The Mosaic Panel of Constantine IX and Zoe in Saint Sophia (original) (raw)

THE MOSAIC PANEL OF CONSTANTINE IX AND ZOE IN SAINT SOPHIA

Nicolas OIKONOMIDES

On the eastern wall of Saint Sophia's south gallery1, two imperial mosaics were uncovered by Th. Whittemore during the years 1935-19382. The one to the left displays Christ between the emperor Constantine Monomachos (1042-1055) and his wife, the empress Zoe (t 1050). On the other panel, we see the Virgin holding the Child and at her side the emperor John II Komnenos (1118-1143), his wife, the Hungarian born Irene (t 1134), and their first son and co-emperor (ca. 1122-1142) Alexius. The general idea expressed in both mosaics is the same : the earthly rulers are represented as donors, offering to the Divinity an apokombion and a document, presumably a sum of money and a privilegium to the Church. There is nothing exceptional about this theme3 and the present discussion would be superfluous if the first mosaic, the Zoe panel, did not present a very strange particularity indeed : all three heads of the persons represented, as well as the inscriptions bearing the name of Constantine Monomachos, have been changed.