Die Darstellung „Jesus vor Kaiphas“ in der byzantinischen Kirche oder

In Early Christian times, the depiction of Christ before Caiaphas shows a great variety of solutions and differs greatly with the one in the Byzantine period. Thus, the stick which is mentioned in the Biblical text appears only in Early Christian pictures but no longer in Byzantine times. In contrast the gesture of Jesus with outstretched and unbound arms have Early Christian and Byzantine pictures in common, whereas in Byzantine times both the bound and unbound arms are shown. Especially tearing off the garment is typical for Byzantine representations of Caiaphas. In Byzantine art it is characteristic for Caiaphas to stand upright and tear off his garment in most of the cases. But variants also show him siting or not tearing off his garment. In some other picture it is Hannas who tears off his cloth. The Biblical text states as reason for that reaction that Jesu has spoken out blasphemous words. But in fact he has not mentioned the tetragram but told to the High Priest that he will sit next to the “power” in the future which only can mean a sharing in God. At the same time tearing off the garment is also an expression of sorrow The question of what Caiaphas’ grief consists of can only be answered hypothetically, but with a high degree of plausibility. It is obvious that Jesus’ claim that he could tear down the man-made temple and build the nonman- made temple in three days calls into question the Old Testament high priesthood and thus also that of Caiaphas. This aspect is of great dogmatic-hermeneutical importance and is clearly visualized by the portrayal of Christ as High Priest in general and by his depiction in Lesnovo in particular. It is also striking that the depictions in Kastoria and on Mali Grad are completely identical, i. e., they can be traced back to one artist or workshop; and that the depictions on Crete (Potamies, Kapetaniana) also show so many similarities that one might possibly speak of a Cretan-typical iconography here as well. The Caiaphas scene is very often shown in connection with the denial of Peter, less often with the judgment of Pilate

Christianity · Natural (archaeology) · Patristics · Byzantine Studies and History · Globalization, Historical Perspectives, and International Relations · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome