The erotics of devotion

‘Ransom of His Soul:’ Shaped Text as Medium and Mediator in Byzantium

“…17 Iconoclasts replaced some of the most prominent images in churches with crosses, and Drpić is convinced that the cross thus visualized in John the Grammarian's inscription was somehow highlighted, perhaps by gilded letters, to ensure that it was recognized by passersby. 18 This inscription again demonstrates the great advantage of the shaped text as medium. It avoided charges of being regarded as an image so long as it remained aniconic script.…”

“…However, these poetic restrictions conform exceptionally well to geometric outlines in physical space. 26 This is most clearly evident in their employment on the reverse side of a reliquary-enkolpion now located in the Moscow Kremlin Museum (fig. 15, fig.…”

“…It involved the Byzantine understanding of kosmos-the most common word for "adornment"-as a conceptualization of artistic or creative activity that moved beyond utility toward an aesthetic and spiritual ideal. 30 Drpić explains that "to encase or frame a sacred object with a lavish material kosmos (adornment) was understood by the Byzantines as a way to gain access to and partake, as it were, of the object's sanctity." 31 At its most profound stage, this concept applied directly to epigrams, which became regarded as the highest category of adornment "above any material kosmos."…”