Logo: to the web site of Uppsala University

uu.sePublications from Uppsala University
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Devotion to Saints as Busts on Pillars: Solving the Enigma of Non-Stylite Stylites in Psalter Vat. gr. 752
Uppsala University, Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS).ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9138-1766
2021 (English)In: Ikon - Journal of the iconographic studies, ISSN 1846-8551, Vol. 14, p. 45-56Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The eleventh-century psalter Vat. gr. 752 has four images of saints on pillars, of which only two are of a well-known stylite saint, St Simeon the Elder, while the other two are attributed to Saint Dositheos and Saint Silvester respectively. By examining the miniatures in the context provided by their captions and references to psalm verses, I argue that the identification of the non-stylite saints is accurate, and that therefore there must be a different reason for their being represented on pillars than that of a mistake by the artist or scribe. Through significant comparanda from the iconography of stylites and the representations of some scenes on the Genoa mandylion, I suggest that these non-stylite stylites, and by extension also the images of Simeon, break the adherence of the figuration of saints according to their Lives, and instead present us with representations of monuments to these saints, specifically, as busts on pillars, whether at shrines within churches or as street shrines. This iconography encapsulates the legitimacy of saints’ cult and intercession, witnessing to what is perhaps the most ancient form of iconography for saints, as reported by Theodoret for Simeon the Elder.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Brepols Publishers NV , 2021. Vol. 14, p. 45-56
Keywords [en]
Religious studies, Visual Arts and Performing Arts
National Category
Philosophy, Ethics and Religion
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-460184DOI: 10.1484/j.ikon.5.128290OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-460184DiVA, id: diva2:1616632
Available from: 2021-12-03 Created: 2021-12-03 Last updated: 2024-10-29Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full text

Authority records

Crostini, Barbara

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Crostini, Barbara
By organisation
Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS)
In the same journal
Ikon - Journal of the iconographic studies
Philosophy, Ethics and Religion

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 58 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf