07 Works, Today, May 17th is Heraclius's day, his Story - #137

Unknown artist

Heraclius, Emperor Of Byzantium

Heraclius (c. 575 – February 11, 641) was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.

Unknown artist

Miniature 41 from the Constantine Manasses Chronicle, 14 century: Usurper Phocas and the assault against him from the armies of Heraclius

Heraclius's reign was marked by several military campaigns. The year Heraclius came to power, the empire was threatened on multiple frontiers. Heraclius immediately took charge of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628. 

Unknown artist

The Siege of Constantinople (626) by the Avars on a mural at the Moldoviţa Monastery, Romania. 

The first battles of the campaign ended in defeat for the Byzantines; the Persian army fought their way to the Bosphorus but Constantinople was protected by impenetrable walls and a strong navy, and Heraclius was able to avoid total defeat. Soon after, he initiated reforms to rebuild and strengthen the military. 

Piero della Francesca  (–1492)

Victory of the Byzantines over the Sassanid Persians

Fresco

Height: 390 cm (12.7 ft) Width: 747 cm (24.5 ft)

Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo

Piero della Francesca (1415 – 1492) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. As testified by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, to contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its serene humanism, its use of geometric forms and perspective. His most famous work is the cycle of frescoes The History of the True Cross in the church of San Francesco in the Tuscan town of Arezzo. More on Piero della Francesca

Unknown artist

Byzantine Emperor Heraclius receiving the submission of Khosrau II; plaque from a cross, 1160-1170,

Champlevé enamel over gilt copper

Louvre Museum 

Heraclius drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh. The Persian king Khosrow II was overthrown and executed by his son Kavad II, who soon sued for a peace treaty, agreeing to withdraw from all occupied territory. This way peaceful relations were restored to the two deeply strained empires.

Unknown artist

Emperor Heraclius Denied Entry into Jerusalem, c. 1485–1495

Tempera and oil on panel

67 x 53 cm (26 3/8 x 20 7/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Heraclius, who rescued the True Cross and returned it to Jerusalem after its capture by Chosroës, king of Persia

GADDI, Agnolo, (active 1369-96 in Florence)

Emperor Heraclius Enters Jerusalem with the True Cross, c. 1385-87

Fresco

Chancel Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence

Emperor Heraclius is heading in triumph to Jerusalem with the Cross. Upon his arrival, however, the city gate closes itself up before him, and an angel indicates that the Emperor must enter the city not on horseback but rather - in remembrance of Christ - in a humble manner, whereupon Heraclius carries the Cross into the city on foot wearing only his shirt. Since Vasari, the profile image of the man watching the entry of the emperor from the right edge of the fresco has been regarded as a self-portrait of the artist. More on this work

Agnolo Gaddi, (born c. 1350, Florence [Italy]—died Oct. 16, 1396, Florence), son and pupil of Taddeo Gaddi, who was himself the major pupil of the Florentine master Giotto. Agnolo was an influential and prolific artist who was the last major Florentine painter stylistically descended from Giotto.

In 1369 he was employed in Rome as an assistant to his brother Giovanni, a minor painter, in the execution of frescoes for Pope Urban V in the Vatican. In the 1380s he executed his most ambitious works, a series of frescoes in the choir of Santa Croce in Florence illustrating the “Legend of the True Cross”. In these frescoes Agnolo sacrificed expression for design, and his overall concern with optical unification of the composition replaces Giotto’s concentration on figures, thereby revealing the new approach toward painting of the International Gothic style. Between 1383 and 1386 Agnolo designed medallions representing the virtues for the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence, and between 1387 and 1395 his name appears as the designer or gilder of statues for the facade of the Cathedral of Florence. In 1394–96 he painted a cycle of scenes from the life of the Virgin in the Cathedral of Prato. His death in 1396 left unfinished an altar of the Crucifixion in San Miniato al Monte outside Florence. More on Agnolo Gaddi

Heraclius lost many of his newly-regained lands to the Muslim conquests. Emerging from the Arabian Peninsula, the Muslims quickly conquered the Sasanian Empire. In 634 the Muslims marched into Roman Syria, defeating Heraclius's brother Theodore. Within a short period of time, the Arabs conquered Mesopotamia, Armenia and Egypt.

Heraclius entered diplomatic relations with the Croats and Serbs in the Balkans. He tried to repair the schism in the Christian church in regard to the Monophysites, by promoting a compromise doctrine called Monothelitism. The Church of the East (commonly called Nestorian) was also involved in the process. Eventually this project of unity was rejected by all sides of the dispute.

Looking back at the reign of Heraclius, scholars have credited him with many accomplishments. He enlarged the Empire, and his reorganization of the government and military were great successes. His attempts at religious harmony failed, but he succeeded in returning the True Cross, one of the holiest Christian relics, to Jerusalem. More on Heraclius

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, and 365 Saints, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

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06 Works, Today, April 22nd, is St. Hieromartyr Januarius's day, With Footnotes - #108

 St Theodore of Sykeon, (d. 613)

Saint Theodore of Sykeon was a revered Byzantine ascetic, who lived between the first half of the 6th century and the thirteenth year of the Emperor Heraclius' rule (i. e. 623) in the early 7th century. 

Theodore was born in Sykeon, a village in Galatia. The public highway of the imperial post ran through this village, and on the road stood an inn kept by a very beautiful girl, Mary, her mother, Elpidia, and a sister Despoinia. And these women lived in the inn and followed the profession of courtesans. Theodore was the son of Mary.

Anton Raphael Mengs, (1728–1779)

Saint John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness, c. 1760s

Oil on canvas

Height: 214.6 cm (84.4 in); Width: 148 cm (58.2 in)

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Anton Raphael Mengs (March 22, 1728[1] – June 29, 1779) was a German painter, active in Dresden, Rome and Madrid, who while painting in the Rococo period of the mid-17th century became one of the precursors to Neoclassical painting that replaced Rococo as the dominant painting style.

In 1749 he was appointed first painter to Frederick Augustus, elector of Saxony, but this did not prevent him from continuing to spend much of his time in Rome. He converted to Catholicism, and in 1754 he became director of the Vatican school of painting. His fresco painting of Parnassus at Villa Albani gained him a reputation as a master painter.

In 1749 Mengs accepted a commission from the Duke of Northumberland to make a copy, in oil on canvas, of Raphael's fresco The School of Athens for his London home.

On two occasions he accepted invitations from Charles III of Spain to go to Madrid. There he produced some of his best work, most notably the ceiling of the banqueting hall of the Royal Palace of Madrid. After the completion of this work in 1777, Mengs returned to Rome, where he died two years later, in poor circumstances, leaving twenty children, seven of whom were pensioned by the king of Spain. More on Anton Raphael Mengs

When he was about twelve years old an epidemic of bubonic plague fell upon the village and it attacked him along with others so that he came near to dying. They took him to the shrine of St. John the Baptist near the village and laid him at the entrance to the sanctuary; he recovered and returned home.

Unknown artist

Miracle of St. George about the serpent, c. Mid 14th century Novgorod

State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

He used to frequent a shrine dedicated to the martyr St. George, located up the rocky hill which lay near the village. At the age of fourteen, he went there to live. Even at such a young age, Theodore was granted the gift of healing. Theodore also became well known for serving his neighbors with his gifts of exorcism, and prophecy. 

Theodore then withdrew into complete solitude, to a cave not far from the oratory of St George. He persuaded a deacon to bring him bread and water, and he told no one else where he had hidden himself. 

For two years St Theodore lived in this seclusion until news of the youth’s exploits reached the local bishop Theodosius, who ordained him to the diaconate, and later to the holy priesthood, although the saint was only seventeen years old at the time. He was later chosen Bishop of Anastasioupolis.

Unknown artist

Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602)

During the reign of Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602), he foretold the emperor's death and "great tribulations, terrible scourges threaten the world." Maurice's reign was troubled by financial difficulties and almost constant warfare. In 602 a dissatisfied general named Phocas usurped the throne, having Maurice and his six sons executed. This event would prove a disaster for the Empire, sparking a twenty-six year war with Sassanid Persia. St Theodore was a close friend of the family of Emperor Phocas. 

Unknown artist

The Sassanid Army

Furthermore, he would only pray for Phocas if the latter stopped massacring people. Still, after the successful rebellion of Emperor Heraclius, he intervened to save the life of Domentziolus, the nephew of Phocas.

Unknown artist

Heraclius

St. Theodore of Sykeon had good relations with Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople. Still, historian Walter Kaegi says that Heraclius "may always have felt some reserve in his relations with" St. Theodore. During Lent 613, Heraclius asked for St. Theodore's blessing in fighting the Persians. St. Theodore blessed him and invited him to dinner, but Heraclius refused because of time concerns. However, the saint claimed that not accepting his gifts was a "sign of our defeat". Indeed, Heraclius lost the Battle of Antioch.

He died on April 22, 613. More on St. Theodore of Sykeon 

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07 Works, Today, March 11th, is Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem's Day, With Footnotes - #69

Artist Unknown 

Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem

St Sophronios, patriarch of Jerusalem (b. 638) was born in Damascus to an eminent family, and was well educated in his youth. Discontented with the wisdom of the world, he entered monastic life in the monastery of St Theodosius, where he became the lifelong friend and disciple of John Moschos. Together they visited the monasteries and hermitages of Egypt; they later wrote down their discoveries among the holy monks in the classic Spiritual Meadow. 

John Moschos

After the death of his teacher, St Sophronius traveled to Jerusalem, which had just been liberated from the Persians. He was there to see the Precious Cross returned from Persia by the Emperor Heraclius, who carried it into Jerusalem on his back. 

Palma il Giovane

Emperor Heraclius carries the Holy Cross on his shoulders, c. 1589

Fresco

42.9 cm × 17.8 cm

Chancel Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence

Jacopo Palma, also called Palma Vecchio or Palma il Vecchio, original name Jacopo Negretti, (born c. 1480, Serina, Bergamo, Republic of Venice—died July 30, 1528, Venice), Venetian painter of the High Renaissance, noted for the craftsmanship of his religious and mythological works. He may have studied under Giovanni Bellini, the originator of the Venetian High Renaissance style.

Palma specialized in the type of contemplative religious picture known as the sacra conversazione. To his late 15th-century subject matter he applied the idyllic vision of Giorgione in colour and fused soft-focus effects. Palma’s particular refinement of the Giorgionesque technique was his use of transparent glazes. Monumental figures, loose technique, and blond tonality characterize his finest work. Palma also developed an ideally feminine, blonde, pretty type. That work, along with many of his later paintings, shows the influence of Lorenzo Lotto. Sixty-two of Palma’s works remained unfinished at his death and were finished by his pupils. Presumably, this accounts for the variable quality of his work. More on Palma il Giovane

A few years later, in 634, St Sophronius was elected Patriarch of Jerusalem, where he served his flock wisely for three years and three months. He was zealous in the defense of Orthodoxy against the Monothelite heresy: He convoked a Council in Jerusalem which condemned it before it was condemned at the Sixth Ecumenical Council. The holy Patriarch even traveled to Constantinople to rebuke the Patriarch Sergius and Emperor Heraclius, who had embraced the Monothelite error.

Giovanni Battista Salvi

The Madonna in Sorrow,

Mary, Blessed are You Among Women!

Oil on copper

152 x 102 mm (6 x 4 in)

Speke Hall, Merseyside 

St. Sophronius preached this sermon on the Blessed Virgin Mary on the occasion of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord around the year 635 AD, the year that the Holy City fell to the Muslim armies advancing from Arabia.

"Truly, you are blessed among women. For you have changed Eve’s curse into a blessing; and Adam, who hitherto lay under a curse, has been blessed because of you."

Giovanni Battista Salvi, called Il Sassoferrato (1609-1685). Giovanni Battista Salvi was born in Sassoferrato and went to Rome at an early age to study the paintings of Raphael. Later he sojourned in Naples to study the works of Annibale Carracci and his circle, especially Guido Reni. For most of his life he worked in Rome. His favorite subjects were Madonnas which he often depicted praying and along with the sleeping child. Paintings by Sassoferrato are in many churches and galleries in Italy. More on Giovanni Battista Salvi

The years of peace were few for the Holy Land; for just as the Persian Empire was decisively defeated by Heraclius, the followers of Islam erupted out of Arabia, conquering most of North Africa and the Middle East in a few years. The Saint was so grieved by the capture of Jerusalem in 637 by the Caliph Omar that begged God to take him, so that he might not live to see the desecration of the holy places. His prayer was granted, and he reposed in peace less than a year later.

Artist Unknown 

The entrance of Caliph Umar (581?-644) into Jerusalem, 638

Colored engraving, 19th century.

Artist Unknown 

Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab

Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab came to Jerusalem in 637 after the conquest of Jerusalem and toured the city with Sophronius. During the tour of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the time for prayer came, and despite Sophronius's offer to Umar to pray inside the Church, Umar chose to pray outside. The caliph's reason for declining to pray there was because in the future Muslims might say that Umar prayed here and use it as an excuse to build a mosque there. Therefore, Muslims are not allowed to build a mosque there. So appreciating the caliph's intelligence he gave the keys of the church to him. Unable to refuse it the caliph gave it to a family of Muslims from Medina and asked them to open the church and close it; the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre still remain with the Muslim family.

Artist Unknown 

The Life of Saint Mary of Egypt by Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem

St Sophronios is the author of the Life of Saint Mary of Egypt, appointed to be read in the churches during every Great Lent. He also wrote the service of the Great Blessing of the Waters. Some have attributed the Vesperal hymn "Gladsome Light" to him, but we know that it dates from before the time of St Basil the Great, who mentions it in his writings. It seems though, that St Sophronios supplemented the hymn, and that its present form is due to him. More on St Sophronios

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Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

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05 Works, February 21st is Saint Zachariah's Day, With Footnotes - #51

Ohilippos Gould

Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Emperor Heraclius and Patriarch Zacharias, c. 1494

Mural paintings

Church of the Holy Cross of Ayiasmati

I have not found any information about the artist.

The cross is carried heavenwards by two angels, watched by two groups of figures outside the walls of Jerusalem: one group comprises the people, led by Herakleios, the emperor who recovered the True Cross from the Persians, the other , the clergy, with the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Zacharias, in a a prominent position. More on this Icon

Saint Zachariah, was the Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Church of Jerusalem from 609 to 632. Patr. Zacharias spent most of his patriarchate as a prisoner of the Persian King Chozroes. He is commemorated by the Church on February 21.

The early life of Patr. Zacharias is unknown. He was elected patriarch in 609. During the reign of the Roman emperor Heraclius. The Persian King Chozroes invaded Jerusalem in 614, pillaged the city, and withdrew with the Life-Creating Cross of Christ and many Christian prisoners who were held in bondage, including Patr. Zacharias. Of the captured Christians as many as 90,000 perished.

Piero della Francesca,  (–1492)

Battle between Heraclius and Chosroes, between 1452 and 1466

Fresco

Basilica of San Francesco, Tuscany, Italy

Piero della Francesca (c. 1415 – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting is characterized by its serene humanism, its use of geometric forms and perspective. His most famous work is the cycle of frescoes The History of the True Cross in the church of San Francesco in the Tuscan town of Arezzo.

He was probably apprenticed to the local painter Antonio di Giovanni d'Anghiari. He certainly took notice of the work of some of the Sienese artists active in San Sepolcro during his youth. In 1439 Piero received, together with Domenico Veneziano, payments for his work on frescoes for the church of Sant'Egidio in Florence, now lost.

Piero returned to his hometown in 1442. Three years later, he received his first commission, to paint the Madonna della Misericordia altarpiece for the church of the Misericordia in Sansepolcro. In 1449 he executed several frescoes in the Castello Estense and the church of Sant'Andrea of Ferrara, now also lost. His influence was particularly strong in the later Ferrarese allegorical works of Cosimo Tura.


In his later years, painters such as Perugino and Luca Signorelli frequently visited his workshop. More on Piero della Francesca

Piero della Francesca  (–1492)

Detail. Battle between Heraclius and Chosroes, between 1452 and 1466

Fresco

Basilica of San Francesco, Tuscany, Italy

Artist Unknown

Cherub and Byzantine Emperor Heraclius submitting Sassanid king Khosrau II, c. 1160-1170

Champlevé enamel over gilt copper

Louvre Museum

In 627, after rebuilding his army, Heraclius moved into Persia. Winning a decisive victory at Ninveh, Heraclius defeated Chozroes and compelled the Persian king to return the Life-Creating Cross and the surviving captives, including Patriarch Zacharias. Emperor Heraclius himself carried the Cross on his shoulders into the Holy City.

Miguel Ximénez, (fl. 1462–1505)

Saint Helena & Heraclius taking the Holy Cross to Jerusalem, between circa 1483 and circa 1487

Oil on panel

Height: 173 cm (68.1″); Width: 93 cm (36.6″)

Saragossa Museum,  Zaragoza, Spain

Miguel Ximénez, (Pareja -Guadalajara-, 15th century) was a Spanish Gothic painter. Miguel was documented in Saragossa between 1462 and 1505). He was appointed by Ferdinand II of Aragon's court painter on 11 May 1484 and is known to have influenced Bartolomé Bermejo's work. Also there are similarities between his work and Martín Bernat's. His son Juan Ximénez assisted him. More on Miguel Ximénez

Patriarch Zacharias and the Precious Cross had been held in bondage for fourteen years. During that time many miracles occurred in Persia as a result of the Precious Cross, so that even the Persians said: "The Christian God came to Persia."

Patriarch Zacharias spent his remaining days in peace and reposed in the Lord in 632. More on Saint Zachariah

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Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

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