 
West with its multitude of reliquary types. Various types such as the anthropomorphic head bust, 
figurines, the architectural reliquary, and others were ruled out as unimaginable in Byzantine art. 
Only the 
staurotheke 
– the rather flat, almost two-dimensional container for fragments of the True 
Cross – was acknowledged as an independent achievement that was relevant and stimulating for 
art production in the medieval West. As admirably broad, learned, and handy as Braun’s overviews 
doubtlessly are, his influential typology has led to some distorted views of Byzantine sacred 
goldsmith art and Orthodox piety, especially in the context of relic veneration. In my paper, I will 
illustrate the problems of art historical typologies when dealing with the relatively small corpora 
of surviving objects, provide some alternative approaches, and discuss some conceivable types and 
archetypes for head reliquaries.
Anna Adashinskaya
Central European University, Budapest, Hungary; 
[e-mail]
A Guide for Last Journey – The Mother of God Hodegetria 
as Typical Receiver of Funerary Prayers in Late-Byzantium
In the present paper, I am going to explore why one can encounter the image of the Virgin of 
the Brephokratousa type (probably Hodegetria) in several late-Byzantine funerary compositions: 
the laywoman’s tomb (the Myrelaion), chapel of Pachomios (Hodegetria Monastery, Mystras); monk 
and boy tomb (Dormition Church, Longanikos); Ostoja Rajakovic’s grave (Peribleptos Church, 
Ohrid); burial of Manuel Palaiologos (Sts Theodores’ Church, Mystras); and several funerary icons. 
In all these cases, the enthroned or standing Virgin is depicted making a gesture of acceptance: with 
one hand she holds her son showing him to the supplicant, while with another, stretched, arm she 
benevolently accepts the prayers of humans and invites them to visual dialogue. The “theatrical 
character” of the postures taken by the praying people and the responding Virgin was noted by T. 
Papamastorakis, who compared them with the texts of funerary epigrams. Thus, the Virgin was 
seen as a guide, helper, and mediator, which was underlined in the inscriptions accompanying the 
portrait of Manuel Palaiologos calling the Mother of God “μεσητεύη αὐτῷ εἰς τὸν Κ(ύριο)ν.”

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In my hypothesis, the great interest toward this iconographical solution, similar to the famous 
Hodegetria image, can be explained in several ways:
1) On a practical side, Hodegon became increasingly popular as a burial place for 
Constantiopolitan nobility. The funerary function of the Hodegetria icon was already present in the 
demand of John Komnenos for the Hodegetria procession to his tomb in Pantokrator Monastery. 
Later, Theodore Balsamon described at least two tombs situated on the monastery’s territory (one 
of them belonged to Stephanos Komnenos), while in Palaiologan time, Andronikos III choose 
Hodegon as the place for his own tomb. Finally, a donation act of the Sinianoi family (1390) shows 
that even the members of low nobility could expect to be buried there. Not having children, the 
Sinianoi passed to the monastery their house in Constantinople expecting the brotherhood to build 
in return a tomb for the couple and commemorate them twice a week.
2) Underlined in histories about Hodegon, widely-spread in Palaiologan time, as well as 
in hymnography, the symbolic and theological meaning of Hodegetria as a guide started to be 
understood as a guide to salvation through her role as petitioner to Christ. Nikephoros Kallistos 
Xanthopoulos called her “conductor to divine rest” and “the guide on the way to your Son,” while 
the palladium of Trebizond, equally Hodegetria icon, was called “showing the way to the good ones.” 
Moreover, Byzantine church hymns called directly in many instances Mary “a guide to salvation” 
(πρὸς σωτηρίαν ὁδηγοῦσα). In funerary images, this motif of guidance was expressed in the Virgin’s 
gesture of open arm directing the supplicant to look at Christ-child.
3) From a social point of view, the veneration of Hodegetria icon became more widespread, that 
is, more popular among lower classes. The number of laics belonging to the Hodegon confraternity 
raised and, from the late-14
th
century on, one can encounter several people with either non-noble or 
low-noble origin having the surname of Hodegetrianos. Possibly after the dedication of the month 
of August to Hodegetria in 1297 and re-establishing the public veneration of the icon under the 
Palaiologoi, the cult of the image spread throughout the empire and lead to the establishing of 
numerous churches with dedication to Hodegetria. The size and importance of these foundations 
varied from family chapels on distant Byzantine periphery to the rich and spacious ensembles, as 
the one in Mystras.