The interior of Hagia Sophia as it
appeared in the mid 1800's when it
was still being used as a mosque.
(Chromolithograph by Fossati.)
depicted holding a cross for their faith, and
a palm, an allusion to the ancient Jewish
practice of welcoming returning victorious
military generals with palm branches. The
cross became more than just a symbol and
attained the status of an icon.
From that time on, Byzantine and Greek
icons have born witness to this historical
event: a cross is often painted on the back
of icons, with the dictum given to Constan-
tine «εν τουτω Νικα», “by this you shall be
victorious.”
Thus, the cross and the Christogram
became the two most frequently encoun-
tered icons in the public domain. The cross,
in fact, is now ubiquitous appearing on
walls in private homes, in places of worship,
and inside tombs, where it is painted with
exuberant foliate and floral appendages. It is
resented as a most revered icon, and in reli-
gious literature receives such appellations
as All-Holy, Sacred, Life-Giver, Life-Creator,
and Life-Sustaining.
Hagia Sophia
No discussion of the Greek icon can be
complete without recognizing the most
important icon created by the Byzantines:
the magnificent edifice of Hagia Sophia,
arguably the material manifestation, reve-
lation, and the embodiment of the Platonic
idea of God’s wisdom, as the very words
hagia sophia, declare. Hagia Sophia is an
icon in architectural form.
In the first formative centuries of Christianity,
after its declaration as the official religion of
Rome, Orthodox dogma was still being chal-
lenged. Religious controversy seemed to
constantly infect and bedevil Byzantine life,
20
ICONS OF THE HELLENIC WORLD
sapping the Empire of much needed unity
in the face of the challenges from outside
foes and internal dissenters. In early 6th
century Byzantium, the major area of reli-
gious dissent involved the question of the
very nature of Christ while He was on earth:
divine, human or both. It was not just a major
theological issue, but also a vital question
that had to be settled for the survival of the
empire.
With this backdrop, the new Emperor Justin-
ian took over the throne of Constantinople.
His views on the theological and philosoph-
ical questions of his time notwithstanding,
Justinian stood resolute in his vision of an
all-encompassing empire and a truly catholic
and ecumenical Church of Christ–two goals
that he viewed as coincident. The emper-
or’s vision can easily be discerned from his
extensive successful military campaigns
to re-conquer lost parts of the empire, and
from the massive building program that he
undertook.
Justinian’s building projects extended
throughout the entire Byzantine Empire,
from Ravenna on the eastern coast of the
Italian peninsula to Mount Sinai on the south-
ern border, but were mostly concentrated in
the reigning city of Constantinople. There,
he commissioned a church that would repre-
sent his grand vision of a unified ecumeni-
cal Church of Christ, a building that would
reflect the immensity and beauty of God’s
creation and providence. Christ is seen as
the Logos, the nexus of God’s divine plan;
in short, God’s own Wisdom, the Divine
Wisdom, Hagia Sophia (in Greek).
Hagia Sophia was built on the site of an
older basilica-type church that was burned
down during the Nika Uprising a few years