Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

church, monks & art at end of the sixth century 917
metalwork). It seems not until the seventh and eighth century that more
introspection was put into the ‘proper’ nature and uses of Christian art. In
our period, whatever the theologians did or did not say, and despite the
Second Commandment, Christian art is distinguished by its conspicuous
and aggressive use of imagery – with the glaring exception of the walls and
vaults of St Sophia. The distinctive aspect of the period is the grand scale
of church building and patronage. In this respect, one sees why Procopius
was able to construct a long list of monuments, even if we cannot agree
that they represent the personal achievement of one individual, Justinian,
alone. What is missing from the rhetoric of such a text is the more
significant development in the presentation of Christian patronage in the
period. We find in church inscriptions a new kind of statement. Images, not
only in the churches of Thessalonica like Hosios David and S. Demetrios,
but all around the Mediterranean, were increasingly accompanied by the
following text: ‘For the remission of sins of the person whose name God
knows’. 70 Such a discourse in the patronage of art must have profoundly
affected also the viewing of art. It eloquently marks the end of classical patterns
of euergetism and shows the arrival of the Christian Middle Ages.
70 Cormack (1989) i.25.
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