Friday Goodie Bag for June 7: Norcia's an abbey; a book recommendation and Christological quiz answers

Below the fold: A trip in video and photos to Subiaco

Welcome to the Friday Goodie-bag post, where we just have a little fun with some material for both free and paid subscribers. This week we’ve got the answers to our little poll quiz about Christological icon prototypes, and everyone did really well.

Also a little good news from Italy for the “How are things going in the Church” category, as well as a book recommendation.

Iconographic frescos at Subiaco from the 14th century. Photo by me.

Below the fold, that is, the paywall, for our paid members, a long-procrastinated-on treat. I’ve got some of the photos and video clips I took on our little day trip in February down to the Sacro Speco monastery at Subiaco, the place where the young St. Benedict lived in a cave in the manner of the old Desert Fathers.

It is still a current house of Benedictine monks, but also one of the world’s most important repositories of medieval frescos, so important it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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Welcome new people! Podcasts and other future plans

I’d like to take a moment to welcome all the new subscribers. The numbers of new people just keeps going up. We’ve had quite a lot of increase in the free subscriptions and it’s always so encouraging to know other people are interested in what we’re trying to do here.

Paid subscriptions are also going up and it’s a huge relief. Just a couple of months ago I was worried I’d have to stop and try to figure out a way to get a “real job”. I’m almost at the point of being able to pay all the living expenses and have been able to invest in a few technology things to get other projects started, so it’s a huge deal. Thank you everyone who’s signed up.

Since last December, I’ve been putting in full time working hours, and developing the site as well as my knowledge of how to do a lot of technical things at a rate that surprises me. I didn’t really realise how much I’d decided to dedicate myself to this work until I spent three days teaching myself how to use a podcasting platform. I’ve rarely endured anything more tedious; but now I know things I didn’t know before. (I seriously can’t understand how tech people can stand it, but each to his own, I guess.)

Things are moving forward, and I’m getting the knack of a lot of it. I’ve got a couple of podcast guests lined up and am supposed to be on someone else’s next week. (It’s been pushed back three times…) This is all kind of new territory for me, a born-in-the-60s child-of-hippies luddite.

So, I thought I’d run past readers my idea for the podcasts; it won’t necessarily be about sacred art exactly. As always we are focused here not exclusively on the art itself, as an academic art historian would be, but about what it means, specifically what it means to us as believers. We don’t hold ourselves aloof from the spirituality of Christian sacred art in the way an academic has to. We’re not really objective here, but are seeking larger, transcendent answers through the art.

That’s why I want to start podcasts, mostly to talk to other people who, like you and me, aren’t necessarily famous or celebrities or “experts” in anything. And still less people who are on the usual suspects list of Catholic online celebrities. (I’ve kind of had enough of that stuff, haven’t you?) But people who really are seeking answers to important questions.

I know a lot of people who are smart, funny and doing interesting things and I think it might be helpful to hear what they have to say, about how they are dealing with - or not dealing with - all the things going on. It’s weird out there, and I think we could do with some reassurance at least that noticing how weird everything is doesn’t make us crazy or weirdos ourselves. It’s really not you; things actually are weird.

So, with that in mind, I’m working on getting some people - who are a little off the beaten trail - actually scheduled and ready to talk. We’ll see how it goes.

I hope if you’ve enjoyed the free material you’ve found here, and think you might like to join us for more in-depth and uplifting stuff, including the podcasts, you’ll consider taking out a paid subscription. Four months ago, I scrinched up my courage, closed my eyes and held my breath, and took the risk of diving head first into this project and just hoped it would work. And I’m kind of amazed by what a good gamble that was. There’s lots of plans afoot going forward, and the only way to do any of it is with your support:

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Quiz answers for our Christological Prototypes

Christ Pantocrator in Martorana (Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio), Palermo.

Pantocrator or Christ in Majesty?

This Byzantine mosaic is a Pantocrator, but it could also be described, if you squint a bit, as a "Christ in Majesty". We always keep in mind that these labels are mostly the work of art historians, rather than titles known and intended by the artists of the time, so there’s always going to be some fuzzy grey areas.

Christ in Majesty, from a Romanesque manuscript.

The Christ in Majesty is a prototype common in Western Christian art, especially in the Romanesque and Gothic, from the 11th to the 13th centuries, often found in apse frescoes and mosaics and carved in stone as the central figure in a tympanum.

Subtle differences

In Christ in Majesty, He is depicted sitting on a throne, dressed in royal robes, signifying His kingly authority and divine rule over the universe. He is usually enclosed within a mandorla, representing divine radiance and glory breaking through from heaven into this world, and is usually surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists, often with angels and saints, emphasizing the spread of the Gospel and the universal reach of Christ's teachings.

In both prototypes Christ raises his right hand in a gesture of blessing while holding a book (the Gospels or a Bible, but also an allusion to the Book of Life from Revelation) in His left hand.

Pantocrator, Cefalù Cathedral, Palermo

How do they differ?

The two prototypes are very similar and often overlap between Byzantine and later forms of western art. In the "Pantocrator," Christ is usually depicted in a half figure, from the waist up, wearing traditional Byzantine clothing, a chiton and himation, gazing directly at the viewer. His right hand is raised in a gesture of blessing, often with the fingers positioned in a specific way to form the Greek letters IC XC, and holds a closed or open book His left hand. The expression in the Pantocrator is stern and serious, reflecting his role as a judge. This kind of image is typically found in domes and apse mosaics where the ceiling represents heaven.

Christ in Majesty emphasizes Christ’s kingly and majestic aspects, focusing on His enthronement - so usually depicted as a full seated figure - and cosmic rule, where Pantocrator emphasizes His role as the universal judge. The prototype often includes the symbols of the Four Evangelists (the “tetramorph”), which are less commonly seen in the Pantocrator depiction. It usually includes a mandorla and is more narrative, incorporating angels or saints representing the heavenly court, while the Pantocrator is more iconic and austere, focusing primarily on the figure of Christ himself.

Umbrian panel crucifixes

“Christus Patiens,” the Arezzo crucifix, by Cimabue.

“Christus Patiens” or Christ suffering, is a type of crucifix made popular in the 13th century in central Italy (Umbria and Tuscany) by the newly established Franciscan order. They are painted in egg tempera and gold leaf on gessoed wood panels, rather than a sculptural corpus mounted on a wooden cross. It was intended to emphasise Christ’s humanity and the physical reality of His passion and death on the cross, possibly as an answer to the Catharist heresy. It was intended to show a more natural looking corpus and to evoke an emotional response of pity and empathy in the viewer.

San Damiano crucifix. Christus Triumphans type, that shows shows Jesus crucified but alive and triumphing over bodily death. The full figure is standing upright, in a static, frontal pose with no twisting of the body, with the head not reclined, the eyes wide open and with an impassive, non-suffering expression.

The other sort of panel crucifix, “Christus Triumphans”, is from an earlier period and very much eschews the more naturalistic later style. The famous San Damiano crucifix, the one that spoke to St. Francis, dates to the century before, and is in the Italo-Byzantine style, showing Christ in front of the cross and though crucified - with the marks on His body - not suffering or dead. They often included narrative elements like the figures from the Gospel story of the crucifixion like Mary and John the Beloved Apostle, the Roman soldier Longinus, and angels lamenting.

You can brush up in my article, “Ecce Agnus Dei: 13th century Umbrian panel crucifixes”.

Mandylion

The face of Christ depicted by itself, impressed on a cloth, often held by angels.

The Mandylion, also known as the Image of Edessa, is an important iconographic prototype in the East. It represents one of the earliest forms of acheiropoieta, or “icons made without hands,” that is, made miraculously. The Mandylion is a legendary relic in Eastern Christianity, believed to be a piece of cloth imprinted with a miraculous image of Jesus Christ's face.

According to tradition, King Abgar V of Edessa (present-day Şanlıurfa, Turkey) in the 1st century, suffering from illness, wrote to Jesus requesting healing. Jesus responded by pressing his face onto a cloth, which miraculously left his image imprinted on it. This cloth, the Mandylion, was believed to possess healing powers.

The relic was supposed to have been kept in Edessa for centuries before being moved to Constantinople in the 10th century. Its fate after the 13th century is unknown. While the original Mandylion is lost, its image has been reproduced in countless icons throughout Eastern Christian history.

I think everyone who voted did really well. Good job.

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Some happy news: Norcia’s been made an Abbey!

Things might look a little grim-reaper-y in the Latin Church right now, but if you know where to look, there’s good news all over. A lot of the things that were started as little insignificant and fragile shoots 15 or 20 years ago have survived the slings and arrows, and are growing strong and starting to bear fruit.

Along with the news that a historic English Benedictine house of nuns may get rescued by our friends the Benedictine nuns of Ephesus in Gower, Missouri, we had this news late last month.

From the Norcia monastery newsletter:

In a May 25, 2024, decree for the Feast of St. Gregory the VII, a great Benedictine pope, the Priory of San Benedetto in Monte was elevated to the status of an abbey. This canonical elevation brought honor and dignity to the monastery as it celebrated its 25^th year. The monks are deeply grateful to all those who made this milestone possible, particularly the Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Order, Dom Gregory Polan, O.S.B. and his council, the Archbishop of Spoleto-Norcia, Renato Boccardo, and especially the founding prior, Dom Cassian Folsom, O.S.B.

Today, May 28, 2024, the newly elevated abbey elected Dom Benedict Nivakoff, O.S.B. as Norcia's first abbot since 1792, when another man who bore the name of St. Benedict, Abbot Benedetto Cipriani, died. The new abbot and the monks sincerely hope that this important spiritual moment will encourage a deeper longing for God among those in Norcia and those around the world who unite their daily prayers with the monastery.

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You should buy and read this book: It’s really good.

I’d like to warmly recommend a fun book, a first novel by a friend of mine.

The press blurb says:

A satirical thriller in the tradition of Evelyn Waugh. Two English Catholics, one a Holy See diplomat, the other a former Army officer, revisit the Republic of Sardoniki, where Vasilissa, the malfeasant President, contends with autonomists, journalists, the judiciary, the local Orthodox hierarchy and her own military chief of staff during an incendiary week in politics.

I’d add that if you’re the kind of person who thinks the most truthful online news guy right now is Tucker Carlson, and you pay any attention at all to the way international politics is going, this is pretty much a satire on that kind of stuff. Focused on an imaginary Greek micro-state it’s written in a prose style easily mistaken for a time-travelling Evelyn Waugh.

I’ve read it a couple of times (full disclosure, I helped edit a previous draft) and it’s funny, smart and full of plot turns. One thing I’ll say for my friend that I haven’t told him yet is that he writes a great villain.

It's now available POD on Amazon but absurdly over-priced. It’s also on channels served by Ingram publisher (Barnes and Noble etc. Feltrinelli’s has it in Italy. It’s all over).

Here’s the Barnes and Noble link: “Longhand and Lotsmore”

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Join us for the rest of this post; my pics and videos of the incredible frescos at Subiaco.