Between Wonder and Omen
Conjoined Twins and the Mandylion from Constantinople to Norman Sicily
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21322284 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Roland Betancourt (0000-0001-6190-4650, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 23-62 |
| Publication date | 2023-03-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Gesta (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-920X • E-ISSN: 2169-3099 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/723218 |
| OpenAlex | W4366085765 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 29 |
In the year 944, two wonders arrived in Constantinople from the eastern borders of the empire: First, the Mandylion, a textile that Christ had miraculously imprinted with an image of his face, was brought to the city from Edessa. Second, to the awe of the city’s inhabitants, male conjoined twins arrived from Armenia. In this article, I focus on the depiction of both events in the Madrid Skylitzes historical chronicle (Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España, MS vitr. 26–2). My goal is to show how the multifaceted meanings of the conjoined twins and the Mandylion operated in the context of imperial rule, political intrigue, and religious authority, from the text’s origin in Constantinople to the manuscript’s illumination in Norman Sicily
Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology) · Depiction · Literature · Omen · Politics · Wonder · Byzantine Studies and History · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Law · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy
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| Highly cited | No |
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