From the archive: a kickass empress
Mostly, I find the stuff in my archive to be rather boring. I can see how it might possibly be exciting, if one is a Byzantinist, or if one had at least been to these sites and therefore had context/memories. But I am not a Byzantinist, so most days are rather dull. Sometimes, though, I find something cool.
This week I've been doing research to write the copy for an exhibit we're putting up in the library. The exhibit shows cleaning and conservation work at Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Today I was writing a blurb about the Zoe Panel, so I found the basics for what our exhibit shows. But then I was curious as to why the panel is named after her (rather than the emperor she's with) when the panel just on the other side of the window is called the Comnenus Panel after the emperor depicted in it (even though it also has an empress). So I looked Zoe up in the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (OUP!♥):
Zoe (Ζωή), second daughter of Constantine VIII, empress (with her sister Theodora, 21 Apr .-12 June 1042); born ca.978, died Constantinople 1050. As heiress of the Macedonian dynasty, Zoe was wed to Romanos III by her father. When Romanos found she was barren, he tolerated her affairs; rumor associated her with Constantine Artoklines and Constantine Monomachos, and she encouraged her lover, the future Michael IV, to drown Romanos. During Michael's reign, agents of John the Orphanotrophos watched Zoe closely; she was induced to adopt the future Michael V. After his accession, he determined to rid himself of her: on the night of 18/19 Apr. 1042 she was dispatched to a convent on Prinkipo (see Princes᾽ Islands). During the ensuing uprising, she was recalled. The crowd in the Hippodrome, however, rejected her (20 Apr.). After Michael's fall, Zoe and Theodora ruled jointly; they abolished the sale of offices, raised many to the senate, and offered the people generous donatives. Zoe chose Constantine IX Monomachos as her third husband. During his reign, she died. According to Psellos, she was pious but vain, quick to understand but slow to speak, lavishly generous but capricious in punishing. She delighted in supervising the manufacture of perfumes and ointments carried out in her own quarters. Zoe's portrait, flanking Christ with an emperor whose inscription has been changed to indicate Constantine (IX), survives in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople. The occasion and hence the date of this panel are much disputed (R. Cormack, Art History 4 [1981] 141-46, fig.6).
Citation: Charles M. Brand, Anthony Cutler. "Zoe" The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Ed. Alexander P. Kazhdan. © 1991, 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium: (e-reference edition). Oxford University Press. Harvard University Library. 29 January 2010 http://www.oxford-byzantium.com/entry?entry=t174.e5905
She sounds pretty cool, no?
Also, the Zoe Panel shows the emperor and empress giving gifts to Christ for the church. Constantine is donating a bag of money, but Zoe is donating a scroll. Scrolls contain writing/wisdom. The scroll has Constantine's name on it, but I still love that she's the one giving the wisdom.
(All our photos are in black&white-it's cool to see her in colour!)
This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/259380.html.
This week I've been doing research to write the copy for an exhibit we're putting up in the library. The exhibit shows cleaning and conservation work at Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Today I was writing a blurb about the Zoe Panel, so I found the basics for what our exhibit shows. But then I was curious as to why the panel is named after her (rather than the emperor she's with) when the panel just on the other side of the window is called the Comnenus Panel after the emperor depicted in it (even though it also has an empress). So I looked Zoe up in the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (OUP!♥):
Zoe (Ζωή), second daughter of Constantine VIII, empress (with her sister Theodora, 21 Apr .-12 June 1042); born ca.978, died Constantinople 1050. As heiress of the Macedonian dynasty, Zoe was wed to Romanos III by her father. When Romanos found she was barren, he tolerated her affairs; rumor associated her with Constantine Artoklines and Constantine Monomachos, and she encouraged her lover, the future Michael IV, to drown Romanos. During Michael's reign, agents of John the Orphanotrophos watched Zoe closely; she was induced to adopt the future Michael V. After his accession, he determined to rid himself of her: on the night of 18/19 Apr. 1042 she was dispatched to a convent on Prinkipo (see Princes᾽ Islands). During the ensuing uprising, she was recalled. The crowd in the Hippodrome, however, rejected her (20 Apr.). After Michael's fall, Zoe and Theodora ruled jointly; they abolished the sale of offices, raised many to the senate, and offered the people generous donatives. Zoe chose Constantine IX Monomachos as her third husband. During his reign, she died. According to Psellos, she was pious but vain, quick to understand but slow to speak, lavishly generous but capricious in punishing. She delighted in supervising the manufacture of perfumes and ointments carried out in her own quarters. Zoe's portrait, flanking Christ with an emperor whose inscription has been changed to indicate Constantine (IX), survives in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople. The occasion and hence the date of this panel are much disputed (R. Cormack, Art History 4 [1981] 141-46, fig.6).
Citation: Charles M. Brand, Anthony Cutler. "Zoe" The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Ed. Alexander P. Kazhdan. © 1991, 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium: (e-reference edition). Oxford University Press. Harvard University Library. 29 January 2010 http://www.oxford-byzantium.com/entry?entry=t174.e5905
She sounds pretty cool, no?
Also, the Zoe Panel shows the emperor and empress giving gifts to Christ for the church. Constantine is donating a bag of money, but Zoe is donating a scroll. Scrolls contain writing/wisdom. The scroll has Constantine's name on it, but I still love that she's the one giving the wisdom.
(All our photos are in black&white-it's cool to see her in colour!)
This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/259380.html.