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Walter Christopher. IC XC NI KA. The apotropaic Function of the victorious Cross. In: Revue des tudes byzantines, tome 55,
1997. pp. 193-220;
doi : 10.3406/rebyz.1997.1940
http://www.persee.fr/doc/rebyz_0766-5598_1997_num_55_1_1940
Abstract
In this article the author attempts to bring up to date the research undertaken by the late Anatole
Frolow and the late Gordana Babic on the place of the formula IC XC NI in Byzantine art. He
provides an extended repertory of representations of this formula in different media, together with other
legends or acronyms which may replace or supplement it. He rejects its early association with
Eucharistie practice and Iconoclast propaganda. In tracing the development of its use, he observes that
its early exploitation as an affirmation of victory, usually but not necessarily imperial, gave way to
apotropaic practices. Although some of the acronyms which increasingly accompanied the formula in
later Byzantine art are hard to decode, the author does not consider that they were intended regularly
to be arcane.
IC XC NI
THE APOTROPAIC FUNCTION
OF THE VICTORIOUS CROSS
Christopher WALTER*
Rsum. In this article the author attempts to bring up to date the research undertaken
by the late Anatole Frolow and the late Gordana Babic on the place of the formula IC XC
NI in Byzantine art. He provides an extended repertory of representations of this
formula in different media, together with other legends or acronyms which may replace or
supplement it. He rejects its early association with Eucharistie practice and Iconoclast
propaganda. In tracing the development of its use, he observes that its early exploitation
as an affirmation of victory, usually but not necessarily imperial, gave way to apotropaic
practices. Although some of the acronyms which increasingly accompanied the formula in
later Byzantine art are hard to decode, the author does not consider that they were
intended regularly to be arcane.
* I gratefully acknowledge help received from Suzy Dufrenne (Paris), Nicole Thierry
(tampes), Gojko Subotic and Radivoj Radie (Belgrade) and George Gerov (Sofia). For
Greek accentuation I follow the conventional rules for Byzantine texts.
1. A. Frolow, IC XC NI , Byzantiiwslavica 17, 1956, p. 98-1 13.
have written on one or other aspect of the device since Frolow's time
were apparently unaware of the existence of his study. Their ignorance
of it may be in part responsible for the implausible nature of some of
their proposals. Furthermore, much new material is now available that
was not so in Frolow's time. It seems, therefore, that an attempt at a new
synthesis is justified. The uses to which the device was put will be
grouped according to the medium in which it appears. Although a
developed repertory is provided, the author does not, of course, claim
that it is exhaustive.
2. For a detailed general account, see Erich and Erika Dinkler, Kreuz I, Lexikon zur
byzantinischen Kunst 5 (1991), p. 1- 219 (vorikonoklastisch) ; G. Galavaris, Kreuz II,
ibidem, p. 219-284 (nachikonoklastisch).
3. Eusebius, De vita Constantini (Clavis 3496), I 28, PG 20, col. 944. The earliest
reference to the prodigy is made by Lactantius, La mort des perscuteurs, I, xliv, 13,
edited J. Moreau, Paris 1954, p. 127. In his account of the battle of the Milvian Bridge,
Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica IX, ix, edited J. Bardy, Paris 1958, III, p. 60-65,
especially p. 61 note 6, says nothing.
4. C. Morrisson, Catalogue des monnaies byzantines de la Bibliothque Nationale,
Paris 1970, p. 331.
5. ibidem, p. 609.
6. Tabula imperii biz.antini, V, Kilikien und Isaurien, edited F. Hild and II.
Hei.enkemper, Vienna 1990, 1, p. 168-169, 2, fig. 40.
7. . Thierry, Mentalit et formulation iconoclastes en Anatolie, Journal des savants,
avril-juin 1976, p. 101-104 ; Eadem, Le culte de la Croix dans l'empire byzantin du Vile
sicle au Xe sicle dans ses rapports avec la guerre contre l'infidle. Nouveaux
tmoignages archologiques, Rivista di studi bizantini i slavi, Miscellanea Agostino Pertusi, 1 ,
1980, p. 215, fig. 7.
8. H. Omont, Fac-simils des miniatures des plus anciens manuscrits grecs de la
Bibliothque Nationale, Paris 1902, plate LIX, p. 31 (about 880). Constantine's vision
was not often represented, but see the late example (dated 1466) in the church of the Holy
Cross, Platanistasa, Cyprus, A. et J. Stylianou, By This Conquer, Nicosia 1971, p. 69
THE APOTROPAIC FUNCTION OF THE VICTORIOUS CROSS 1 95
1 8. Ibidem, p. 469.
19. Ibidem, p. 480.
20. Ibidem, p. 486.
21. Ibidem, p. 492.
22. Ibidem, p. 499-500.
23. Ibidem, p. 503.
24. Ibidem, p. 507.
25. Ibidem, p. 520.
26. Ibidem, p. 525.
27. Ibidem, p. 526. According to Ph. Grierson, Byzantine Coinage, Washington DC
1983, p. 10, the miliaresion now became a regular part of the currency.
28. Ibidem, p. 534-535.
29. Ibidem, p. 543.
30. Ibidem, p. 553.
3 1 . Ibidem, p. 559.
32. Ibidem, p. 571-573.
33. Ibidem, p. 580.
34. Ibidem p. 591,595, 609.
THE APOTROPAIC FUNCTION OF THE VICTORIOUS CROSS 1 97
reform of 109235. For the intermediate decades between Basil IPs death
and 1 080 the miliaresion was minted but our device was replaced by an
invocation of the Virgin. Finally attention should be drawn to a puzzling
anonymous coin, which Hendy attributed to the early years of the reign
of Alexius I (1081-1092) 36. It has on its obverse a representation of
Christ's bust, and on the reverse our device.
A survey, however tedious, of all the imperial mintings which used
our device has the advantage of enabling us to make confidently some
positive as well as negative affirmations. First of all, while not excluding
necessarily the use of our device in more restrictively religious contexts,
it was certainly exploited imperially, for it is notorious that coins were
one of the principal instruments of imperial propaganda. However, to
take the step, as some scholars have done, of attributing the introduction
of our device on the silver miliaresion to Iconoclast emperors is
temerarious. Constantine IV and his father Leo III admittedly espoused
the Iconoclast cause. However, as Ccile Morrisson has pointed out, the
silver miliaresion stamped with our device was minted six years before
Leo Ill's first decree against images37. Subsequently it appeared on the
coins of Iconophile rulers (Artabasdus, Constantine VI and Irene) as well
as Iconoclast rulers. Convenient as it may have been to have available an
image of Christ which was at once orthodox and inoffensive to
Iconoclasts, this would not explain adequately why our device was
introduced on Leo Ill's miliaresion. It is much more plausible,
particularly if the use of the device on Leo Ill's coins is taken in
conjunction with its use in the inscription on the walls of Constantinople,
to suppose that he - and his successors - were affirming their confidence
in victory over the Arabs 38. As Andr Grabar observed long ago, neither
Iconophiles or Iconoclasts used coins for propaganda purposes against
their antagonists 39. A specific connection between our device and
Iconoclast teaching on images can be safely ruled out.
At first there must have been some reason for associating this gesture
of defiance to the Arabs with the coronation of a co-emperor. Possibly
the explanation was that the coronation of a co-emperor was in itself an
affirmation that the dynasty was secure of its future, another act of
defiance to the Arabs. By the early ninth century the original reasons for
associating our device with the coronation of a co-emperor may well
have been forgotten. Moreover the device may have been losing its
imperial connotations of triumph and victory. The religious mentality of
35. Griekson, op. cit. (note 26), p. 1 1 ; J.-C. Cheynet, Quelques remarques sur le culte
de la Croix en Asie Mineure au xe sicle, Histoire et culture chrtienne, Mlanges M.
Marchasson, Paris 1992, p. 72.
36. Morrisson, II, p. 605 ; M. F. Hendy, Coinage and Money in the Byzantine Empire
(1081-1261), Washington DC 1969, p. 75, plate 2 n 22.
37. Morrisson, p. 450.
38. The silver miliaresion may have been originally an imitation of the dirhem of Abd-
al-Mali (695-698), ibidem.
39. A. Grabar, L'iconoclasme bvzantin, dossier archologique, Paris 1957, p. 1 19-129.
198 CHRISTOPHERWALTER
40. F.E. Brightman, Liturgies Eastern and Western, Oxford 1894, p. 393,
IC XC NI .
41. Frolow, art. cit. (note 1), p. 109 note 66; J. Goar, seu Rituale
Graecorum, Paris 1647, p. 117.
42. F.E. Brightman, The Historia Mystagogica and Other Greek Commentaries on the
Byzantine Liturgy, Journal of Theological Studies 9, 1908, p. 263-264, especially 28,
30, 31b.
43. Theodore Studite, Adversus Iconomachos, I, PG 99, col. 489, To
.
44. Pseudo-Sophronius, Commentarius liturgicus, 8, PG 87, col. 3988-3989.
45. Symeon of Thessaloniki, De sacra liturgica, 88, PG 155, col. 265-268. See in
general, P. De Meester, Les origines et le dveloppement du texte grec de la liturgie de
S. Jean Chrysostome, , Rome 1908, p. 305; Idem, Gense, sources et
dveloppement du texte grec de la liturgie de S. Jean Chrysostome, Rome 1908, p. 63-64 ;
R. Engdahl, Die Proskomodie der Liturgien des Chrysostomos und Basilius whrend des
Mittelalters, Beitrge zur Kenntnis der byzantinischen Liturgie, Berlin 1908, p. 87-149 ; II
commentario liturgico di S. Germano patriarca Constantinopolitana e la versione latina di
Anastasio bibliotecario, edited . Borgia, Studi liturgici, I (Roma e oriente, I),
Grottaferrata 1912, p. 19-20.
THE APOTROPAIC FUNCTION OF THE VICTORIOUS CROSS 1 99
the Christan East in the Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities and
Ethnography of the British Museum, London 1901, p. 172. n 973.
52. Gai.avaris. art. cit. (note 48\ p. 74-75. fis. 38,
200 CHRISTOPHER WALTER
plates 3, 6. A new edition has been prepared by P. Canakt, S. Dufrenne and C. Mango.
Frolow, art. cit. (note I), p. 107.
63. Frolow, ibidem.
64. Kirsopp and Silva Lake. Dated Greek Minuscule Manuscripts to the Year 1200,
Boston, III, 1934, p. 107, pi. 163.
65. Lake, IV, 1935, p. 12, pi. 256.
66. Lake, X. 1939, p. 10. pi. 693.
202 CHRISTOPHER WALTER
14. Athen. 108, f. lv, Gospels, fourteenth century, with a full-page cross
which serves as a frontispiece75. The letter A is missing from the device.
(Figure 4).
15. Sinait. 339, the liturgical homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus, dating
from about 1 136-1 155, differs from the preceding manuscripts in that on
our folios the text is set out in a cruciform pattern with letters placed in
the angles 76. On f. 90 they are \C XC NI , but on f. 73 and f. 197
they aret while on f. 396v they are 6 e e 6.
Minor objects
The number of minor objects on which our device is inscribed is
limited. As far as I am aware it figures on only one icon, on the reverse
of that of Saints Zosimus and Nicholas at Mount Sinai, which
Weitzmann dated to the first half of the tenth century 84. Two earlier
icons at Mount Sina which Weitzmann dated to the sixth or seventh
century have the letters IC XC VC 0V placed around the cross 8\ The
77. Ibidem, p. 74, fig. 199. Note that the miniature with our device published by
G. Galavaris, ' . , Athens 1995, p. 231, fig. 87, is
incorrectly named Sinat. 500. Unfortunately I have not succeeded in establishing its proper
identity.
IS.'lbidem, p. 80-81, fig. 220.
79. Ciiatzinikolaou and Paschou, II, p. 33, fig. 28.
80. G. Galavaris, The Illustrations of the Liturgical Homilies of Gregory Naz.ian~.enus,
Princeton NJ 1969, p. 251, fig. 69.
8 1 J. Spatiiarakis. Corpus of Dated Illuminated Greek Manuscripts to the Year 1453,
Leiden 1981. n 159. fig. 304.
.
Sotirious recorded a calendar icon, which they dated to the second half
of the eleventh century, upon which the following letters are inscribed : 2
ZCK,AnriC,eeee,XXXX86. There remain the two
icons, possibly dating from the time when the chapel of Saint Neophytos
was decorated (1 183). Various letters - not our device - are inscribed on
them, but they are best considered in the context of the chapel itself,
which is particularly rich in such inscriptions.
A single lead seal, which has been attributed to the seventh or eighth
century, has on one side an inscription invoking the Theotokos in favour
of John the Apohypatos ; on the other side our device is inscribed 87.
Of ivories carrying our device, the Harbaville triptych (10th century ?)
is outstanding.88. The letters IC XC NI are all placed, unusually,
above the arms of the cross. The sophistication of this superb carving
recalls the frontispieces to the two earliest manuscripts carrying the
device. Three other less impressive ivories should be mentioned : the
Halberstadt triptych, partially destroyed, the Borradaile triptych in the
British Museum and a plaque in Turin (Gualino collection).
The steatite of Saint John the Baptist in the collection of the Armoury
of the Kremlin, Moscow, dated to the late fourteenth or fifteenth century,
is unique89. Our device, which is not carved in the same way as Saint
John on the other side, is placed above a coat of arms and may have been
added later.
Considering the great number of reliquaries of the True Cross which
are known, remarkably few carry our device. Frolow noted only three.
One (n 574), dating from the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century,
is now lost 90. A second (n 663), in the Treasury of San Marco, Venice,
possibly dating from the thirteenth century, has the Crucifixion
represented
(n 872) in the
on Accademia,
the face and
Venice,
our dating
device probably
on the reverse91.
from 1446-1459,
The third
has
on the reverse, besides our device, the letters 13 92. Frolow noted
two carrying inscriptions other than our device : n 340, the twelfth
century reliquary at Esztergom, with the letters X X X X 93 ; a reliquary
86. G. and M. Sotiriou, Icnes du Mont Sinai, Athens 1 956-1958, I, pl. 136-143 ; II, p.
123.
87. Iskusstvo viz.antii sobranijah SSSR, Moscow 1977, I, n 258.
88. A. GoLixscHMiirr and K. Weitzmann, Die byzantinischen Elfenbeinskulpturen
des
n 53,
XLp.- 41.
XIII.
A. Jahrhunderts,
Cutlhr, The HandBerlin
of the
1934,
Master,
n 33,Princeton
p. 34-35,NJn 1994,
60, p.p. 43
235,
; n28138,note
p. 36;
32,
fig. 152,239,242.
89. Iskusstvo viz.antii (note 86), III, n 1015; I. Kalavrezou-Maxeiner, Byzantine
Icons in Steatite, Vienna 1985, p. 236-237, n 174 (no reproduction of the reverse).
90. A. Frolow, La relique de la Vraie Croix, Paris 1961, p. 443.
91. Ibidem, p. 485-486; Ioem, Les reliquaires de la Vraie Croix, Paris 1965, fig. 48 ;
A. Grabar, etc., // tesoro di San Marco, II tesoro e il museo, Florence 1971, p. 26, n 24.
Since the piece is no doubt Venetian loot from the Fourth Crusade, Frolow' s suggested
1 3th-century date for this piece is hardly tenable.
92. Frolow, La relique, p. 526-527.
93. Ibidem, p. 33 1 -332 ; Les reliquaires, fig. 4 1 .
THE APOTROPAIC FUNCTION OF THE VICTORIOUS CROSS 205
Sepulchral monuments
The cross figured regularly in funerary art from the earliest times.
However, the use of our device was restricted. It does not, apparently,
figure on sepulchral monuments in Syria, a territory so rich in Christian
inscriptions. The nearest equivalents are on a tomb, dated 410, at Deir
Sanbil, two chrisma with the letters AU under the bar and above the
words TOVTO 93 and another, undated, with the words
%.
Another tomb, undated, probably from Herment, Egypt, carries the
name IHCOVC XPICTOC written in full above the bar and NI KA below
it. An accompanying text calls on the Lord to redeem the soul of
Theodoros 97.
It is only in the eleventh century that examples of the device become
more numerous on tombs, and these are only recorded for the modern
territory of Greece 98. A pseudo-sarcophagus from the eleventh century
at the Great Lavra is decorated with three crosses, all-double-barred ".
The cross to the right is inscribed above and below the upper bar with
the letters I C XC NI , that in the middle with X X X X, while the
right hand cross has no inscription. Other examples are at the Panagia,
Episkopi, Ano Volos (1274/6) l0, the Moni Petras, Portana Piliou of the
same date l01, again at Ano Volos (after 1276), with the lower part of the
cross destroyed l02, and, at the same place, with the cross complete (also
after 1 276) 103.
Churches
1 . Early churches.
The earliest datable example of a cross, accompanied by a legend
close to that of our device, is in the converted temple of Philae 104.
Theodosius II promulgated an edict ordering that pagan temples should
be destroyed and marked with a cross l05. It is well known that this edict
was not universally observed. Deichmann noted eighty-nine examples of
pagan temples converted into churches 106, while some probably, like
Philae, continued to be used for pagan cult. The temple of Isis at Philae
was only converted into a church, dedicated to Saint Stephen, under
Justinian between 535 and 537 l07.
An undated, but no doubt primitive, legend in a church at Telanissos,
Syria, which is not accompanied by a cross, runs XC NI I08. Finally an
undated example of our device was discovered under a ninth-century
painting in the catacomb of Saint Januarius, Naples 109.
2. Cappadocia
In spite of the importance of crosses in decoration of churches in
Cappadocia ", only four examples of our device have been recorded. It
is, however, significant that, in each case, the device is associated with
an apse. They all date from the ninth or tenth century, and Cheynet has
suggested that they may be associated with the Phocas family '". In
Aikal Aga kilisesi, the cross is placed on the wall above the altar. Only
the word has survived from the legend "2. In Keilik kilisesi,
Pantanassa (Akky), the device is placed in a niche in the centre of the
apse, with a cross carrying the same legend to left and right 113. In the
south chapel of Zelve 4 the device figures on the north pier of the arch
104. Lefebvre, op. cit. (note 96), p. 110, n 590; H. Leclercq, Philae, DACL 14 ,
1939, 700; P. Nautin, La conversion du temple de Philae en glise chrtienne, CA 17,
1967, p. 14, fig. 8 ; E. Bernand, Les inscriptions grecques et latines de Philae, II, Haut et
Bas empire, Paris 1969, p. 256-259, n 201, pi. 49.
105. A. Frantz, From Paganism to Christianity in Athens, DOP 19, 1965, p. 187;
Codex Theodosianus, XVI 10 26(435).
106. J. Deichmann, Christianierung II, Reallexikon fr Antike und Christentum 2, 1954,
1 230- 1 234 ; Dinkler, art. cit. (note 2), p. 1 35- 1 38.
107. Nautin, art. cit. (note 103), p. 6, 8.
108. Jalabert and Mouterde, op. cit. (note 95), II, p. 232, n 414.
109. H. Leclercq, Cujus nomen Deus seit, DACL 3, 1914, col. 3185.
1 10. Thierry, Le culte de la Croix, art. cit. (note 6).
111. Cheynet, art. cit. (note 34), p. 74.
1 12. C. Jolivet-Lvy, Les glises byzantines de Cappadoce. Le programme
iconographique de l 'abside et de ses abords, Paris 1 99 1 , p. 327-329.
113. Ibidem, p. 148.
THE APOTROPAIC FUNCTION OF THE VICTORIOUS CROSS 207
before the apse il4. In Hacli kilise the cross is placed in a niche in the
centre of the apse. Of the accompanying legend only the letters IC XC ..
.A have survived "3.
It should also be mentioned in passing that the legend, along with
other inscriptions, was written on the wall of the hermitage of the monk
Symeon at Zelve "6. However there was no accompanying cross.
It is evident that it was by no means de rigueur that a cross should be
accompanied by our legend, or, indeed, by any inscription. Moreover
these examples in Cappadocia do not take on the form, already
established in manuscript illumination in particular, whereby the letters
are placed above and below the arms of the cross. That the device should
be placed in or near the apse has its parallel in later churches, where,
however, il was not exclusively placed there.
1 14. Ibidem, p. 7, pi. 18, fig. 1 ; N. Thierry, Haut Moyen Age en Cappadoce, Les
glises de la rgion de Cavuin II, Paris 1994, p. 356. In the main church on the triumphal
arch the cross figures between two fishes with, to the left, the letters HS XC, while, to the
right, only X is legible, Jolivet-Lvy, p. 6, pi. 17, fig. 1 and Thierry, p. 352, fig. 108,
pi. 1 85a. Jolivet-Lvy' s description of the legend of our device as la clbre acclamation
de victoire introduite au Moyen ge dans la liturgie is hardly accurate !
I 15. Jolivet-Lvy, p. 5 1, 53 (date) ; Thierry, p. 248.
116. G. De Jerphanion, Les glises rupestres de Cappadoce I 2, Paris 1932, p. 594,
inscription n 108, possibly contemporary with the church of Saint Symeon, 10th century,
Jolivet-Lvy, p. 7-12: Thierry, p. 323-324. No information on the hermitage subsequent
to that of De Jeri'hanion is available.
117. R. Leonidopoulou-Stylianou, '
, ' ',
period 4, 9, 1977-1979, pi. 97a. The cross above the door with a legend referring to the
founder (Ignatios) is accompanied by a date 1551, p. 234, fig. 96a; the cross to the left of the
door possibly dates iron; the twelfth century, p. 243, fig. 97b.
1 18. C. Mango a;,d E.J.W. Hawkins. The hermitasc of St. Neophytos, DOP 20. 1966.
p. 162-163.
i 19. Sec :ih(ve. note 86,
208 CHRISTOPHER WALTER
written out fully, instead of being reduced to the initial letters of the
words used, makes it clear that they were not intended to be arcane.
The two examples in the church of the Taxiarchis, Kastoria, probably
belong to the series of painting executed in 1359/60 l25. They are placed
on the walls either side of the entrance from the narthex to the nave.
(Figure 5). The crosses are three-barred. The legends which accompany
the north cross are easily read. Around the uppermost bar is our legend,
abbreviated : IC XC . To the left and right of this bar are the letters
e e 6 e . Below the central bar are three series of initial letters :
,'5 f , and P. The third is not problematical. The first
and second Orlandos amended toi and . The legend
of the south cross are less well preserved (and were not published by
Orlandos). Apparently they are not greatly different from those on the
north side : IC XC above, then , followed by ( ?) , and
. An entrance-way, whether to the body of the church or to the
sanctuary, was a strategic position for placing an apotropaic sign.
The church of the Presentation at the Meteora, built according to an
inscription over the door in 1366/7, with the hieromonk Nilus as
principal donor, contains several of these devices l26. In a niche on the
south wall around the upper arm of the cross may be read the letters XC
NK. The cross on the east wall of the south entrance has the following
legends : IC XC , 9 <t> , , and 6 6 6 6. On the
west wall the cross is accompanied by the legend , and another
legend which has not been deciphered: CT CT (?). On the east
side of the north wall are four legends : 15 ,,
, P. The second and third of these remains obscure. Gojko
Subotic considered these crosses to be associated with Christ's sacrifice,
but in the fourteenth century there is no explicit evidence for this.
Another church in Cyprus, dated 1 494, and consequently much later
than the hermitage of Neophytos with which it has no evident
association, is that of the Holy Cross near Platanistasa with, apparently,
several crosses on the west and north walls l27. A three-barred cross, the
only one published, has its legend disposed in an unusual way. Above
the cross are the letters IC XC, followed by ; then C C ,
followed by . Between the upper and central arms is the legend A K
(amend to A ?), and below the central arm .
Since the church is dedicated to the Cross, it was perhaps not considered
necessary to place the devices in strategic places.
1 25. A. K. Orlandos, ,
' 4, 1939, . 69-70; S. Pelekanides and
M. Chatzidakis. Kastoria, Athens 1 985, p. 1 02 (date).
1 26. G. Subotic, Poceci monaskog zivota i crkva manastira Sretenja u Metcorima,
Zboniik zxi likovne mnetuosti, 2, 1 966, p. I 72.
1 27. A. and J. A. Styi.ianou, The Painted Churches of Cyprus, London 1 985, p. 2I0,
pi. 1 20.
21 0 CHRISTOPHER WALTER
4. Serbian churches.
It would be tempting to provide here a list of the Serbian churches in
which our device is represented. However this would be supererogatory,
for the late Gordana Babic has not only published a comprehensive list
of these churches but also a study in depth of the devices used in
them l34. The reader is referred to this study. Here we shall only
summarize Babic's conclusions. (Figures 6, 7, 8).
Babic has listed eleven Serbian churches, all dating from the end of
the thirteenth century (Arilje 1296) to the end of fourteenth century
(Monastery of Marko, Susica, 1380-1382). She has catalogued twenty-
six of these devices, in which our legend IC XC NI KA figures
invariably, usually along with other legends. The devices are normally
placed in a strategic position : near a door or window or in an entrance
passage, places where evil forces might pass. Of these devices, fourteen
are either inside or at the approach to the sanctuary of the church. Thus it
is for Serbian churches that we have the most fully documented
repertory and possibly the most abundant. These Serbian churches
follow in the tradition of the earlier, more scattered examples that we
have noted, particularly those at Saint Neophytos, Cyprus, the
Taxiarchis, Kastoria, and Saint Nicholas Orphanos, Thessaloniki.
Inscriptions
As mentioned earlier, some legends have not been deciphered, while
others may have more than one meaning. However, generally speaking,
their meaning is clear, although their frequency varies considerably. A
list now follows of fifteen of these acronyms, with the object or church
on which they figure l35.
1 . C - '
Calendar icon, Mount Sinai, Saint John the Almoner, Trikkala, Pec
(twice).
2. A X - ' )
Platanistasa ( ?), Pec.
3. 6 6 6 6 - ' '
Calendar icon, Mount Sinai, Saint John the Almoner, Trikkala,
Taxiarchis, Kastoria, Presentation, Meteora, Gracanica, Saints
Constantine and Helena, Ohrid l36.
134. Gordana Babic, Les croix cryptogrammes peintes dans les glises serbes des
XHIe et XlVe sicles, Mlanges Ivan Dujcev, tudes de civilisation, edited S. Dufrenne,
Paris 1979, p. 1-13.
135. Among the numerous lists of acronyms, none complete, see particularly, G.
Lampsakis, , , 1 893,
' ', period 1, 2, 1894, . 49. In the present article the acronyms
are set out in Greek alphabetical order.
136. Babic notes, p. 6, six alternative readings for this acronym, which also appears on
some representations of the Cross upheld jointly by Constantine and Helena, at Donja
Kamenica (Serbia), for example, in the churches of Theoskepastos and Saint Sabbas at
Trebizond, G. Millet and D. Talbot Rice, Byzantiine Painting at Trebizond, London
1936, p. 46, 70 and at Berende, E. Bakalova, Stenopisite na c'rkvata pri selo Berende,
Sofia 1976, p. 53-54, illustrated fig. 46, p. 71. This last example has our legend on the
upper bar of the cross and 6 G on the central bar.
212 CHRISTOPHERWALTER
4. 6 6 - '
Staro Nagoricino.
5. 6 - " 5
Saint Nicholas Orphanos, Thessaloniki.
6. -
Saint John the Almoner, Trikkala.
7. 1 -
This acronym was probably in vogue before IC XC NI KA. It is found
on the reverse of two early icons at Mount Sina. Babic suggests that it
derives from John 4, 15. It figures also on the icons at Saint Neophytos,
at Platanistasa, six times at Staro Nagoricino, and there is a slight variant
in Saint Nicholas Orphanos 137.
8.H -
Saint Neophytos on the icon of the Virgin Eleousa.
9. C -
The calendar icon at Mount Sina.
10. - ' ' ' '
Taxiarchis, Kastoria, Gracanica.
11. -
Saint John the Almoner, Trikkala, Gracanica.
12.T t -
Presentation, Meteora, Saint John the Almoner, Trikkala, Platanistasa.
13. -
Arkadia, Crete.
. t -
This was the most popular legend. Saint Neophytos, Saint Nicholas
Orphanos, Thessaloniki, Saint John the Almoner, Trikkala, Sopocani,
Gracanica, Arilje (twice), Saints Constantine and Helena, Ohrid 138.
15. X X X X -
Calendar icon, Mount Sina, Saint Neophytos, icon of Christ
Philanthropos, Presentation, Meteora, Pec (exonarthex), Saints
Constantine and Helena, Ohrid.
These legends may be distributed into three groups. There are those
which are concerned with Christ, firstly as God or the Son of God (6, 7),
secondly as the primary object of faith (2) and thirdly as the source of
light and joy (14, 15). The next group contains those concerned with the
Cross. Either they are dogmatic, concerned with the Cross as the
beginning of faith (1) and its redemptive function (9), or they are topical,
concerned with Helena and the invention of the Cross (3, 4, 5) and
Calvary as the place where Adam's skull was buried (11). The third
group is concerned with the apotropaic power of the Cross, terror of
demons (12, 13). The relevance of 10 is not clear.
137. Cxaupo .
138. G. SuBOTiC, Svei Konstantin i Jelena u Ohridu, Belgrade 1871, p. 111. Babi
derives the phrase from the liturgy of the presanctified.
THE APOTROPAIC FUNCTION OF THE VICTORIOUS CROSS 213
Only two of these legends appear to derive from official sacred texts :
7 from the New Testament and 14 from the liturgy. However, 12 and 13
recall an epigram of Theodore Studite addressed to a cross at the
entrance to a church. It is described as a guardian and the fearful enemy
of demons 139. Their composition would seem to be, for the most part,
the fruit of a monastic jeu d'esprit.
And the game continued, particularly at Mount Athos, where,
unfortunately, the legends of the devices have not been as yet
systematically catalogued and studied 140. One late example in the
trapeza of Iviron (1848) may be indicative of the spirit in which these
acronyms were composed : 9 9 t3 - , , , 141.
Conclusion
The focal point of this study is the device made up of a cross and the
legend IC XC NI KA. Its primary element is the cross, whose
significance, according to its context, is rendered more precise by the
presence of this, and possibly other, legends. These secondary legends
add a new connotation by associating the Cross with Saint Helena or
Calvary, or by emphasizing its redemptive and apotropaic powers.
In studying the theology of the Cross cognizance must be taken of two
themes : its value as a sign or symbol of Christ (being his principal relic),
and its own specific qualities, albeit derived from Christ.
As a sign of Christ it was ubiquitous in the late fourth century. John
Chrysostom wrote of its presence everywhere most frequently. It shines
on the walls of houses, in books, in cities, villages, in deserted and
inhabited places 142. There was, indeed, room for discussion as to the
relationship of the sign to the person. Theodore Studite insisted that a
cross signified Christ but did not represent him l43. Frolow considered
that the distinction was too subtle to be made by the non-professional
theologian l44. His opinion is supported by the fact that legends 1 and 2
attribute the beginning of faith to the Cross and Christ respectively.
Another legend (9) attributes to the Cross the salvation of the world.
A second quality attributed to the Cross, the power to repel demons,
dates back to early Christianity, in which it took over the function of the
pagan amulet. Cyril of Jerusalem, when instructing his catechumens,
stressed the prophylactic power of the sign of the cross :
139. Theodore Studite, Epigram n47, PG 99, col. 1796b; Theodoras Studites
Jamben auf verschiedene Gegenstnde, edited P. Speck, Berlin 1968, p. 199.
140. See particularly P. Uspenskij, Pervoe putesostvie Afonskie monastyre i skity, II
2, Moscow 1880, p. 22-26, 180-181 ; G. Millet, etc., Recueil des inscriptions chrtiennes
de l'Athos, Paris 1904, n 212, n 275, n 393, n 543.
141. Millet, n 275. Sec also above note 129.
142. John Chrysostom, Contra Judeos et Gentiles, quod Christus sit Deus
(Clavis 4326), PG 48, col. 826.
143. Theodore Studite, Refutatio et suhversio impiorum poematum, PG 99, col. 457.
144. Frolow, art. cit. (note I), p. 103.
214 CHRISTOPHERWALTER
... 45.
It is noteworthy that a similar expression was used by the painter of the
parecclesion of Saint John the Baptist at Saint Sophia, Ohrid (1347-
1350) in the inscription which accompanies his representation of the
Cross. He invokes Christ crucified as his invulnerable protector
( ) 146 (Figure 9).
The secondary legends do not, apparently, reiterate the victorious
character of the Cross. This was left to the principal legend, which,
incidentally, attributed victory not directly to the Cross but to Christ. In this
respect, our device is intriguingly discreet. The Cross was indelibly connected
with victory from the moment of Constantine's vision, although some
obscurity remains as to the precise form that the legend took : or
? The imperative form of the verb is not in doubt. Thus in
Eusebius's Life of Constantine the formula is used 147. In Paris,
graec. 510, f. 440, is added l48. This, together with the imperative form
of the verb, was to become standard. However, when Christ's name is
introduced, as in our device, the verb becomes indicative, (), with
Christ's name in the nominative, not the vocative, case. The contrast is
clear in the De cerimoniis, with the formula (indicative),
while, in the acclamation of the emperor, the verb becomes imperative (
) 49. It seems that, where Christ and the Cross are
concerned, the verb is invariably indicative.
Although the victorious formula may well have been imperial in
origin, it was early used in an ecclesiastical context, as, for example, at
the council of Ephesus (431) : Christ, our master, it is you who have
conquered ! Oh Cross, it is you who have conquered ! Here Christ and
the Cross receive the same status I5. What can be argued more
convincingly, in the absence of contrary evidence, is that our device
became an iconographical formula in imperial art. On the miliaresion
and, perhaps, on restored fortifications, the device acquired what was to
become its habitual form in the early eighth century 151. It served as a
challenge to the Moslem Arabs. The invocation of the Cross (along with
that of the warrior saints) would have continued in battle, long after our
device had disappeared from the imperial iconographical repertory 152.
Christopher Walter
10 avenue de la Rpublique
94 300 Vincennes
Figure 1 - Akren
J>-,
Figure 6 - Sopocani
'4'
Figure 7- Gracanica
220 CHRISTOPHER WALTER
*** Credit lines : Figure 1, Nicole Thierry. Figure 2 and 3, British Museum. Figure 4,
Greek Academy, Athens. Figure 5, George Gerov (Sofia). Figures 6 and 7, B. Zivkovic
(Belgrade). Figures 8 and 9, G. Subotic (Belgrade).