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On earth as it is in heaven? Reinterpreting the Heavenly Liturgy in Byzantine art

  • Vasileios Marinis
Published/Copyright: April 22, 2021
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Byzantinische Zeitschrift
From the journal Byzantinische Zeitschrift Volume 114 Issue 1

Abstract

Compositions representing the Heavenly Liturgy - the liturgy that is presided over by Christ in heaven, of which the earthly liturgy is a reflection - first appear around the beginning of the fourteenth century in the decoration of Byzantine domes. Most scholars argue that such scenes depict an ancient concept, almost as old as liturgical exegesis itself. I contend that this view is based on a flawed reading of liturgical commentaries, of the biblical texts from which the commentaries draw inspiration, and of the Divine Liturgy itself. I argue that the scene of the Heavenly Liturgy represents both an exegetical stream independent of texts and an understanding of the eucharistic liturgy during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that existed in visual form in tandem with traditional textual interpretations of the rite. The scene, devised by painters and their patrons, therefore constitutes a concurrent exegetical tradition that both derived from the commentaries and deviated from them.

Published Online: 2021-04-22
Published in Print: 2021-02-01

© 2021 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Titelei
  2. Inhalt
  3. Siglenverzeichnis
  4. I. ABTEILUNG
  5. Neue mittel- und spätbyzantinische Inschriften aus Bithynien
  6. Icons as punishers. Two narrations from the Vaticanus gr. 1587 manuscript (BHG 1390 f)
  7. Rituali di corte. Il Triclinio dei XIX Letti del Grande Palazzo di Costantinopoli
  8. Fragments of a steatite icon (diptych wing) with the Great Feasts cycle excavated in Chełm (eastern Poland)
  9. The philosophy of Constantine the Philosopher of Nicaea
  10. Ist Andronikos Synadenos um die Mitte des 12. Jahrhunderts in normannische Gefangenschaft geraten?
  11. Revisiting the church of Saint Spyridon in Selymbria
  12. A tale of two skeletons?
  13. The portrayal of Syrgiannes Palaiologos Philanthropenos in the historical works of Nikephoros Gregoras and John Kantakouzenos
  14. Byzantine influence on Nubian painting: the loroi and the gender of the Archangels
  15. On earth as it is in heaven? Reinterpreting the Heavenly Liturgy in Byzantine art
  16. Prontuario para una abadesa: El Escur. Φ III 11 e Irene Cumno (con una propuesta de la escritura inédita de Mateo Blastares)
  17. Composing the Μικρομεγάλη Ἰλιάς
  18. From Baghdad to Antioch and Constantinople: Ibn Buṭlān and the Byzantines
  19. The liturgy as a source of the epigraphic formulary: some examples from the late antique Peloponnese
  20. II. ABTEILUNG
  21. Zofia A. Brzozowska / Mirosław J. Leszka / Kirił Marinow/ Teresa Wolińska (eds.). Widmo Mahometa, cień Samuela. Cesarstwo bizantyńskie w relacji zprzedstawicielami innych religii i kultur (VII–XV wiek)
  22. Dorotei Getov. A catalogue of the Greek manuscripts in the National Library “Sts. Cyril and Methodius”, Sofia
  23. David Holton / Geoffrey Horrocks / Marjolijne Janssen / Tina Lendari / Io Manolessou / Notis Toufexis. The Cambridge Grammar of Medieval and Early Modern Greek
  24. Mirosław J. Leszka / Kirił Marinow (eds.). The Bulgarian State in 927–969. The Epoch of Tsar Peter I.
  25. Marina Loukaki. Les Grâces à Athènes: éloge dʼun gouverneur byzantin par Nikolaos Kataphlôron
  26. Ruth Macrides / Joseph A. Munitiz/ Dimiter Angelov. Pseudo-Kodinos and the Constantinopolitan court: offices and ceremonies
  27. Marina Molin Pradel / Kerstin Hajdú. Katalog der griechischen Handschriften der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München. Band 5. Codices graeci Monacenses 266–347
  28. András Németh. The Excerpta Constantiniana and the Byzantine appropriation of the past
  29. Gaga Shurgaia. Vaxt’ang I Gorgasali re di Kartli. Alle origini dell’autocefalia della Chiesa ortodossa di Georgia
  30. Nachrichten
  31. Totentafel
  32. Nachruf - Klaus-Peter Matschke (14. 5. 1938 – 5. 9. 2020)
  33. Tafelanhang
https://doi.org/10.1515/bz-2021-9012

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Titelei
  2. Inhalt
  3. Siglenverzeichnis
  4. I. ABTEILUNG
  5. Neue mittel- und spätbyzantinische Inschriften aus Bithynien
  6. Icons as punishers. Two narrations from the Vaticanus gr. 1587 manuscript (BHG 1390 f)
  7. Rituali di corte. Il Triclinio dei XIX Letti del Grande Palazzo di Costantinopoli
  8. Fragments of a steatite icon (diptych wing) with the Great Feasts cycle excavated in Chełm (eastern Poland)
  9. The philosophy of Constantine the Philosopher of Nicaea
  10. Ist Andronikos Synadenos um die Mitte des 12. Jahrhunderts in normannische Gefangenschaft geraten?
  11. Revisiting the church of Saint Spyridon in Selymbria
  12. A tale of two skeletons?
  13. The portrayal of Syrgiannes Palaiologos Philanthropenos in the historical works of Nikephoros Gregoras and John Kantakouzenos
  14. Byzantine influence on Nubian painting: the loroi and the gender of the Archangels
  15. On earth as it is in heaven? Reinterpreting the Heavenly Liturgy in Byzantine art
  16. Prontuario para una abadesa: El Escur. Φ III 11 e Irene Cumno (con una propuesta de la escritura inédita de Mateo Blastares)
  17. Composing the Μικρομεγάλη Ἰλιάς
  18. From Baghdad to Antioch and Constantinople: Ibn Buṭlān and the Byzantines
  19. The liturgy as a source of the epigraphic formulary: some examples from the late antique Peloponnese
  20. II. ABTEILUNG
  21. Zofia A. Brzozowska / Mirosław J. Leszka / Kirił Marinow/ Teresa Wolińska (eds.). Widmo Mahometa, cień Samuela. Cesarstwo bizantyńskie w relacji zprzedstawicielami innych religii i kultur (VII–XV wiek)
  22. Dorotei Getov. A catalogue of the Greek manuscripts in the National Library “Sts. Cyril and Methodius”, Sofia
  23. David Holton / Geoffrey Horrocks / Marjolijne Janssen / Tina Lendari / Io Manolessou / Notis Toufexis. The Cambridge Grammar of Medieval and Early Modern Greek
  24. Mirosław J. Leszka / Kirił Marinow (eds.). The Bulgarian State in 927–969. The Epoch of Tsar Peter I.
  25. Marina Loukaki. Les Grâces à Athènes: éloge dʼun gouverneur byzantin par Nikolaos Kataphlôron
  26. Ruth Macrides / Joseph A. Munitiz/ Dimiter Angelov. Pseudo-Kodinos and the Constantinopolitan court: offices and ceremonies
  27. Marina Molin Pradel / Kerstin Hajdú. Katalog der griechischen Handschriften der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München. Band 5. Codices graeci Monacenses 266–347
  28. András Németh. The Excerpta Constantiniana and the Byzantine appropriation of the past
  29. Gaga Shurgaia. Vaxt’ang I Gorgasali re di Kartli. Alle origini dell’autocefalia della Chiesa ortodossa di Georgia
  30. Nachrichten
  31. Totentafel
  32. Nachruf - Klaus-Peter Matschke (14. 5. 1938 – 5. 9. 2020)
  33. Tafelanhang
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