'Ook de schildering, al zwijgt zij, spreekt vanaf de wand'. De functie van de 'historiae' volgens oud-christelijke en vroege Byzantijnse teksten

Abstract

The paintings that decorate the interior of a church can be subdivided into 'imagines' and 'historiae'. Both categories have their own function. 'Imago' means a representative figure or group, a portrait. The emphasis is not on something that did happen in the past, but on representation, where time is not involved. The person portrayed lives on and can be honoured in his icon. One speaks of the 'cultic function' of the image. The last years in some publications attention has been paid to images and their mystical, cultic function. Less has been said about 'historiae'. These are the subject of this article. 'Historiae' show historical events, that happened in the past. In this context one speaks of the 'didactic, pedagogic function' of the narrative scenes. By studying Early Christian and Byzantine texts one can get a more complete and detailed idea of that function. 'Historiae' are meant for those who could not read. But there is more to say than that. They remind the beholder of something, they have also a stimulating and an empathic function. As is evident from the 'tituli', the 'historiae' might be understood, like the Scriptures, in more than one way.