The Virgin and Her parents: a narrative scene or a « family portrait » (pl. 22-31)

Abstract

The Palaeologan narrative cycle of the Infancy of the Virgin in the Peribleptos of Mistra includes a scene in which Joachim and Anne are seated while the infant Mary stands in front of them ( pi. 22 α ). This scene has been identified as the Discussion of Joachim and Anne who are about to decide on the presentation of the Virgin in the temple once she completes her third year. In addition to the above, the same narrative scene appears at least twice in Byzantine art, i.e. in the illustrated copies of the Homilies of the Monk James of Kokkinobaphos in the Vatican Library ( Vat. gr. 1162) (pi. 22 β ) and in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris (Par. gr. 1208). The iconographie affinity between the fourteenth-century fresco and the twelfth-century miniatures of the Homilies is striking and points to their common origin, which must be sought in the illustrated Protevangelium of James. The compositional scheme adopted in the above examples is used in a further group of representations of Joachim, Anne and the Virgin. This group includes a thirteenth-century icon in the Sinai Collection ( pi. 23 α ), a late-seventeenth-century icon of the Byzantine Museum in Athens ( pi. 23 ß), an icon of Emmanuel Tzanes ( 1644) in the Collection of the Greek Institute at Venice ( pi. 24 β ) and a fresco in the Monastery of Phaneromeni on the island of Salamis painted by Georgios Marcou and dated 1735 (pi. 24a). The Sinai icon repeats the very same composition as found in the Peribleptos and the Homilies of James, while the remaining representations differ mainly in the fact that the parents of the Virgin are depicted standing. However, all four examples share in common both the absence of inscriptions giving the title of the composition ( except for their names ) and a somewhat hieratic organization of the representations. Moreover, there is no evidence indicating that the above mentioned examples were meant as part of a narrative cycle with the Infancy of the Virgin. We should add that the scene of the Discussion of the Parents of the Virgin for her presentation in the temple does not fall into the group of the liturgical scenes of the life of the Virgin which were detached and had obtained also an autonomous existence in Byzantine art; accordingly, we reach the conclusion that the above four related representations have not the narrative content of the Peribleptos fresco and the miniatures in the Homilies. To be more precise, we believe that they were meant solely as portraits. How can we account therefore for the use of the same compositional scheme in two different categories of depictions of the Virgin and her parents? The depiction of parents or tutors in symmetrical positions on either side of their child or children or their wards ( depicted standing ) is a familiar compositional formula in Byzantine art. It is used very often in two categories of works : a) in purely narrative scenes b) in portraits. However, it is obvious that while the adult figures are usually depicted seated in narrative scenes, they are represented in standing position in portraits. An example of the first category is provided by a twelfth-century miniature of a Psalter in the Vatican Library ( Vat. gr. 1927 ) ( pi. 25 β ). In the category of portraits the familiar compositional formula appears in funerary stelae of the Late Roman period ( pi. 25 γ ) and has a long history in Byzantine art both in religious and secular representations. « Family portraits » of saints serving as illustrations for their feast days often appear in Menologia or other liturgical texts ( directly influenced by the Menologion ). A case in point is the Lectionary of the Gospels ( cf. the eleventh-century miniature of the Vat. gr. 1156 ) ( pi. 25 α ). The same compositional formula in a secular context, extensively used in the ceremonial family portrait of Byzantine art, is shown by the miniatures of the Barberini Psalter in the Vatican Library ( gr. 372 ) of the eleventh century ( pi. 26 α ) and of the Lincoln College Typicon in the Bodleian Library, Oxford ( gr. 35 ) of the fourteenth century ( pi. 26 β ). Three of the four examples with depictions of the Virgin and her parents as autonomous portraits, i.e. the icons of the Byzantine Museum, Athens, and the Greek Institute, Venice, and the fresco in Salamis depend upon the tradition of the Byzantine family portrait; in contrast, the Sinai icon is more closely connected with the narrative scene of the Discussion of Joachin and Anne for the presentation of the Virgin in the temple. A direct influence of this latter scene may account for the iconographie form of the Sinai icon. However, we should not exclude a possible connection between the scene of the Discussion of the Virgin's parents for her presentation ( and consequently of the non-scenic representation of the Sinai icon ) and two related scenes of the Infancy cycle which enjoyed a greater popularity in Byzantine art. These scenes are: a ) the Caresses of the Virgin, ( cf. e.g. a detail of a Post-byzantine icon in the Byzantine Museum, Athens, pi. 27 α ), b) a variant of the so-called Seven Steps of the Virgin, which comprises Joachim and Anne seated, having between them the child who is trying to take her first steps ( cf. a detail of a Russian icon of the Post-byzantine period in the Old Lichac'ev Collection, pi. 27 β ). The presence of the Virgin and her parents in cases such as those of the above mentioned four examples can be explained on the basis of one dogmatic consideration, i.e. the all important role of the three figures for the mystery of the Incarnation. In fact, the « family portrait » of Joachim, Anne and the Virgin has enjoyed a considerable popularity in Byzantine and Post-byzantine art. In addition to the examples already mentioned, there are two more groups of representations including the three familiar figures : a) those with the infant Mary held in the arms of her parents b) those in which the Virgin is fully grown, depicted in one of her traditional iconographie types. The tendency to unite the figures of the Virgin and her parents can be explained by the considerable spread of the cult of the Virgin after the Council of Ephesus (431 ) and also by the equal status which both Joachim and Anne enjoyed in Byzantine theological thought. The fact that both had a special feast in the Ecclesiastical Calendar, celebrated on the 9th of September, gave rise to numerous isolated depictions of the couple in illuminated manuscripts of Menologia ( cf. miniature of the Menologion of Basil II, Vat. gr. 1613) (pi. 28 a ) , in Menologia icons and in monumental painting. The inclusion of the figure of the Virgin into the group is only a further step. The thirteenth-century icon at Vatopedi, depicting Anne holding the Virgin in the central area and Joachim on the silver frame, shows that the Byzantine iconographers consider these three figures as an entity ( pi. 27 γ ). A later templon icon of the church of Saint Nicolas of Kyritzis in Castoria (17th c.) (pi. 27 5) represents a more symmetrical arrangement of the group with the infant held by both parents. However, the tradition of depicting Joachim and Anne with the Virgin fully grown is more widely established because it undoubtedly conveys more clearly the theological idea underlying the entire composition : the Virgin appears here as the chief instrument of the Incarnation and therefore of human salvation. This reflects directly on her parents who become the witnesses of the mystery of the Incarnation and supplicate for the salvation of mankind. Among numerous relevant examples in portative works of art are three icons in the Sinai Collection ( pi. 28 β and 29 α,β ) while a representative example in monumental painting is offered by the fourteenthcentury fresco in the church of the Brontochion of Mistra ( pi. 30 ). One wonders what may have been the use of the icons with depictions of the « family portrait » of Joachim, Anne and the Virgin. It goes without saying that such works may well have been commissioned for the purpose of private worship especially since the theme carries strong familial connotations. However, it is quite probable that these icons were placed at least once a year on the proskynetarion of Byzantine and Post-byzantine churches. This would have been on the Feast day of Joachim and Anne on the 9th of September. It has been the object of this study to show the broad and at the same time complex character of the depictions of Joachim, Anne and the Virgin in Byzantine and Post-byzantine art. The creation of new iconographie themes or iconographie variants of more common themes may be considered as an indication of this complexity. Such cases occur in a late sixteenthcentury icon in the Museum of the island of Zakynthos (pi. 31 a ) (of the Virgin's parents only Anne is depicted holding her daughter who in her turn holds the Child Jesus ) and in an eighteenth-century icon of Mount Sinai (pi. 31 β) (the theme of the Tree of Jesse includes the couple of Joachim and Anne depicted beneath the Virgin ).