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Mothers of the Empire: Empresses Zoe and Theodora on a Byzantine Medallion Cycle

Mothers of the Empire: Empresses Zoe and Theodora on a Byzantine Medallion Cycle

By Kriszta Kotsis

Medieval Feminist Forum, Vol.48:1 (2012)

Khakhuli triptych

Abstract: This study examines Byzantine enamel medallions of the 11th century that represent empresses in encounters with holy figures. In addition to arguing for a date and identification of the empresses, the article examines what the medallions say about female authority in Byzantium in the first half of the eleventh century.

Introduction: Three delicate medallions embedded in the famed Khakhuli Triptych portray exceptional imagery featuring Byzantine women. The cloisonné enameled roundels show female figures dressed in imperial garments interacting with saints in scenes not paralleled exactly in other Byzantine works of art. The first medallion represents two empresses crowned or blessed by the Mother of God, a scene often referred to as double coronation; the second roundel shows an empress and an angel greeting each other; the third depicts an empress and John the Baptist exchanging salutations. These representations are unique in Byzantine art: no other images survive that show empresses by themselves interacting with John the Baptist or an angel, and no other example of the double coronation of two empresses is extant. Because of their exceptional imagery and overwhelming focus on female figures, the enamels deserve close scrutiny. The medallions, located on the insides of the wings of the triptych, are arranged symmetrically: two on the left and one on the right wing; a fourth medallion completing the set is a modern product. Likely produced as a series, they contain no inscriptions. This is remarkable because Byzantine enamels are normally inscribed. Their irregular outlines and cramped compositions suggest that they may have included identifying inscriptions, which were deliberately removed when the roundels were inserted into the Khakhuli Triptych.

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The surviving three roundels form a cohesive and compositionally complete set, yet it is conceivable that other pieces not extant were included in the original series. The size of the medallions (ca. 5 cm × 4.4 cm) is not unusual and is similar to many enameled roundels produced in Byzantium in the tenth to twelfth centuries. Enamel medallions of similar size were used as decoration for a variety of objects, including book covers, icon frames, reliquaries, votive crowns, and chalices. The numerous scrolls shown on the three roundels might suggest that the enamels originally decorated a book cover, yet this remains a hypothesis.

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