Strophadés kéleuthoi. Figures de la précarité dans leur synthèse postbyzantine

Abstract

The article discusses the concept of depicting life as a wheel that moves. It should be noted this representation was of importance since it was included in the iconographic manual of Dionysius of Fourna. The textual and pictorial sources of the Byzantine period, however, are traced in illuminated manuscripts of the 11^th century. In other visual examples of the 14^th-15^th century, the scene is being enriched by the addition of cosmological symbols, other cycles or personifications of abstract concepts, like the Time. Nevertheless, the Post-Byzantine examples of the 18^th century and later appear to be simplified, although now the Wheel of Life is moved by the personifications of Day and Night and has a more precise technological accuracy. Finally, it is being concluded that the scene, an original synthesis of the Post-Byzantine period, evolved and crystallized after having absorbed the various influences it received.