Icons 'versus' imperial portraits in the ‘Three treatises on the divine images’ by John of Damascus: a debate on the sacred and political authority
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17648/rom.v0i12.19937Keywords:
Byzantine Empire, Iconoclasm, Emperor, Divine images, John of DamascusAbstract
This article intends to discuss the Three treatises on the divine images written by John of Damascus, seeking to analyze his works from a political perspective, in order to demonstrate how the monk, on the one hand, defends the sacred images and criticizes the imperial figure by the latter having instituted iconoclasm and, on the other hand, legitimizes the emperor, his image and his power as such. In order to do so, we shall give an overview of the outbreak of the iconoclastic crisis, then deal with the functions of the imperial portraits, and finally analyze the passages of the John of Damascus texts concerning the arguments used to defend the Byzantine imperial icons and authority.
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