Posted on 10/18/2022 2:19:06 PM PDT by Antoninus
Today is the feast of Saint Luke, a father of the ancient Church renowned as Evangelist, Historian, and Physician. We should be aware of one additional title that is traditionally attributed to this early disciple of Christ: Artist. For the name of Saint Luke is attached to one of the most venerable works of art of the ancient Church—the Hodegetria icon which resided in Constantinople until its destruction in 1453.
While the origins of the Hodegetria icon are shrouded in mystery, its connection to St. Luke is based upon traditions stretching back to the early centuries of Constantinople as a Christian capital. Among the most ancient sources to record this tradition is a manuscript known as the Anonymous Mercati, a document penned by an English pilgrim who journeyed to Constantinople in the 11th century AD. A translation of the key passage may be found in Pentcheva's work, Icons and Power: The Mother of God in Byzantium. Here is a snippet:
“In the part of the palace near the church of Hagia Sophia, very near to the great palace by the sea, is situated the monastery of the Mother of God, Theotokos. And in this monastery there is a holy icon of the Theotokos, called Hodegetria, which can be translated as “She Who Leads the Way.” … The holy apostle Luke painted this image of the Mother of God holding the Christ Child on her arm.” (Pentcheva, Icons and Power, page 126).
There is a further legend that explains how this icon of the Mother of God, presumably painted by St. Luke in Antioch (Luke’s presumed home town), Jerusalem, or some other city in the Levant, became associated with Constantinople. A late 14th century text known as the Logos Diegematikos holds that the icon was sent from the Levant by the empress Eudocia to her sister-in-law, Saint Pulcheria, in the mid-5th century AD:
“In fact, the empress Eudocia, upon receiving these holy and divine gifts [the Hodegetria icon and relics] from those holy monks like some much-valued treasure, sent them to the empress Pulcheria….Which gift, Pulcheria, as one could say, receiving it with great joy, deposited in the famous and holy sanctuary of the Theotokos and ordered the holy and sacred icon to be in the church as a protection of the palace, the entire city, and the whole world.” (Pentcheva, Icons and Power, page 128).
A previous post on this blog notes that Eudocia was indeed resident in both Antioch and Jerusalem for a time. Readers will also recall posts about Saint Pulcheria here and here, as well as a post demonstrating Pulcheria’s keen interest in bringing relics to Constantinople. Another post, citing a passage in the writings of St. John Damascene in the 8th century, indicates that Pulcheria and her consort, the emperor Marcian, had an interest in Marian relics and had specifically sought (though in vain) for the body of the Mother of God.
Pentcheva believes that the late recording of these acts make it likely that they are mere interpolations of medieval writers. An alternative viewpoint may be found in Grotowsky's The Hodegon: Considerations on the location of the Hodegetria sanctuary in Constantinople (Byzantina Symmeikta, Volume 27). This excellent work compiles and interprets the fragments of history on the Hodegetria that have come down to us.
This story of St. Luke painting the famous icon has served as fodder for other artists down through the centuries. The version shown at the top of this post was painted by an unknown Greek artist, likely in the early 15th century shortly before the fall of Constantinople to the Turks. Below is a fanciful version, showing Our Lady and the Christ child actually sitting for their portraits, with both the artist and the subjects dressed in Renaissance garb and looking very Dutch.
Saint Luke Painting the Virgin, Derick Baegert, ca. 1470.
Next, we see an even more fanciful, proto-Baroque rendition of the same event as imagined by Florentine artist Giorgio Vasari, complete with Saint Luke’s symbol (the ox) and the heavenly Virgin attended by cherubs.
Saint Luke Painting a Portrait of the Madonna, ca 1565
As recorded by the 15th century Greek historian Constantine Dukas, the original Hodegetria icon was destroyed by the Turks after the sack of Constantinople in AD 1453. As the story goes, four Turkish looters found it in the Chora monastery where it had been placed to protect the city during the siege. The Turks debated over which of them should possess it, and utilizing the wisdom of Solomon, decided to break it into four pieces.
There are many likely spurious accounts, however, which maintain that the true icon was spirited out of Constantinople at some point during its long history, with several cities in Italy, including Venice, claiming ownership. The Poles also claim that the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa is the original Hodegetria. For more on these claims, see, Wolff, "Footnote to an Incident of the Latin Occupation of Constantinople: The Church and the Icon of the Hodegetria" (Traditio, vol. 6 (1948), pp. 319-328).
Left: Image of the Madonna Nicopeia from Saint Mark’s Basilica, Venice. Right: Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa which is housed in Jasna Gora Monastery, Czestochowa, Poland.
This thread should probably have a Catholic Painting Caucus designation . . and that’s all I have to say about that.
“Little Children, keep yourselves from idols.”
- Apostle John
Last time I checked, Christians were not Muslims. Representations of other human beings and of Jesus himself are not “idols”. The Byzantines worked this out 1,300 years ago.
The alleged holy icon failed to protect Constantinople from the conquering Muslims. That should tell us something.
Ugh....
No.
—> Last time I checked, Christians were not Muslims.
Last time I checked, the Apostle John in Holy Scripture was warning Christians to keep themselves from idols - not Muslims.
—> Because you declare something to be an idol
I did not…
I quoted the Apostle John.
You assumed/or made up the rest.
I quoted the apostle to warn Christians about idolatry.
"There are some things in them [the writings of the Apostles] hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures." (2 Peter 3:16)
It is a good quote. This is an icon not an idol. Icons are basically graphic representations. I am not familiar with this one but if it was painted by Luke I’d say it was pretty cool historically and worthy of a look and preservation as well as being honored.
The Bible is also a record of history but we don’t worship the Bible or the words written in it. We worship God.
I haven’t seen him yet but feel his presence every day. When I do eventually see him, I would expect that experience to be not like any another that I have seen, experienced or has been described to me.
God bless y’all
“The words ‘graven image’ are first found in Exodus 20:4 of the King James Version of the Bible: ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.’ It is a phrase that literally refers to an idol, whether made of wood, stone, metal, silver, gold, or other items.”
I share this sentiment about images, although I frankly admit to being a painter and writer of made-up stuff - it’s something that’s been with me from childhood, and has been rather hard to quit.
St Luke was a great fellow. If he painted images, it only makes me feel closer to him. I read that he actually met and spoke with people in JC’s family, like his mother.
But remember how only a short time ago (20 or so years, which is a short time to someone my age) there was this saying “pics or it didn’t happen”....? Photos/images prove nothing.
Always remember that. Images are misleading.
—> This is an icon not an idol
Either can be treated as an idol - as can money and many other things.
—> we don’t worship the Bible or the words written in it.
Yes, some wrongly turn Scripture itself into an idol.
Who declared Luke to be an Apostle? Did Paul’s Apostleship rub off on him? I am aware he wrote an Epistle to Theophilus—was that actually an Apostle-Epistle, like Paul’s and John’s? It’s difficult trying to keep up....
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