Saint Eudokia and the Imperial Household of Leo VI

Sharon E J Gerstel

The Art Bulletin Vol 79 No 4 (Dec 1997) pp 699-707

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Saint Eudokia and the Imperial Household of Leo VI Sharon EJ Gerstel

In 907 Constantine Lips a high-ranking member of the Byzantine court inaugurated a church dedicated to the Virgin in the presence of the emperor Leo VI An inlaid marble plaque representing a female saint was part of the buildings revetted decoration (Fig I) The imperial cos- tume tells us that this saint prominently labeled Eudokia was of royal status But which Eudokia Given that the name meaning goodwill was fairly common for Byzantine impe- rial women the simplicity of the representation with its generic facial characteristics and stylized costume and the laconic inscription devoid of epithet or family name make secure identification difficult Even so scholars have identi- fied this saint as the fifth-century Athenais-Eudokia the church-building wife of Theodosius 11 This identification has been universally accepted despite compelling arguments to the contrary The unique representation of an imperial Eudokia on this plaque I believe demonstrates that this saints cult was extremely limited and perhaps even private Her identity may be uncovered in the region of Constanti- nople where the plaque was made and installed Since the Eudokia panel constitutes the finest surviving example of an icon executed in the precious and rare technique of inlaid marble the identity of the woman represented seems particu- larly critical As one of the best-known though least-studied objects to have survived from medieval Byzantium the plaque merits a reevaluation of its history and subject

In 1929 Theodore Macridy uncovered the rectangular plaque during the course of his investigations of the monas-

I thank Jeffrey C Anderson George Majeska Nicolas Oikonomides and Alice-Mary Talbot for their helpful comments and criticism I also thank the anonymous readers of Art Bulletzn for their valuable suggestions It is my great wish that Alexander Kazhdan had lived to see the printed result of many hours of lively discussion Research for this article was supported by the General Research Board of the University of Maryland

1 The plaque is housed in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum inv no 4309 The surface of the plaque measures 66 by 28 cm and the thickness is 6-8 cm The sides of the plaque are beveled from the front surface to the back of the four sides the upper surface is angled most acutely The front edge of each side is dressed (approximately 25 cm) the remaining surfaces of the sides and the back of the plaque are roughly cut There are no indications of clamps or dowel holes Remains of white plaster on the sides of the plaque may indicate that the small plaque was inserted directly into a mortar setting bed The base of the cavities missing their inlay show traces of the circular drill used to carve the stone Aside from a number of missing inlaid marble and glass fragments including the eyes the thumb of the left hand and ornamental elements of the vestments the plaque is in good condition Segments of the border including a substantial section of the right side the upper right corner and the lower left corner as well as a small piece of the halo are modern restorations For a photograph of the plaque prior to restoration see Oskar Wulff Bzbliographzsch-kritischer ~Vachtragzu altchnstliche und byzantznzsche Kunst Potsdam [1935] 83 fig 546

2 The plaque has been featured in numerous surveys of Byzantine art and sculpture including Wolfgang Friedrich Volbach Georges Salles and Georges Duthuit Art byzantin Paris 1933 68 pl 72 David Talbot Rice Byzantine Art Oxford 1935 195 pl 47b Sergio Bettini La scultura bzzantzna 11 Florence 1944 13 David Talbot Rice Byzantine Art Harmondsworth 1954 152 pl 44 idem The Art of Byzantzum London 1959 325 Andre Grabar Scuamptures byzantznes de Constantinople (Ibk-Xe szicle) Paris 1963 100-122 pl LXI2David

tery of Constantine Lips (Fenari Isa Camii)s Work at the north church of the monastery dedicated to the Virgin clarified its unusual architectural form the cross-in-square plan was supplemented by lateral chapels flanking the pasto- phoria and roof chapels over the naves four corner compart- ments (Fig 2)These additions provided an intimate setting for private devotions in smaller ~ r a to r i e s ~ The discovery of the plaque on the roof adjacent to the upper southwest chapel together with its concave form prompted Macridy to propose its original placement in the north conch of that ~ h a m b e r ~Cyril Mango and Ernest Hawkins however sug- gested that the very slight curvature of the plaque conformed better with the shape of the larger apses of the ground-level chapek7 In the absence of mortar that would have served as a setting bed between the marble plaque and the brick wall of the church the original location of the Eudokia panel remains an open question

In addition to the Eudokia plaque the excavators revealed numerous pieces of inlaid marble icons in the fill used by the Turks to raise the floor of the church The finds included both round and rectangular plaques and fragments of inlay8 The plaques are primarily green Thessalian marble and a dark purple stone into which shaped pieces of fine-grained limestone or marble were inserted Several matrices of white marble originally contained polychrome inlay The inconsis- tency in the size and shape of the plaques and the difficulty in identifying many of the figures have rendered the character- ization of a specific sculptural program for the church

Talbot Rice Byzantzne Art Harmondsworth 1968 409 fig 373 Kurt Weitz- mann The Icon Holy Images-Sixth to Fourteenth Centuries New York 1978 58-59 color pl 10 Panagiota Asemakopoulou-4tzaka He technike opus sectile sten entoichia diakosmse Thessaloniki 1980 146 pl 694 Anthony Cutler and John W Nesbitt Larte bzzantina e il suopubblico Turin 1986 192 The plaque has been exhibited several times and has been discussed in the following catalogues Byzantzne Art An European Art Zappeion Exhibition Hall Athens 1964 138-39 9000 Years of the Anatolian Woman Topkapl Sara Museum Istanbul 1993 161 Helen C Evans and William D Wixom eds The G b y of Byzantzum Art and Culture ofthe Middle Byzantine Era Metropolitan Museum of Art NewYork 199742-43

3 Macridy 249-76 Mango and Hawkins 299-318 For specific discussion of this plaque see also Stanley Casson Byzantinism Burlington Magazine L I ~

July 1931 212-13 Elsie Mathiopoulos-Tornaritos Zur Technik der Hagia Eudokia aus dem Lipskloster (Fenere Isa Camii) XI Internationalm Byzantin- zstenkongress 11 no 5 Vienna 198261-72 Firatll et al 186 pl 112

4 For a discussion of the architectural plan of the church of the Virgin see Arthur H S Megaw The Original Form of the Theotokos Church of Constantine Lips Dumbarton Oaks Papns X ~ I I 1964279-98

5 Thomas F Mathews Private Liturgy in Byzantine Architecture Toward a Reappraisal Cahzn-s archiologiyues x x x 1982 125-38

6 Macridy 260 noted that the panel was found following the removal of a thick layer of ashes and broken tiles left over from the wooden Turkish roof that had been burnt This icon must have belonged to one of the four [roof] chapels and have been placed here upside down during the construc- tion of the wooden roof in the seventeenth century

7 Mango and Hawkins 306 8 For a representative sample of the fragments see Macridy pls 74-83

Firat11 et al 186-90

700 ART BULLETIN DECEMBER 1997 VOLUME LXXIX NUMBER 4

1 Saint Eudokia Istanbul Archaeological Museum (photo Hirmer Verlag)

impossible One observation however can be made White marble was employed as a matrix for figures of great impor- tance in the celestial hierarchy Christ and the Virgin Marylo The Eudokia plaque belongs to this group suggesting that the saint was of some prominence within the decorative scheme of the church The inclusion of Eudokias portrait within the program of one of the chapels and the use of a white matrix for the composition may suggest the dedication of an oratory to this female saintll

The figure represented on the Lips plaque is identified by the inscription flanking her head as H ATIA EYAOKHA The plaque sets certain requirements for the womans identifica- tion First Eudokia must have been an empress Second it is unlikely that she died a martyr since she is portrayed with her hands extended in an intercessory gesture rather than hold- ing a cross In identifying the Eudokia who fulfills these requirements we may begin with a calendar compiled in the late tenth century Known as the synaxarion it records the daily commemorations for the Byzantine capital12 Entries generally include biographical information about the saint honored and the location of the celebration within the city Using this source one can quickly eliminate Eudokia of Helioupolis (March 1) and a second Eudokia celebrated on August 4 since they were martyr saints unconnected with the imperial family13 A third Eudokia (August 13) was commemo- rated as the empress Eudokia whose memory became venerable [who died and was buried] in the Church of the Holy Apostles14 This simple formula is used in the synax- arion for other imperial figures such as the emperor Justinian and the empresses Pulcheria and Irene whose tombs were also located in the imperial ma~soleum~ Their inclusion in the synaxarion points to the commemoration of figures of distinction some of whom were not accorded official saint- hood Despite the initial ambiguity it is this imperial Eudokia whom we must consider in detail

When Macridy first published the plaque he identified the woman portrayed with the Eudokia of the synaxarion entry for August 13 and both with Athenais-Eudokia wife of Theodo- sius III6 This identification passed into the literature with no

9 Only Christ Saint Nazarios Saint Gregory Thaumaturge and Saint Euplos can be identified by complete or partial inscriptions

10 The plaque of Christ Istanbul Archaeological Museum inv no 4315 preserves the abbreviations IC XC The Virgin Istanbul Archaeological Museum inv no 4314 is identified by the characteristic fringed decoration of her mantle Firatli 187 identifies her simply as a female saint Macridy 275 dated both of these pieces to the 14th century but as Mango notes 275 n 83 there is no reason why they should postdate other members of the group

11 To date only one chapel has been provisionally identified Based on the word mathetai in the inscription on the exterior cornice Mango and Hawkins 300-301 have suggested that the north chapel on the ground floor of the church was dedicated to the Apostles

12 A discussion of the date of the Constantinopolitan synmarion is beyond the scope of this paper For a brief consideration of an earlier redaction of the synmarion see Andrea Luzzi Note sulla recensione del Sinassario di Constantinopoli patrocinata da Costantino VII Porfirogenito Rivista di studi bizantini e neoellenici xm 198913946 A reference to an earlier synaxarionis also found in the 7thcentury Life of Saint Artemios SeeVirgil S Crisafulli and John W Nesbitt The Miracles of St Artaios A Collection of Miracle Stories by an Anonymous Author of Smmth-Century Byzantium Leiden 1997208-9

13 SynaxCP cols 498 868 14 SynaxCP col 890 Eudokia is mentioned in Patmos monastery of S t

John the Theologian cod 266 dated by Delehaye (x) and Mateos to the end of

702 ART B U L L E T I N DECEMBEK 1997 Y O L C M E L X X I X NUMBEK 4

The connection is tantalizing but there is no evidence that the Lips monastery served a female population in the elev- enth century or that this Eudokia was a member of such a comm~nity~Although Macridys position appears to be untenable it requires a reevaluation of the plaques date

The Eudokia plaque is undoubtedly a work of the early tenth century28 As part of the revetment that served to cover the naked brick the plaque was most likely in place when the church was consecrated in June 907 Three factors support an early-tenth-century date for the object stylistic similarities with works of contemporary manufacture diagnostic ele- ments of Eudokias costume and the letter style of the inscription

The Lips plaques express an aesthetic that developed in the late ninth and early tenth centuries characterized by simplic- ity in the rendering of the human form and a love of polychromy in architectural and sculptural d e c o r a t i ~ n ~ ~ The popularity of inlaid marble whether for paving or for revet- ment reflects this trend admired by Leo T in a pair of inaugural sermons Speaking at the dedication of the monas- tery of Kauleas at Constantinople and again at another built by Stylianos Zaoutzes the emperor praised the beauty of the colorful marble pa~e rnen t s ~~ The figure of Eudokia is formed by contrasting fragments of beige light green dull purple and brick red fine-grained stones and is ornamented by deep blue and green cut glass31

More specifically figure style supports an early-tenth-century date The mosaic portrait of the emperor Alexander executed in 912 in the north gallery of Hagia Sophia has several stylistic traits that mark this representation as contem- porary with the marble plaque (Fig 3)32 The faces of Eudokia and Alexander are similar in shape tapering from broad cheeks to a pointed chin and the bodies of both figures have identical proportions Both faces were drawn with the

27 Of this Eudokia the Byzantine historian Psellos wrote The eldest of the daughters [of Constantine VIII] bore no great resemblance to the rest of the family She was of a more tranquil disposition more gentle in spirit and her beauty was only moderate (in childhood she had been attacked by some infectious illness and her looks had been marred ever since) and the eldest Eudokia (for that was her name) whether because she had no desire for power or because she had her affections fixed on higher things begged her father to dedicate her to the service of God He readily agreed and she was presented to the Lord as an offering the first-fruits so to speak of her parents marriage The Chronographiu of Michael Psellus trans Edgar Robert Ashton Sewter London 1963 33 The Byzantine historian Zonaras also refers to the disfigurement of the princess and her dedication to God Ioannes Zonaras Epitomae Historiarum CSHB XLVI Bonn 1907 570

28 Both Mango and Firatli favor a loth-century date for the plaque see Mango and Hawkins 304-5 Firatli et al 183 186

29 The aesthetic preference for contrasting patterns extended far beyond the walls of Constantinople and to media other than opus sectzle floors Holy figures represented in the sculpted components of a loth-century church in Sebasteia Phrygia were enlivened by the colorful interplay of the marble matrix and glass-paste inlay (See Nezih Firatl~ DCcouverte dune Cglise byzantine a Sebaste de Phrygie Cuhirrs archeologzques XIX 1969 151-66 h d r C Grabar Sculptures byzantines du Moyen Age II H e - m e szPrle Paris 1976 41-42 pls V-IX) h early loth-century reliquary from the church of El Adra in the Egypt~an Widi n Natrun produced in inlaid wood is comparable to the Lips marbles in terms of technique and figure style (See Hugh Gerard Evelyn-WhiteThe Monastrnes of the Widi n LVutrzin 111 NewYork 1933 194-96 pl LXIII) Polychrome ceramic decoration was another manifestation of this aesthetic Glazed polychrome plaques were found in the investigation of the church of the Virgin and at numerous other sites in Constantinople both secular and ecclesiastical The color scheme of the tiles is similar to that of the marble plaques and the patterns especially of tiles used for architectural

left eyebrow attached to the outline of the nose the tip of the nose flared in a trefoil and the eyelids similarly articulated with the upper lid exceeding the connection of the lower lid A tenth-century date is further supported by epigraphical analysis33 The letter style of the Eudokia plaque and the Alexander mosaic are similar The ends of the letters delta and epsilon are decorated with the same triangular serifs The epsilons are circular whereas the omicron is slightly com- pressed both inscriptions differentiate thick and thin strokes

Despite what appears to be a secure dating on stylistic grounds a widely invoked argument for an eleventh-century date is focused on Eudokias thorakion the ornamental por- tion of an empresss loros that was folded and tucked into the belt Scholars have assigned the thorakion-and any work of art in which an empress wears one-to a period beginning in the eleventh century even though evidence proves its adop- tion before 100035 For example the empress Theodora (r 842-56) is depicted wearing an elaborate thorakion in the Menologion of Basil I1 (Vat gr 1613) which Sirapie Der Nersessian dated prior to 98636 In the miniature the tho- rakion is shield-shaped and decorated with an ornate cross The thorakion worn by the marble Eudokia is plainer than that represented in the Menologion-more a wrap than a discrete fabric panel In this simpler version the fabric is pulled from behind the figure over the right upper leg and is tucked into a thick belt A similarly wrapped thorakion is worn by the empress on an ivory casket in the Palazzo Venezia (Fig 4)38 The lid of the box is carved with paired figures an emperor and empress crowned in marriage by Christ in the upper register and in the lower a man and woman in lay clothes with hands extended in a gesture of entreaty The epigram carved on the lid indicates that the casket was a wedding gift from the donors to the imperial couple depicted most likely Leo VI and his third wife Eudokia Baiane as Anthony Cutler

decoration plainly imitated carved marble decoration Both media make use of strong color contrasts as well as a common vocabulary of architectural and ornamental patterns (See R B Mason and Marlia Mundell Mango Glazed Tiles of Nicomedia in Bithynia Constantinople and Elsewhere in Constantz-nople and Its Hinterland Papers from the Twenty-Seventh Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies Oxford April 1993 ed Cyril Mango and Gilbert Dagron Aldershot Eng 1995313-31 with collected bibliography)

30 See Hieromonachos Akakios Leontos tou Sophou panygprikoz logoz Athens 1868245278 For a French translation and commentary see Anatole Frolow Deux Cglises byzantines dapres des sermons peu connus de Leon le Sage amptudes byzantines 111 1945 43-91 Fragments of the sermons may be found in an English translation in Cyril Mango The Art of the Byzantine Empire 312-1453 Toronto 1986202-5

31 Based on personal examination some inaccuracies in Macridys descrip tions can now be corrected The border is comprised of continuous diamonds in a fine-grained beige stone These in turn enclose circular fragments of alternating dull green and brick red stones Eudokias halo and the ornamen- tal bands and borders on her dress are formed from the same fine-grained beige stone The dark matrix of the crown and wrapped loros is a fine-grained black stone The inlaid gems on the loros are light green cut glass Deep blue cut glass is set into the wrapped thorakion and alternates with green glass on the garments hem The face and hands are formed fiom the same type of milky white fine-grained stone (perhaps gypsum) The white stone face has been tinted pink above the eyebrows on the cheeks and chin and on the sides of the neck The hands are tinted pale pink Both the face and the hands are highly polished There is no evidence that bone was used as inlay for the costume see Talbot Rice 1954 (as in n 2 ) 409

32 Paul Underwood and Ernest J W Hawkins The Mosaics of Hagia Sophia at Istanbul The Portrait of the Emperor Alexander Dumbarton Oaks Papers XI1961 187-217

33 Mango in a footnote to Macridys text notes that the lettering on the

S A I N T EUDOKIA A N D T H E IMPERIAL H O U S E H O L D O F L E O V I 703

3 Akxander mosaic in the north gallery of Hagia Istanbul (photo courtesy Dumbarton Oaks)

Sophia

and Nicolas Oikonomides have maintained39 Allowing for imperial costumes The ivory Eudokias garment wraps around differences in scale and medium the figures of the marble her right hip and is held fast by a thick belt Her lmos is Eudokia and the ivory Eudokia are similar in the schematic decorated in the same gem and pearl pattern as that of the rendering of the hands and face and in the detail of the marble Eudokia

icon is typical of the tenth century There appears to be no reason for advancing a later date for the icon see Macridy 275 n 83

34 Although the underside of the lmos was not technically the thorakion the term is so widespread in the literature that I have continued to use it for this article

35 Jerphanion in 1930 asserted that the thorakwn formed a characteristic part of the imperial costume from the l l t h century His argument was based on twenty-five works in which the thorakzon was represented In a subsequent version of his article Jerphanion added fifteen works of art including the Eudokia plaque Although he did not assign a date to the plaque it was dated by its association with other works of the l l t h century The effect of Jerphanions work on the dating of this piece has been lasting Following the publication of Jerphanions second article for example Talbot Rice revised his dating of the piece for the edition of his book published in 1968 See Guillaume de Jerphanion Le Thorakion caracteristique iconographique du XIe siecle in Milanga Charles Diehl 11 Paris 1930 71-79 Guillaume de Jerphanion Le Thorakion caracteristique iconographique du onzicme siScle in La voix des maumats Paris 1938 263-78 This date has been refuted by several scholars Grierson in a discussion of imperial costume notes The extraordinary proliferation of this garment on monuments of the mideleventh century might suggest that it dates from then but it must be substantially older since St Theodora who restored the cult of images in 843 is shown wearing one in the Menologion of Basil 11 which dates from the mid-980s Philip Grierson Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins m the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittnnme Colkctzon 111 pt 1 Washington DC 1973 125 In a 1971 article Rudt de Collenberg notes that the first representation of the thmakion is in the 10th century and suggests that it was introduced between 963 and 976 See Weyprecht Hugo Ri~dt de Collenberg Le Thorakion Recherches Iconographiques Milanps de 1Ecole Francuse de Rome LXXXIII 1971284

36 I1 Menologzo di Basilio II (cod Vaticano Greco 16I3) 11 Turin 1907 392

Sirarpie Der Nersessian Remafks on the Date of the Menologium and the Psalter Written for Basil 11 in Etudes byzantznes et armhaiennes L o u ~ i n 1973 121 Dates as late as 1000 and even 1018 have peen proposed Ihor SevTenko On Pantoleon the Painter Jahrbuch der Osterreichischen Byzantiniskik XXI 1972241-49

37 This distinction between the wrapped thorakion and the shield-shaped thorakion was first noted by Maria Soteriou To legomenon thorakion tes gynaikeias autokratorikes stoles Epeteris Hetaimias Byzantznon Spoudon XXIII 1953526

38 The extensive bibliography on this casket includes Ioli Kalavrezou A New Type of Icon Ivories and Steatites in Constantine IrllPoSphyrogaitus and His Age Second International Byzantine Conference Delphi July 22-26 1987 Athens 1989 377-96 Anthony Cutler and Nicolas Oikonomides An Imperial Byzantine Casket and Its Fate at a Humanists Hands Art Bulletin u t x no 1 1988 77-87 Henry Maguire The Art of Comparing in Byzantium Art Bulktin m no 1198889-93 Andre Guillou Deq ivoires constantinopolitains dates du IXe et Xe siecle in Byzance et les slaves Etudes de nvzlisatzon Milunges I Dujteu Paris 1979 207-11 Adolph Goldschmidt and Kurt Weitzmann Die byzantznischm Elfeneinskulpturen des X-XIII Jahrhunderts I Berlin 1930 63-64 pl LXX Kalavrezou and Maguire following Guillou argued in favor of a late-9thcentury date for the casket on the basis of imperial links between Basil I (r 867-86) and the Davidic imagery on the body of the casket

39 The epigram reads The couple of servants adore as they should the imperial couple which is blessed by Christ Regarding the letter style on the Palazzo Venezia casket Oikonomides in Cutler and Oikonomides (as in n 38) 84 notes In general the letters on the Palazzo Venezia casket elongated and carefully carved display the serifs characteristic of inscriptions in the reigns of Basil I and Leo VI without attaining the ultimate refinements fashionable in the middle and second half of the tenth century

704 ART BULLETIN DECEMBER 1997 VOLUME LXXlX NUMBER 4

4 Ivory casket with scenes from the life of David Rome Palazzo Venezia (photo Anthony Cutler)

The wrapped thmakion may be a transitional manner in representing the empresss Imos In a slightly earlier represen- tation the lmos worn by Eudokia Ingerina the mother of Leo VI in the ninth-century illustrated Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzos is slightly thickened and is wrapped over the empresss right hip and draped over her left arm40 In comparing this late-ninthcentury representation to the shield- like cloth panel worn by Theodora in the Menologion of Basil 11 it is clear that the marble Eudokias garment falls between the two The separation of the wrapped thmakion from the shield-like thmakia that became popular in the eleventh century shows that this detail of the imperial costume does not require the plaques dating in the eleventh century

One final costume element that may be diagnostic is the diadem worn by Eudokia An archaizing diadem depicted on Byzantine coinage as a row of large pellets between two rows of dots was revived on the portrait solidus of Leo VI41 This accurately represented crown had been absent from Byzan- tine coinage since the reign of Heraklios in the early seventh century In Eudokias diadem as well as that of Alexander which also resembles those found on Leos coinage pellets and dots are translated into colored gemstones and pearls The cross that surmounted the imperial crown is here rendered as a foliate ornament

The popularity of polychrome decoration the figure style and the costume combine to support an early-tenth-century date for the Eudokia plaque The identification of the woman and the motivations that guided the selection of this obscure female saint for inclusion in the decorative program of church of the Virgin still need to be explored

The Sainted Eudokia In the tenth century when the Constantinopolitan synaxarion was first compiled and the church of the Virgin was newly constructed the name Eudokia was common in the imperial family Leo VI (r 886-912) was surrounded by women bearing that name His mother was Eudokia I r~~er ina ~ Leos un- happy marriage to his first wife Theophano produced a single daughter named Eudokia Leos third wife was named Eudokia Baiane These three Eudokias were all buried in the

40 For Paris Bibl Nat gr 510 fol B see Henri Omont Mznzatures desplur a n c h manurnts grecs de la Bibliothique Nationale du C7e au XlVe sock Paris 1929 pl XVI The manuscript is dated between 880 and 883 See Sirarpie Der Nersessian The Illustrations of the Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus Paris gr 510 Dumbarton Oaks Papen m 1962195-228

41 Grierson (as in n 35) 127-30 42 See Cyril Mango Eudocia Ingerina the Normans and the Macedonia

Dynasty Zbmik radova Mantoloskog Inrtituta xN-xv 1973 17-27 Ewald IJislinger Eudokia Ingerina Basileios I und Michael 111 Jahrbuch der Ostemampchischa Byzantintstik xxxn~ 1983 119-36 Michael I11 was married to Eudokia Dekapolitissa following the forced dissolution of his relationship with Eudokia Ingerina

43 Leos daughter Eudokia died in 893 According to the list of imperial tombs in the Holy Apostles described in the Book of Ceremonies she was entombed with her mother Another sarcophagus green Thessalian in which lies St Theophano the first wife of the blessed Leo with Eudokia her daughter Glanville Downey The Tombs of the Byzantine Emperors at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople Journal of Hellatc Studm LXXIX 1959 30 See also Philip Grierson The Tombs and Obits of the Byzantine Emperors Dumbarton Oaks Papers m 196222

44 Downey (as in n 43) 30 line 14 45 The typikon of the Pantokrator Monastery in Constantinople is a later

source that describes the regulated ceremonies that took place before the

Holy Apostles and are possible candidates for the imperial figure remembered in that church by the synaxarion on August 13 Eudokia Ingerina was entombed with her hus- band Basil I and her son Alexander The child Eudokia shared a sarcophagus with her mother T h e ~ p h a n o ~ ~ Accord-ing to a list of tombs located within the mausoleum that Constantine built in the Holy Apostles there was another sarcophagus green Thessalian in which lies Eudokia the third wife of the same Lord Leo she who was surnamed ~aiane The solitary entombment of this Eudokia may indicate that a separate commemorative service was said before her s a r~ophagus ~~ Other reasons rule out the first two Eudokias as candidates for memorialization in the synaxarion Eudokia Ingerina had a sullied reputation as Michael 111s mistress prior to her marriage to Basil I and the second Eudokia the daughter of Leo VI died at too young an age In addition to these facts the date of the commemoration may be significant As far as can be determined from the sources none of the three Eudokias was buried on August 13 the date for the memorial service in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon Eudokia Baiane however died on April 12 and was laid to rest in the imperial mausoleum at the Holy Apostles on April 1346 It is possible that a scribal error in inserting the abbreviation for April could account for its replacement by the abbreviation for August the incorrect month in the late-tenth-century edition of the s y n a x a ~ i o n ~ ~On the basis of the burial site and the day of commemoration we may hypothesize that Eudokia Baiane the third wife of Leo VI was the empress whose memory was recalled in a ceremony in the Holy Apostles But was she the Eudokia depicted on the Lips plaque

For an explanation of how this Eudokia might have come to be depicted as a saint we need to look more closely at the imperial household Leos marital misfortune combined with unusual ecclesiastical censure made his relationship with his wives a matter of uncommon interest and significance48 Leos first three marriages to Theophano Zoe (daughter of Styli- anos Zaoutzes) and Eudokia Baiane were relatively short- lived and failed to produce a male heir Leo chose to remember his first two wives by constructing churches dedi-

sarcophagi of the monasterys imperial founders The tnsagion prayer and the pannychis were to be intoned in front of the tombs See Paul Gautier Le typikon du Christ Sauveur Pantocrator h u e des itudes byzantinrs XXXII 1974 81 line 872

46 For the date of Eudokia Baianes death see Venance Grumel Chronolc- gie des kvenements du regne de Leon VI (886912) Echos d(hient x x x v

193617-19 47 I thank Nicolas Oikonomides for his ingenious suggestion regarding the

problem of the commemoration date 48 On the problems caused by Leos multiple marriages see Nicolas

Oikonomides Leo VI and the Karthex Mosaic of Saint Sophia Dumbarton Oaks Papers x x x 1976 151-72

49 On the church of St Theophano see Theophanes Continuatus Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 1838 364 Leo Grammaticus Chronographia in CSHB X L L ~ I Bonn 1842 274 S p e o n Logothete Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 703 Georgius Hamartolus Chronicles in The Chronzck of George Hamartolus r r ed Vasilii Mikailovich Istrin Petrograd 1922 30 John Skylitzes Synqps~s Histmiarum in Corpus Fontzum Hzstmim Byzantinae v ed Hans Thurn Berlin 1973 180 On the name and location of the church see George P Majeska The Body of St Theophano the Empress and the Convent of St Constantine Byzantzn~ slavzca x x x l I I 1977 14-21 Gilbert Dagron Theophan6 les Saints-Ap6tres et Ieglise de Tous-les-Saints in S~mmeiktaXI ( M n r w D A Zakythynou) I

S A I N T EUDOKIA AND THE IMPERI-L HOUSEHO1D O F IEO V I 705

cated to them as saints Theophanos popularity in Constanti- nople might have spurred Leos decision to build a church in her name4g An anonymous source contemporary with Leo commenting on an unrelated text about the construction of temples built in honor of the deified Hephaestion noted that the same thing has also happened in our time and everybody is seized by a hysteria characteristic of women so as to proclaim the emperors [late wife] Theophano a saintjO The imperial canonization did not sit well with all segments of the Constantinopolitan population The church dedicated to Saint Theophano was the subject of some controversy among the Byzantine clergy and the name of the church was changed shortly thereafter to All Saints Despite the objec- tions to the dedication of a church in her name Saint Theophano was remembered in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon on December 16 and is the subject of a saints life51

The church dedicated to Saint Zoe is less well known Only the so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete mentions its construction following the death of Leos second wife Accord- ing to this source around the month of May having built the church of Saint Zoe he placed her [coffin] inside Ray-mond Janin suggests that the church may have been near the Holy Apostles but there appears to be no evidence to confirm this hyp~thesis ~ Zoe is also mentioned in the synaxnnon but only as the object of miraculous intervention A feast on August 31 recalls her being healed by the girdle of the Virgin a relic housed in the church of the Chalk~pra te ia ~~

Having established a pattern for the construction of churches dedicated to his sainted wives Leo might be expected to honor his third wife Eudokia in a similar fashion In 900 Leo married Eudokia Baiane This marriage was not sanctioned by canon law but the patriarch Antony I1 Kauleas conceded the union on grounds of political expedi- ence Leo needed an empress to perform ceremonial func- tions in the palace and a son to carry on his line55 Concern- ing Eudokia Baiane the chroniclers provide little information The so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete is typical The emperor married an outstandingly beautiful girl from the Opsikion theme Her name was Eudokia He married her and crowned her and had a male child by her whereupon both

Athens 1994 201-18 Glanlille Downey The Church of All Saints (Church of St Theophano) near the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople Dumbarton Oaks Papers IX-x 1956 301-5 Raymond Janin La giographie eccliszastzque de lempire byantzne 2d ed Paris 1969 245 Grierson 1962 1-60

50 Quoted in Alexander Alexakis Leo VI Theophano a Magirtros Called Slokakas and the Vita Theophano (BHG 1794) Bosphmus Essays in Honm of Cyril mango special issue of ByzantinischPFmschungen XXI 19954647

51 Theophanos main feast day in the Constantinopolitan synaxanon is Dec 16 Theophano is also mentioned on Dec 17 and 18 SynaxCP cols 314 12 321 37 325 51 314 54 For the life of Saint Theophano see Eduard Kurtz Zwei griechische Texte iiber die hl Theophano die Gemahlin Kaisers Leo VI Mhozres d~ IXcadimze Imphale des Sciences dr St-Pitmsbourg 8th ser 111 no 2 1898 1-24

52 Logothete (as in n 49) 703 Majeska (as in n 49) 14 n 4 53Janin (as in n 49) 134 54 SynaxCP 936 For chronological calculations that identiij Zoe the

second wife of Leo as the object of the miracle see M Jugie Homilies mariales byzantines in Patrolopa Orientalzs ed R Graf3in and F Nau x

Paris 1922484-86 55 On the role played by Byzantine empresses at court see Judith Herrin

Theophano Considerauons on the Education of a Byzantine Princess in The Empress Thrqphano Byzantzum and the U b t at the Turn ofthe First Milknzum ed Adelbert Davids Cambridge 1995 64-85

700 ART BULLETIN DECEMBER 1997 VOLUME LXXIX NUMBER 4

1 Saint Eudokia Istanbul Archaeological Museum (photo Hirmer Verlag)

impossible One observation however can be made White marble was employed as a matrix for figures of great impor- tance in the celestial hierarchy Christ and the Virgin Marylo The Eudokia plaque belongs to this group suggesting that the saint was of some prominence within the decorative scheme of the church The inclusion of Eudokias portrait within the program of one of the chapels and the use of a white matrix for the composition may suggest the dedication of an oratory to this female saintll

The figure represented on the Lips plaque is identified by the inscription flanking her head as H ATIA EYAOKHA The plaque sets certain requirements for the womans identifica- tion First Eudokia must have been an empress Second it is unlikely that she died a martyr since she is portrayed with her hands extended in an intercessory gesture rather than hold- ing a cross In identifying the Eudokia who fulfills these requirements we may begin with a calendar compiled in the late tenth century Known as the synaxarion it records the daily commemorations for the Byzantine capital12 Entries generally include biographical information about the saint honored and the location of the celebration within the city Using this source one can quickly eliminate Eudokia of Helioupolis (March 1) and a second Eudokia celebrated on August 4 since they were martyr saints unconnected with the imperial family13 A third Eudokia (August 13) was commemo- rated as the empress Eudokia whose memory became venerable [who died and was buried] in the Church of the Holy Apostles14 This simple formula is used in the synax- arion for other imperial figures such as the emperor Justinian and the empresses Pulcheria and Irene whose tombs were also located in the imperial ma~soleum~ Their inclusion in the synaxarion points to the commemoration of figures of distinction some of whom were not accorded official saint- hood Despite the initial ambiguity it is this imperial Eudokia whom we must consider in detail

When Macridy first published the plaque he identified the woman portrayed with the Eudokia of the synaxarion entry for August 13 and both with Athenais-Eudokia wife of Theodo- sius III6 This identification passed into the literature with no

9 Only Christ Saint Nazarios Saint Gregory Thaumaturge and Saint Euplos can be identified by complete or partial inscriptions

10 The plaque of Christ Istanbul Archaeological Museum inv no 4315 preserves the abbreviations IC XC The Virgin Istanbul Archaeological Museum inv no 4314 is identified by the characteristic fringed decoration of her mantle Firatli 187 identifies her simply as a female saint Macridy 275 dated both of these pieces to the 14th century but as Mango notes 275 n 83 there is no reason why they should postdate other members of the group

11 To date only one chapel has been provisionally identified Based on the word mathetai in the inscription on the exterior cornice Mango and Hawkins 300-301 have suggested that the north chapel on the ground floor of the church was dedicated to the Apostles

12 A discussion of the date of the Constantinopolitan synmarion is beyond the scope of this paper For a brief consideration of an earlier redaction of the synmarion see Andrea Luzzi Note sulla recensione del Sinassario di Constantinopoli patrocinata da Costantino VII Porfirogenito Rivista di studi bizantini e neoellenici xm 198913946 A reference to an earlier synaxarionis also found in the 7thcentury Life of Saint Artemios SeeVirgil S Crisafulli and John W Nesbitt The Miracles of St Artaios A Collection of Miracle Stories by an Anonymous Author of Smmth-Century Byzantium Leiden 1997208-9

13 SynaxCP cols 498 868 14 SynaxCP col 890 Eudokia is mentioned in Patmos monastery of S t

John the Theologian cod 266 dated by Delehaye (x) and Mateos to the end of

702 ART B U L L E T I N DECEMBEK 1997 Y O L C M E L X X I X NUMBEK 4

The connection is tantalizing but there is no evidence that the Lips monastery served a female population in the elev- enth century or that this Eudokia was a member of such a comm~nity~Although Macridys position appears to be untenable it requires a reevaluation of the plaques date

The Eudokia plaque is undoubtedly a work of the early tenth century28 As part of the revetment that served to cover the naked brick the plaque was most likely in place when the church was consecrated in June 907 Three factors support an early-tenth-century date for the object stylistic similarities with works of contemporary manufacture diagnostic ele- ments of Eudokias costume and the letter style of the inscription

The Lips plaques express an aesthetic that developed in the late ninth and early tenth centuries characterized by simplic- ity in the rendering of the human form and a love of polychromy in architectural and sculptural d e c o r a t i ~ n ~ ~ The popularity of inlaid marble whether for paving or for revet- ment reflects this trend admired by Leo T in a pair of inaugural sermons Speaking at the dedication of the monas- tery of Kauleas at Constantinople and again at another built by Stylianos Zaoutzes the emperor praised the beauty of the colorful marble pa~e rnen t s ~~ The figure of Eudokia is formed by contrasting fragments of beige light green dull purple and brick red fine-grained stones and is ornamented by deep blue and green cut glass31

More specifically figure style supports an early-tenth-century date The mosaic portrait of the emperor Alexander executed in 912 in the north gallery of Hagia Sophia has several stylistic traits that mark this representation as contem- porary with the marble plaque (Fig 3)32 The faces of Eudokia and Alexander are similar in shape tapering from broad cheeks to a pointed chin and the bodies of both figures have identical proportions Both faces were drawn with the

27 Of this Eudokia the Byzantine historian Psellos wrote The eldest of the daughters [of Constantine VIII] bore no great resemblance to the rest of the family She was of a more tranquil disposition more gentle in spirit and her beauty was only moderate (in childhood she had been attacked by some infectious illness and her looks had been marred ever since) and the eldest Eudokia (for that was her name) whether because she had no desire for power or because she had her affections fixed on higher things begged her father to dedicate her to the service of God He readily agreed and she was presented to the Lord as an offering the first-fruits so to speak of her parents marriage The Chronographiu of Michael Psellus trans Edgar Robert Ashton Sewter London 1963 33 The Byzantine historian Zonaras also refers to the disfigurement of the princess and her dedication to God Ioannes Zonaras Epitomae Historiarum CSHB XLVI Bonn 1907 570

28 Both Mango and Firatli favor a loth-century date for the plaque see Mango and Hawkins 304-5 Firatli et al 183 186

29 The aesthetic preference for contrasting patterns extended far beyond the walls of Constantinople and to media other than opus sectzle floors Holy figures represented in the sculpted components of a loth-century church in Sebasteia Phrygia were enlivened by the colorful interplay of the marble matrix and glass-paste inlay (See Nezih Firatl~ DCcouverte dune Cglise byzantine a Sebaste de Phrygie Cuhirrs archeologzques XIX 1969 151-66 h d r C Grabar Sculptures byzantines du Moyen Age II H e - m e szPrle Paris 1976 41-42 pls V-IX) h early loth-century reliquary from the church of El Adra in the Egypt~an Widi n Natrun produced in inlaid wood is comparable to the Lips marbles in terms of technique and figure style (See Hugh Gerard Evelyn-WhiteThe Monastrnes of the Widi n LVutrzin 111 NewYork 1933 194-96 pl LXIII) Polychrome ceramic decoration was another manifestation of this aesthetic Glazed polychrome plaques were found in the investigation of the church of the Virgin and at numerous other sites in Constantinople both secular and ecclesiastical The color scheme of the tiles is similar to that of the marble plaques and the patterns especially of tiles used for architectural

left eyebrow attached to the outline of the nose the tip of the nose flared in a trefoil and the eyelids similarly articulated with the upper lid exceeding the connection of the lower lid A tenth-century date is further supported by epigraphical analysis33 The letter style of the Eudokia plaque and the Alexander mosaic are similar The ends of the letters delta and epsilon are decorated with the same triangular serifs The epsilons are circular whereas the omicron is slightly com- pressed both inscriptions differentiate thick and thin strokes

Despite what appears to be a secure dating on stylistic grounds a widely invoked argument for an eleventh-century date is focused on Eudokias thorakion the ornamental por- tion of an empresss loros that was folded and tucked into the belt Scholars have assigned the thorakion-and any work of art in which an empress wears one-to a period beginning in the eleventh century even though evidence proves its adop- tion before 100035 For example the empress Theodora (r 842-56) is depicted wearing an elaborate thorakion in the Menologion of Basil I1 (Vat gr 1613) which Sirapie Der Nersessian dated prior to 98636 In the miniature the tho- rakion is shield-shaped and decorated with an ornate cross The thorakion worn by the marble Eudokia is plainer than that represented in the Menologion-more a wrap than a discrete fabric panel In this simpler version the fabric is pulled from behind the figure over the right upper leg and is tucked into a thick belt A similarly wrapped thorakion is worn by the empress on an ivory casket in the Palazzo Venezia (Fig 4)38 The lid of the box is carved with paired figures an emperor and empress crowned in marriage by Christ in the upper register and in the lower a man and woman in lay clothes with hands extended in a gesture of entreaty The epigram carved on the lid indicates that the casket was a wedding gift from the donors to the imperial couple depicted most likely Leo VI and his third wife Eudokia Baiane as Anthony Cutler

decoration plainly imitated carved marble decoration Both media make use of strong color contrasts as well as a common vocabulary of architectural and ornamental patterns (See R B Mason and Marlia Mundell Mango Glazed Tiles of Nicomedia in Bithynia Constantinople and Elsewhere in Constantz-nople and Its Hinterland Papers from the Twenty-Seventh Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies Oxford April 1993 ed Cyril Mango and Gilbert Dagron Aldershot Eng 1995313-31 with collected bibliography)

30 See Hieromonachos Akakios Leontos tou Sophou panygprikoz logoz Athens 1868245278 For a French translation and commentary see Anatole Frolow Deux Cglises byzantines dapres des sermons peu connus de Leon le Sage amptudes byzantines 111 1945 43-91 Fragments of the sermons may be found in an English translation in Cyril Mango The Art of the Byzantine Empire 312-1453 Toronto 1986202-5

31 Based on personal examination some inaccuracies in Macridys descrip tions can now be corrected The border is comprised of continuous diamonds in a fine-grained beige stone These in turn enclose circular fragments of alternating dull green and brick red stones Eudokias halo and the ornamen- tal bands and borders on her dress are formed from the same fine-grained beige stone The dark matrix of the crown and wrapped loros is a fine-grained black stone The inlaid gems on the loros are light green cut glass Deep blue cut glass is set into the wrapped thorakion and alternates with green glass on the garments hem The face and hands are formed fiom the same type of milky white fine-grained stone (perhaps gypsum) The white stone face has been tinted pink above the eyebrows on the cheeks and chin and on the sides of the neck The hands are tinted pale pink Both the face and the hands are highly polished There is no evidence that bone was used as inlay for the costume see Talbot Rice 1954 (as in n 2 ) 409

32 Paul Underwood and Ernest J W Hawkins The Mosaics of Hagia Sophia at Istanbul The Portrait of the Emperor Alexander Dumbarton Oaks Papers XI1961 187-217

33 Mango in a footnote to Macridys text notes that the lettering on the

S A I N T EUDOKIA A N D T H E IMPERIAL H O U S E H O L D O F L E O V I 703

3 Akxander mosaic in the north gallery of Hagia Istanbul (photo courtesy Dumbarton Oaks)

Sophia

and Nicolas Oikonomides have maintained39 Allowing for imperial costumes The ivory Eudokias garment wraps around differences in scale and medium the figures of the marble her right hip and is held fast by a thick belt Her lmos is Eudokia and the ivory Eudokia are similar in the schematic decorated in the same gem and pearl pattern as that of the rendering of the hands and face and in the detail of the marble Eudokia

icon is typical of the tenth century There appears to be no reason for advancing a later date for the icon see Macridy 275 n 83

34 Although the underside of the lmos was not technically the thorakion the term is so widespread in the literature that I have continued to use it for this article

35 Jerphanion in 1930 asserted that the thorakwn formed a characteristic part of the imperial costume from the l l t h century His argument was based on twenty-five works in which the thorakzon was represented In a subsequent version of his article Jerphanion added fifteen works of art including the Eudokia plaque Although he did not assign a date to the plaque it was dated by its association with other works of the l l t h century The effect of Jerphanions work on the dating of this piece has been lasting Following the publication of Jerphanions second article for example Talbot Rice revised his dating of the piece for the edition of his book published in 1968 See Guillaume de Jerphanion Le Thorakion caracteristique iconographique du XIe siecle in Milanga Charles Diehl 11 Paris 1930 71-79 Guillaume de Jerphanion Le Thorakion caracteristique iconographique du onzicme siScle in La voix des maumats Paris 1938 263-78 This date has been refuted by several scholars Grierson in a discussion of imperial costume notes The extraordinary proliferation of this garment on monuments of the mideleventh century might suggest that it dates from then but it must be substantially older since St Theodora who restored the cult of images in 843 is shown wearing one in the Menologion of Basil 11 which dates from the mid-980s Philip Grierson Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins m the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittnnme Colkctzon 111 pt 1 Washington DC 1973 125 In a 1971 article Rudt de Collenberg notes that the first representation of the thmakion is in the 10th century and suggests that it was introduced between 963 and 976 See Weyprecht Hugo Ri~dt de Collenberg Le Thorakion Recherches Iconographiques Milanps de 1Ecole Francuse de Rome LXXXIII 1971284

36 I1 Menologzo di Basilio II (cod Vaticano Greco 16I3) 11 Turin 1907 392

Sirarpie Der Nersessian Remafks on the Date of the Menologium and the Psalter Written for Basil 11 in Etudes byzantznes et armhaiennes L o u ~ i n 1973 121 Dates as late as 1000 and even 1018 have peen proposed Ihor SevTenko On Pantoleon the Painter Jahrbuch der Osterreichischen Byzantiniskik XXI 1972241-49

37 This distinction between the wrapped thorakion and the shield-shaped thorakion was first noted by Maria Soteriou To legomenon thorakion tes gynaikeias autokratorikes stoles Epeteris Hetaimias Byzantznon Spoudon XXIII 1953526

38 The extensive bibliography on this casket includes Ioli Kalavrezou A New Type of Icon Ivories and Steatites in Constantine IrllPoSphyrogaitus and His Age Second International Byzantine Conference Delphi July 22-26 1987 Athens 1989 377-96 Anthony Cutler and Nicolas Oikonomides An Imperial Byzantine Casket and Its Fate at a Humanists Hands Art Bulletin u t x no 1 1988 77-87 Henry Maguire The Art of Comparing in Byzantium Art Bulktin m no 1198889-93 Andre Guillou Deq ivoires constantinopolitains dates du IXe et Xe siecle in Byzance et les slaves Etudes de nvzlisatzon Milunges I Dujteu Paris 1979 207-11 Adolph Goldschmidt and Kurt Weitzmann Die byzantznischm Elfeneinskulpturen des X-XIII Jahrhunderts I Berlin 1930 63-64 pl LXX Kalavrezou and Maguire following Guillou argued in favor of a late-9thcentury date for the casket on the basis of imperial links between Basil I (r 867-86) and the Davidic imagery on the body of the casket

39 The epigram reads The couple of servants adore as they should the imperial couple which is blessed by Christ Regarding the letter style on the Palazzo Venezia casket Oikonomides in Cutler and Oikonomides (as in n 38) 84 notes In general the letters on the Palazzo Venezia casket elongated and carefully carved display the serifs characteristic of inscriptions in the reigns of Basil I and Leo VI without attaining the ultimate refinements fashionable in the middle and second half of the tenth century

704 ART BULLETIN DECEMBER 1997 VOLUME LXXlX NUMBER 4

4 Ivory casket with scenes from the life of David Rome Palazzo Venezia (photo Anthony Cutler)

The wrapped thmakion may be a transitional manner in representing the empresss Imos In a slightly earlier represen- tation the lmos worn by Eudokia Ingerina the mother of Leo VI in the ninth-century illustrated Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzos is slightly thickened and is wrapped over the empresss right hip and draped over her left arm40 In comparing this late-ninthcentury representation to the shield- like cloth panel worn by Theodora in the Menologion of Basil 11 it is clear that the marble Eudokias garment falls between the two The separation of the wrapped thmakion from the shield-like thmakia that became popular in the eleventh century shows that this detail of the imperial costume does not require the plaques dating in the eleventh century

One final costume element that may be diagnostic is the diadem worn by Eudokia An archaizing diadem depicted on Byzantine coinage as a row of large pellets between two rows of dots was revived on the portrait solidus of Leo VI41 This accurately represented crown had been absent from Byzan- tine coinage since the reign of Heraklios in the early seventh century In Eudokias diadem as well as that of Alexander which also resembles those found on Leos coinage pellets and dots are translated into colored gemstones and pearls The cross that surmounted the imperial crown is here rendered as a foliate ornament

The popularity of polychrome decoration the figure style and the costume combine to support an early-tenth-century date for the Eudokia plaque The identification of the woman and the motivations that guided the selection of this obscure female saint for inclusion in the decorative program of church of the Virgin still need to be explored

The Sainted Eudokia In the tenth century when the Constantinopolitan synaxarion was first compiled and the church of the Virgin was newly constructed the name Eudokia was common in the imperial family Leo VI (r 886-912) was surrounded by women bearing that name His mother was Eudokia I r~~er ina ~ Leos un- happy marriage to his first wife Theophano produced a single daughter named Eudokia Leos third wife was named Eudokia Baiane These three Eudokias were all buried in the

40 For Paris Bibl Nat gr 510 fol B see Henri Omont Mznzatures desplur a n c h manurnts grecs de la Bibliothique Nationale du C7e au XlVe sock Paris 1929 pl XVI The manuscript is dated between 880 and 883 See Sirarpie Der Nersessian The Illustrations of the Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus Paris gr 510 Dumbarton Oaks Papen m 1962195-228

41 Grierson (as in n 35) 127-30 42 See Cyril Mango Eudocia Ingerina the Normans and the Macedonia

Dynasty Zbmik radova Mantoloskog Inrtituta xN-xv 1973 17-27 Ewald IJislinger Eudokia Ingerina Basileios I und Michael 111 Jahrbuch der Ostemampchischa Byzantintstik xxxn~ 1983 119-36 Michael I11 was married to Eudokia Dekapolitissa following the forced dissolution of his relationship with Eudokia Ingerina

43 Leos daughter Eudokia died in 893 According to the list of imperial tombs in the Holy Apostles described in the Book of Ceremonies she was entombed with her mother Another sarcophagus green Thessalian in which lies St Theophano the first wife of the blessed Leo with Eudokia her daughter Glanville Downey The Tombs of the Byzantine Emperors at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople Journal of Hellatc Studm LXXIX 1959 30 See also Philip Grierson The Tombs and Obits of the Byzantine Emperors Dumbarton Oaks Papers m 196222

44 Downey (as in n 43) 30 line 14 45 The typikon of the Pantokrator Monastery in Constantinople is a later

source that describes the regulated ceremonies that took place before the

Holy Apostles and are possible candidates for the imperial figure remembered in that church by the synaxarion on August 13 Eudokia Ingerina was entombed with her hus- band Basil I and her son Alexander The child Eudokia shared a sarcophagus with her mother T h e ~ p h a n o ~ ~ Accord-ing to a list of tombs located within the mausoleum that Constantine built in the Holy Apostles there was another sarcophagus green Thessalian in which lies Eudokia the third wife of the same Lord Leo she who was surnamed ~aiane The solitary entombment of this Eudokia may indicate that a separate commemorative service was said before her s a r~ophagus ~~ Other reasons rule out the first two Eudokias as candidates for memorialization in the synaxarion Eudokia Ingerina had a sullied reputation as Michael 111s mistress prior to her marriage to Basil I and the second Eudokia the daughter of Leo VI died at too young an age In addition to these facts the date of the commemoration may be significant As far as can be determined from the sources none of the three Eudokias was buried on August 13 the date for the memorial service in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon Eudokia Baiane however died on April 12 and was laid to rest in the imperial mausoleum at the Holy Apostles on April 1346 It is possible that a scribal error in inserting the abbreviation for April could account for its replacement by the abbreviation for August the incorrect month in the late-tenth-century edition of the s y n a x a ~ i o n ~ ~On the basis of the burial site and the day of commemoration we may hypothesize that Eudokia Baiane the third wife of Leo VI was the empress whose memory was recalled in a ceremony in the Holy Apostles But was she the Eudokia depicted on the Lips plaque

For an explanation of how this Eudokia might have come to be depicted as a saint we need to look more closely at the imperial household Leos marital misfortune combined with unusual ecclesiastical censure made his relationship with his wives a matter of uncommon interest and significance48 Leos first three marriages to Theophano Zoe (daughter of Styli- anos Zaoutzes) and Eudokia Baiane were relatively short- lived and failed to produce a male heir Leo chose to remember his first two wives by constructing churches dedi-

sarcophagi of the monasterys imperial founders The tnsagion prayer and the pannychis were to be intoned in front of the tombs See Paul Gautier Le typikon du Christ Sauveur Pantocrator h u e des itudes byzantinrs XXXII 1974 81 line 872

46 For the date of Eudokia Baianes death see Venance Grumel Chronolc- gie des kvenements du regne de Leon VI (886912) Echos d(hient x x x v

193617-19 47 I thank Nicolas Oikonomides for his ingenious suggestion regarding the

problem of the commemoration date 48 On the problems caused by Leos multiple marriages see Nicolas

Oikonomides Leo VI and the Karthex Mosaic of Saint Sophia Dumbarton Oaks Papers x x x 1976 151-72

49 On the church of St Theophano see Theophanes Continuatus Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 1838 364 Leo Grammaticus Chronographia in CSHB X L L ~ I Bonn 1842 274 S p e o n Logothete Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 703 Georgius Hamartolus Chronicles in The Chronzck of George Hamartolus r r ed Vasilii Mikailovich Istrin Petrograd 1922 30 John Skylitzes Synqps~s Histmiarum in Corpus Fontzum Hzstmim Byzantinae v ed Hans Thurn Berlin 1973 180 On the name and location of the church see George P Majeska The Body of St Theophano the Empress and the Convent of St Constantine Byzantzn~ slavzca x x x l I I 1977 14-21 Gilbert Dagron Theophan6 les Saints-Ap6tres et Ieglise de Tous-les-Saints in S~mmeiktaXI ( M n r w D A Zakythynou) I

S A I N T EUDOKIA AND THE IMPERI-L HOUSEHO1D O F IEO V I 705

cated to them as saints Theophanos popularity in Constanti- nople might have spurred Leos decision to build a church in her name4g An anonymous source contemporary with Leo commenting on an unrelated text about the construction of temples built in honor of the deified Hephaestion noted that the same thing has also happened in our time and everybody is seized by a hysteria characteristic of women so as to proclaim the emperors [late wife] Theophano a saintjO The imperial canonization did not sit well with all segments of the Constantinopolitan population The church dedicated to Saint Theophano was the subject of some controversy among the Byzantine clergy and the name of the church was changed shortly thereafter to All Saints Despite the objec- tions to the dedication of a church in her name Saint Theophano was remembered in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon on December 16 and is the subject of a saints life51

The church dedicated to Saint Zoe is less well known Only the so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete mentions its construction following the death of Leos second wife Accord- ing to this source around the month of May having built the church of Saint Zoe he placed her [coffin] inside Ray-mond Janin suggests that the church may have been near the Holy Apostles but there appears to be no evidence to confirm this hyp~thesis ~ Zoe is also mentioned in the synaxnnon but only as the object of miraculous intervention A feast on August 31 recalls her being healed by the girdle of the Virgin a relic housed in the church of the Chalk~pra te ia ~~

Having established a pattern for the construction of churches dedicated to his sainted wives Leo might be expected to honor his third wife Eudokia in a similar fashion In 900 Leo married Eudokia Baiane This marriage was not sanctioned by canon law but the patriarch Antony I1 Kauleas conceded the union on grounds of political expedi- ence Leo needed an empress to perform ceremonial func- tions in the palace and a son to carry on his line55 Concern- ing Eudokia Baiane the chroniclers provide little information The so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete is typical The emperor married an outstandingly beautiful girl from the Opsikion theme Her name was Eudokia He married her and crowned her and had a male child by her whereupon both

Athens 1994 201-18 Glanlille Downey The Church of All Saints (Church of St Theophano) near the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople Dumbarton Oaks Papers IX-x 1956 301-5 Raymond Janin La giographie eccliszastzque de lempire byantzne 2d ed Paris 1969 245 Grierson 1962 1-60

50 Quoted in Alexander Alexakis Leo VI Theophano a Magirtros Called Slokakas and the Vita Theophano (BHG 1794) Bosphmus Essays in Honm of Cyril mango special issue of ByzantinischPFmschungen XXI 19954647

51 Theophanos main feast day in the Constantinopolitan synaxanon is Dec 16 Theophano is also mentioned on Dec 17 and 18 SynaxCP cols 314 12 321 37 325 51 314 54 For the life of Saint Theophano see Eduard Kurtz Zwei griechische Texte iiber die hl Theophano die Gemahlin Kaisers Leo VI Mhozres d~ IXcadimze Imphale des Sciences dr St-Pitmsbourg 8th ser 111 no 2 1898 1-24

52 Logothete (as in n 49) 703 Majeska (as in n 49) 14 n 4 53Janin (as in n 49) 134 54 SynaxCP 936 For chronological calculations that identiij Zoe the

second wife of Leo as the object of the miracle see M Jugie Homilies mariales byzantines in Patrolopa Orientalzs ed R Graf3in and F Nau x

Paris 1922484-86 55 On the role played by Byzantine empresses at court see Judith Herrin

Theophano Considerauons on the Education of a Byzantine Princess in The Empress Thrqphano Byzantzum and the U b t at the Turn ofthe First Milknzum ed Adelbert Davids Cambridge 1995 64-85

702 ART B U L L E T I N DECEMBEK 1997 Y O L C M E L X X I X NUMBEK 4

The connection is tantalizing but there is no evidence that the Lips monastery served a female population in the elev- enth century or that this Eudokia was a member of such a comm~nity~Although Macridys position appears to be untenable it requires a reevaluation of the plaques date

The Eudokia plaque is undoubtedly a work of the early tenth century28 As part of the revetment that served to cover the naked brick the plaque was most likely in place when the church was consecrated in June 907 Three factors support an early-tenth-century date for the object stylistic similarities with works of contemporary manufacture diagnostic ele- ments of Eudokias costume and the letter style of the inscription

The Lips plaques express an aesthetic that developed in the late ninth and early tenth centuries characterized by simplic- ity in the rendering of the human form and a love of polychromy in architectural and sculptural d e c o r a t i ~ n ~ ~ The popularity of inlaid marble whether for paving or for revet- ment reflects this trend admired by Leo T in a pair of inaugural sermons Speaking at the dedication of the monas- tery of Kauleas at Constantinople and again at another built by Stylianos Zaoutzes the emperor praised the beauty of the colorful marble pa~e rnen t s ~~ The figure of Eudokia is formed by contrasting fragments of beige light green dull purple and brick red fine-grained stones and is ornamented by deep blue and green cut glass31

More specifically figure style supports an early-tenth-century date The mosaic portrait of the emperor Alexander executed in 912 in the north gallery of Hagia Sophia has several stylistic traits that mark this representation as contem- porary with the marble plaque (Fig 3)32 The faces of Eudokia and Alexander are similar in shape tapering from broad cheeks to a pointed chin and the bodies of both figures have identical proportions Both faces were drawn with the

27 Of this Eudokia the Byzantine historian Psellos wrote The eldest of the daughters [of Constantine VIII] bore no great resemblance to the rest of the family She was of a more tranquil disposition more gentle in spirit and her beauty was only moderate (in childhood she had been attacked by some infectious illness and her looks had been marred ever since) and the eldest Eudokia (for that was her name) whether because she had no desire for power or because she had her affections fixed on higher things begged her father to dedicate her to the service of God He readily agreed and she was presented to the Lord as an offering the first-fruits so to speak of her parents marriage The Chronographiu of Michael Psellus trans Edgar Robert Ashton Sewter London 1963 33 The Byzantine historian Zonaras also refers to the disfigurement of the princess and her dedication to God Ioannes Zonaras Epitomae Historiarum CSHB XLVI Bonn 1907 570

28 Both Mango and Firatli favor a loth-century date for the plaque see Mango and Hawkins 304-5 Firatli et al 183 186

29 The aesthetic preference for contrasting patterns extended far beyond the walls of Constantinople and to media other than opus sectzle floors Holy figures represented in the sculpted components of a loth-century church in Sebasteia Phrygia were enlivened by the colorful interplay of the marble matrix and glass-paste inlay (See Nezih Firatl~ DCcouverte dune Cglise byzantine a Sebaste de Phrygie Cuhirrs archeologzques XIX 1969 151-66 h d r C Grabar Sculptures byzantines du Moyen Age II H e - m e szPrle Paris 1976 41-42 pls V-IX) h early loth-century reliquary from the church of El Adra in the Egypt~an Widi n Natrun produced in inlaid wood is comparable to the Lips marbles in terms of technique and figure style (See Hugh Gerard Evelyn-WhiteThe Monastrnes of the Widi n LVutrzin 111 NewYork 1933 194-96 pl LXIII) Polychrome ceramic decoration was another manifestation of this aesthetic Glazed polychrome plaques were found in the investigation of the church of the Virgin and at numerous other sites in Constantinople both secular and ecclesiastical The color scheme of the tiles is similar to that of the marble plaques and the patterns especially of tiles used for architectural

left eyebrow attached to the outline of the nose the tip of the nose flared in a trefoil and the eyelids similarly articulated with the upper lid exceeding the connection of the lower lid A tenth-century date is further supported by epigraphical analysis33 The letter style of the Eudokia plaque and the Alexander mosaic are similar The ends of the letters delta and epsilon are decorated with the same triangular serifs The epsilons are circular whereas the omicron is slightly com- pressed both inscriptions differentiate thick and thin strokes

Despite what appears to be a secure dating on stylistic grounds a widely invoked argument for an eleventh-century date is focused on Eudokias thorakion the ornamental por- tion of an empresss loros that was folded and tucked into the belt Scholars have assigned the thorakion-and any work of art in which an empress wears one-to a period beginning in the eleventh century even though evidence proves its adop- tion before 100035 For example the empress Theodora (r 842-56) is depicted wearing an elaborate thorakion in the Menologion of Basil I1 (Vat gr 1613) which Sirapie Der Nersessian dated prior to 98636 In the miniature the tho- rakion is shield-shaped and decorated with an ornate cross The thorakion worn by the marble Eudokia is plainer than that represented in the Menologion-more a wrap than a discrete fabric panel In this simpler version the fabric is pulled from behind the figure over the right upper leg and is tucked into a thick belt A similarly wrapped thorakion is worn by the empress on an ivory casket in the Palazzo Venezia (Fig 4)38 The lid of the box is carved with paired figures an emperor and empress crowned in marriage by Christ in the upper register and in the lower a man and woman in lay clothes with hands extended in a gesture of entreaty The epigram carved on the lid indicates that the casket was a wedding gift from the donors to the imperial couple depicted most likely Leo VI and his third wife Eudokia Baiane as Anthony Cutler

decoration plainly imitated carved marble decoration Both media make use of strong color contrasts as well as a common vocabulary of architectural and ornamental patterns (See R B Mason and Marlia Mundell Mango Glazed Tiles of Nicomedia in Bithynia Constantinople and Elsewhere in Constantz-nople and Its Hinterland Papers from the Twenty-Seventh Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies Oxford April 1993 ed Cyril Mango and Gilbert Dagron Aldershot Eng 1995313-31 with collected bibliography)

30 See Hieromonachos Akakios Leontos tou Sophou panygprikoz logoz Athens 1868245278 For a French translation and commentary see Anatole Frolow Deux Cglises byzantines dapres des sermons peu connus de Leon le Sage amptudes byzantines 111 1945 43-91 Fragments of the sermons may be found in an English translation in Cyril Mango The Art of the Byzantine Empire 312-1453 Toronto 1986202-5

31 Based on personal examination some inaccuracies in Macridys descrip tions can now be corrected The border is comprised of continuous diamonds in a fine-grained beige stone These in turn enclose circular fragments of alternating dull green and brick red stones Eudokias halo and the ornamen- tal bands and borders on her dress are formed from the same fine-grained beige stone The dark matrix of the crown and wrapped loros is a fine-grained black stone The inlaid gems on the loros are light green cut glass Deep blue cut glass is set into the wrapped thorakion and alternates with green glass on the garments hem The face and hands are formed fiom the same type of milky white fine-grained stone (perhaps gypsum) The white stone face has been tinted pink above the eyebrows on the cheeks and chin and on the sides of the neck The hands are tinted pale pink Both the face and the hands are highly polished There is no evidence that bone was used as inlay for the costume see Talbot Rice 1954 (as in n 2 ) 409

32 Paul Underwood and Ernest J W Hawkins The Mosaics of Hagia Sophia at Istanbul The Portrait of the Emperor Alexander Dumbarton Oaks Papers XI1961 187-217

33 Mango in a footnote to Macridys text notes that the lettering on the

S A I N T EUDOKIA A N D T H E IMPERIAL H O U S E H O L D O F L E O V I 703

3 Akxander mosaic in the north gallery of Hagia Istanbul (photo courtesy Dumbarton Oaks)

Sophia

and Nicolas Oikonomides have maintained39 Allowing for imperial costumes The ivory Eudokias garment wraps around differences in scale and medium the figures of the marble her right hip and is held fast by a thick belt Her lmos is Eudokia and the ivory Eudokia are similar in the schematic decorated in the same gem and pearl pattern as that of the rendering of the hands and face and in the detail of the marble Eudokia

icon is typical of the tenth century There appears to be no reason for advancing a later date for the icon see Macridy 275 n 83

34 Although the underside of the lmos was not technically the thorakion the term is so widespread in the literature that I have continued to use it for this article

35 Jerphanion in 1930 asserted that the thorakwn formed a characteristic part of the imperial costume from the l l t h century His argument was based on twenty-five works in which the thorakzon was represented In a subsequent version of his article Jerphanion added fifteen works of art including the Eudokia plaque Although he did not assign a date to the plaque it was dated by its association with other works of the l l t h century The effect of Jerphanions work on the dating of this piece has been lasting Following the publication of Jerphanions second article for example Talbot Rice revised his dating of the piece for the edition of his book published in 1968 See Guillaume de Jerphanion Le Thorakion caracteristique iconographique du XIe siecle in Milanga Charles Diehl 11 Paris 1930 71-79 Guillaume de Jerphanion Le Thorakion caracteristique iconographique du onzicme siScle in La voix des maumats Paris 1938 263-78 This date has been refuted by several scholars Grierson in a discussion of imperial costume notes The extraordinary proliferation of this garment on monuments of the mideleventh century might suggest that it dates from then but it must be substantially older since St Theodora who restored the cult of images in 843 is shown wearing one in the Menologion of Basil 11 which dates from the mid-980s Philip Grierson Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins m the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittnnme Colkctzon 111 pt 1 Washington DC 1973 125 In a 1971 article Rudt de Collenberg notes that the first representation of the thmakion is in the 10th century and suggests that it was introduced between 963 and 976 See Weyprecht Hugo Ri~dt de Collenberg Le Thorakion Recherches Iconographiques Milanps de 1Ecole Francuse de Rome LXXXIII 1971284

36 I1 Menologzo di Basilio II (cod Vaticano Greco 16I3) 11 Turin 1907 392

Sirarpie Der Nersessian Remafks on the Date of the Menologium and the Psalter Written for Basil 11 in Etudes byzantznes et armhaiennes L o u ~ i n 1973 121 Dates as late as 1000 and even 1018 have peen proposed Ihor SevTenko On Pantoleon the Painter Jahrbuch der Osterreichischen Byzantiniskik XXI 1972241-49

37 This distinction between the wrapped thorakion and the shield-shaped thorakion was first noted by Maria Soteriou To legomenon thorakion tes gynaikeias autokratorikes stoles Epeteris Hetaimias Byzantznon Spoudon XXIII 1953526

38 The extensive bibliography on this casket includes Ioli Kalavrezou A New Type of Icon Ivories and Steatites in Constantine IrllPoSphyrogaitus and His Age Second International Byzantine Conference Delphi July 22-26 1987 Athens 1989 377-96 Anthony Cutler and Nicolas Oikonomides An Imperial Byzantine Casket and Its Fate at a Humanists Hands Art Bulletin u t x no 1 1988 77-87 Henry Maguire The Art of Comparing in Byzantium Art Bulktin m no 1198889-93 Andre Guillou Deq ivoires constantinopolitains dates du IXe et Xe siecle in Byzance et les slaves Etudes de nvzlisatzon Milunges I Dujteu Paris 1979 207-11 Adolph Goldschmidt and Kurt Weitzmann Die byzantznischm Elfeneinskulpturen des X-XIII Jahrhunderts I Berlin 1930 63-64 pl LXX Kalavrezou and Maguire following Guillou argued in favor of a late-9thcentury date for the casket on the basis of imperial links between Basil I (r 867-86) and the Davidic imagery on the body of the casket

39 The epigram reads The couple of servants adore as they should the imperial couple which is blessed by Christ Regarding the letter style on the Palazzo Venezia casket Oikonomides in Cutler and Oikonomides (as in n 38) 84 notes In general the letters on the Palazzo Venezia casket elongated and carefully carved display the serifs characteristic of inscriptions in the reigns of Basil I and Leo VI without attaining the ultimate refinements fashionable in the middle and second half of the tenth century

704 ART BULLETIN DECEMBER 1997 VOLUME LXXlX NUMBER 4

4 Ivory casket with scenes from the life of David Rome Palazzo Venezia (photo Anthony Cutler)

The wrapped thmakion may be a transitional manner in representing the empresss Imos In a slightly earlier represen- tation the lmos worn by Eudokia Ingerina the mother of Leo VI in the ninth-century illustrated Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzos is slightly thickened and is wrapped over the empresss right hip and draped over her left arm40 In comparing this late-ninthcentury representation to the shield- like cloth panel worn by Theodora in the Menologion of Basil 11 it is clear that the marble Eudokias garment falls between the two The separation of the wrapped thmakion from the shield-like thmakia that became popular in the eleventh century shows that this detail of the imperial costume does not require the plaques dating in the eleventh century

One final costume element that may be diagnostic is the diadem worn by Eudokia An archaizing diadem depicted on Byzantine coinage as a row of large pellets between two rows of dots was revived on the portrait solidus of Leo VI41 This accurately represented crown had been absent from Byzan- tine coinage since the reign of Heraklios in the early seventh century In Eudokias diadem as well as that of Alexander which also resembles those found on Leos coinage pellets and dots are translated into colored gemstones and pearls The cross that surmounted the imperial crown is here rendered as a foliate ornament

The popularity of polychrome decoration the figure style and the costume combine to support an early-tenth-century date for the Eudokia plaque The identification of the woman and the motivations that guided the selection of this obscure female saint for inclusion in the decorative program of church of the Virgin still need to be explored

The Sainted Eudokia In the tenth century when the Constantinopolitan synaxarion was first compiled and the church of the Virgin was newly constructed the name Eudokia was common in the imperial family Leo VI (r 886-912) was surrounded by women bearing that name His mother was Eudokia I r~~er ina ~ Leos un- happy marriage to his first wife Theophano produced a single daughter named Eudokia Leos third wife was named Eudokia Baiane These three Eudokias were all buried in the

40 For Paris Bibl Nat gr 510 fol B see Henri Omont Mznzatures desplur a n c h manurnts grecs de la Bibliothique Nationale du C7e au XlVe sock Paris 1929 pl XVI The manuscript is dated between 880 and 883 See Sirarpie Der Nersessian The Illustrations of the Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus Paris gr 510 Dumbarton Oaks Papen m 1962195-228

41 Grierson (as in n 35) 127-30 42 See Cyril Mango Eudocia Ingerina the Normans and the Macedonia

Dynasty Zbmik radova Mantoloskog Inrtituta xN-xv 1973 17-27 Ewald IJislinger Eudokia Ingerina Basileios I und Michael 111 Jahrbuch der Ostemampchischa Byzantintstik xxxn~ 1983 119-36 Michael I11 was married to Eudokia Dekapolitissa following the forced dissolution of his relationship with Eudokia Ingerina

43 Leos daughter Eudokia died in 893 According to the list of imperial tombs in the Holy Apostles described in the Book of Ceremonies she was entombed with her mother Another sarcophagus green Thessalian in which lies St Theophano the first wife of the blessed Leo with Eudokia her daughter Glanville Downey The Tombs of the Byzantine Emperors at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople Journal of Hellatc Studm LXXIX 1959 30 See also Philip Grierson The Tombs and Obits of the Byzantine Emperors Dumbarton Oaks Papers m 196222

44 Downey (as in n 43) 30 line 14 45 The typikon of the Pantokrator Monastery in Constantinople is a later

source that describes the regulated ceremonies that took place before the

Holy Apostles and are possible candidates for the imperial figure remembered in that church by the synaxarion on August 13 Eudokia Ingerina was entombed with her hus- band Basil I and her son Alexander The child Eudokia shared a sarcophagus with her mother T h e ~ p h a n o ~ ~ Accord-ing to a list of tombs located within the mausoleum that Constantine built in the Holy Apostles there was another sarcophagus green Thessalian in which lies Eudokia the third wife of the same Lord Leo she who was surnamed ~aiane The solitary entombment of this Eudokia may indicate that a separate commemorative service was said before her s a r~ophagus ~~ Other reasons rule out the first two Eudokias as candidates for memorialization in the synaxarion Eudokia Ingerina had a sullied reputation as Michael 111s mistress prior to her marriage to Basil I and the second Eudokia the daughter of Leo VI died at too young an age In addition to these facts the date of the commemoration may be significant As far as can be determined from the sources none of the three Eudokias was buried on August 13 the date for the memorial service in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon Eudokia Baiane however died on April 12 and was laid to rest in the imperial mausoleum at the Holy Apostles on April 1346 It is possible that a scribal error in inserting the abbreviation for April could account for its replacement by the abbreviation for August the incorrect month in the late-tenth-century edition of the s y n a x a ~ i o n ~ ~On the basis of the burial site and the day of commemoration we may hypothesize that Eudokia Baiane the third wife of Leo VI was the empress whose memory was recalled in a ceremony in the Holy Apostles But was she the Eudokia depicted on the Lips plaque

For an explanation of how this Eudokia might have come to be depicted as a saint we need to look more closely at the imperial household Leos marital misfortune combined with unusual ecclesiastical censure made his relationship with his wives a matter of uncommon interest and significance48 Leos first three marriages to Theophano Zoe (daughter of Styli- anos Zaoutzes) and Eudokia Baiane were relatively short- lived and failed to produce a male heir Leo chose to remember his first two wives by constructing churches dedi-

sarcophagi of the monasterys imperial founders The tnsagion prayer and the pannychis were to be intoned in front of the tombs See Paul Gautier Le typikon du Christ Sauveur Pantocrator h u e des itudes byzantinrs XXXII 1974 81 line 872

46 For the date of Eudokia Baianes death see Venance Grumel Chronolc- gie des kvenements du regne de Leon VI (886912) Echos d(hient x x x v

193617-19 47 I thank Nicolas Oikonomides for his ingenious suggestion regarding the

problem of the commemoration date 48 On the problems caused by Leos multiple marriages see Nicolas

Oikonomides Leo VI and the Karthex Mosaic of Saint Sophia Dumbarton Oaks Papers x x x 1976 151-72

49 On the church of St Theophano see Theophanes Continuatus Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 1838 364 Leo Grammaticus Chronographia in CSHB X L L ~ I Bonn 1842 274 S p e o n Logothete Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 703 Georgius Hamartolus Chronicles in The Chronzck of George Hamartolus r r ed Vasilii Mikailovich Istrin Petrograd 1922 30 John Skylitzes Synqps~s Histmiarum in Corpus Fontzum Hzstmim Byzantinae v ed Hans Thurn Berlin 1973 180 On the name and location of the church see George P Majeska The Body of St Theophano the Empress and the Convent of St Constantine Byzantzn~ slavzca x x x l I I 1977 14-21 Gilbert Dagron Theophan6 les Saints-Ap6tres et Ieglise de Tous-les-Saints in S~mmeiktaXI ( M n r w D A Zakythynou) I

S A I N T EUDOKIA AND THE IMPERI-L HOUSEHO1D O F IEO V I 705

cated to them as saints Theophanos popularity in Constanti- nople might have spurred Leos decision to build a church in her name4g An anonymous source contemporary with Leo commenting on an unrelated text about the construction of temples built in honor of the deified Hephaestion noted that the same thing has also happened in our time and everybody is seized by a hysteria characteristic of women so as to proclaim the emperors [late wife] Theophano a saintjO The imperial canonization did not sit well with all segments of the Constantinopolitan population The church dedicated to Saint Theophano was the subject of some controversy among the Byzantine clergy and the name of the church was changed shortly thereafter to All Saints Despite the objec- tions to the dedication of a church in her name Saint Theophano was remembered in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon on December 16 and is the subject of a saints life51

The church dedicated to Saint Zoe is less well known Only the so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete mentions its construction following the death of Leos second wife Accord- ing to this source around the month of May having built the church of Saint Zoe he placed her [coffin] inside Ray-mond Janin suggests that the church may have been near the Holy Apostles but there appears to be no evidence to confirm this hyp~thesis ~ Zoe is also mentioned in the synaxnnon but only as the object of miraculous intervention A feast on August 31 recalls her being healed by the girdle of the Virgin a relic housed in the church of the Chalk~pra te ia ~~

Having established a pattern for the construction of churches dedicated to his sainted wives Leo might be expected to honor his third wife Eudokia in a similar fashion In 900 Leo married Eudokia Baiane This marriage was not sanctioned by canon law but the patriarch Antony I1 Kauleas conceded the union on grounds of political expedi- ence Leo needed an empress to perform ceremonial func- tions in the palace and a son to carry on his line55 Concern- ing Eudokia Baiane the chroniclers provide little information The so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete is typical The emperor married an outstandingly beautiful girl from the Opsikion theme Her name was Eudokia He married her and crowned her and had a male child by her whereupon both

Athens 1994 201-18 Glanlille Downey The Church of All Saints (Church of St Theophano) near the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople Dumbarton Oaks Papers IX-x 1956 301-5 Raymond Janin La giographie eccliszastzque de lempire byantzne 2d ed Paris 1969 245 Grierson 1962 1-60

50 Quoted in Alexander Alexakis Leo VI Theophano a Magirtros Called Slokakas and the Vita Theophano (BHG 1794) Bosphmus Essays in Honm of Cyril mango special issue of ByzantinischPFmschungen XXI 19954647

51 Theophanos main feast day in the Constantinopolitan synaxanon is Dec 16 Theophano is also mentioned on Dec 17 and 18 SynaxCP cols 314 12 321 37 325 51 314 54 For the life of Saint Theophano see Eduard Kurtz Zwei griechische Texte iiber die hl Theophano die Gemahlin Kaisers Leo VI Mhozres d~ IXcadimze Imphale des Sciences dr St-Pitmsbourg 8th ser 111 no 2 1898 1-24

52 Logothete (as in n 49) 703 Majeska (as in n 49) 14 n 4 53Janin (as in n 49) 134 54 SynaxCP 936 For chronological calculations that identiij Zoe the

second wife of Leo as the object of the miracle see M Jugie Homilies mariales byzantines in Patrolopa Orientalzs ed R Graf3in and F Nau x

Paris 1922484-86 55 On the role played by Byzantine empresses at court see Judith Herrin

Theophano Considerauons on the Education of a Byzantine Princess in The Empress Thrqphano Byzantzum and the U b t at the Turn ofthe First Milknzum ed Adelbert Davids Cambridge 1995 64-85

S A I N T EUDOKIA A N D T H E IMPERIAL H O U S E H O L D O F L E O V I 703

3 Akxander mosaic in the north gallery of Hagia Istanbul (photo courtesy Dumbarton Oaks)

Sophia

and Nicolas Oikonomides have maintained39 Allowing for imperial costumes The ivory Eudokias garment wraps around differences in scale and medium the figures of the marble her right hip and is held fast by a thick belt Her lmos is Eudokia and the ivory Eudokia are similar in the schematic decorated in the same gem and pearl pattern as that of the rendering of the hands and face and in the detail of the marble Eudokia

icon is typical of the tenth century There appears to be no reason for advancing a later date for the icon see Macridy 275 n 83

34 Although the underside of the lmos was not technically the thorakion the term is so widespread in the literature that I have continued to use it for this article

35 Jerphanion in 1930 asserted that the thorakwn formed a characteristic part of the imperial costume from the l l t h century His argument was based on twenty-five works in which the thorakzon was represented In a subsequent version of his article Jerphanion added fifteen works of art including the Eudokia plaque Although he did not assign a date to the plaque it was dated by its association with other works of the l l t h century The effect of Jerphanions work on the dating of this piece has been lasting Following the publication of Jerphanions second article for example Talbot Rice revised his dating of the piece for the edition of his book published in 1968 See Guillaume de Jerphanion Le Thorakion caracteristique iconographique du XIe siecle in Milanga Charles Diehl 11 Paris 1930 71-79 Guillaume de Jerphanion Le Thorakion caracteristique iconographique du onzicme siScle in La voix des maumats Paris 1938 263-78 This date has been refuted by several scholars Grierson in a discussion of imperial costume notes The extraordinary proliferation of this garment on monuments of the mideleventh century might suggest that it dates from then but it must be substantially older since St Theodora who restored the cult of images in 843 is shown wearing one in the Menologion of Basil 11 which dates from the mid-980s Philip Grierson Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins m the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittnnme Colkctzon 111 pt 1 Washington DC 1973 125 In a 1971 article Rudt de Collenberg notes that the first representation of the thmakion is in the 10th century and suggests that it was introduced between 963 and 976 See Weyprecht Hugo Ri~dt de Collenberg Le Thorakion Recherches Iconographiques Milanps de 1Ecole Francuse de Rome LXXXIII 1971284

36 I1 Menologzo di Basilio II (cod Vaticano Greco 16I3) 11 Turin 1907 392

Sirarpie Der Nersessian Remafks on the Date of the Menologium and the Psalter Written for Basil 11 in Etudes byzantznes et armhaiennes L o u ~ i n 1973 121 Dates as late as 1000 and even 1018 have peen proposed Ihor SevTenko On Pantoleon the Painter Jahrbuch der Osterreichischen Byzantiniskik XXI 1972241-49

37 This distinction between the wrapped thorakion and the shield-shaped thorakion was first noted by Maria Soteriou To legomenon thorakion tes gynaikeias autokratorikes stoles Epeteris Hetaimias Byzantznon Spoudon XXIII 1953526

38 The extensive bibliography on this casket includes Ioli Kalavrezou A New Type of Icon Ivories and Steatites in Constantine IrllPoSphyrogaitus and His Age Second International Byzantine Conference Delphi July 22-26 1987 Athens 1989 377-96 Anthony Cutler and Nicolas Oikonomides An Imperial Byzantine Casket and Its Fate at a Humanists Hands Art Bulletin u t x no 1 1988 77-87 Henry Maguire The Art of Comparing in Byzantium Art Bulktin m no 1198889-93 Andre Guillou Deq ivoires constantinopolitains dates du IXe et Xe siecle in Byzance et les slaves Etudes de nvzlisatzon Milunges I Dujteu Paris 1979 207-11 Adolph Goldschmidt and Kurt Weitzmann Die byzantznischm Elfeneinskulpturen des X-XIII Jahrhunderts I Berlin 1930 63-64 pl LXX Kalavrezou and Maguire following Guillou argued in favor of a late-9thcentury date for the casket on the basis of imperial links between Basil I (r 867-86) and the Davidic imagery on the body of the casket

39 The epigram reads The couple of servants adore as they should the imperial couple which is blessed by Christ Regarding the letter style on the Palazzo Venezia casket Oikonomides in Cutler and Oikonomides (as in n 38) 84 notes In general the letters on the Palazzo Venezia casket elongated and carefully carved display the serifs characteristic of inscriptions in the reigns of Basil I and Leo VI without attaining the ultimate refinements fashionable in the middle and second half of the tenth century

704 ART BULLETIN DECEMBER 1997 VOLUME LXXlX NUMBER 4

4 Ivory casket with scenes from the life of David Rome Palazzo Venezia (photo Anthony Cutler)

The wrapped thmakion may be a transitional manner in representing the empresss Imos In a slightly earlier represen- tation the lmos worn by Eudokia Ingerina the mother of Leo VI in the ninth-century illustrated Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzos is slightly thickened and is wrapped over the empresss right hip and draped over her left arm40 In comparing this late-ninthcentury representation to the shield- like cloth panel worn by Theodora in the Menologion of Basil 11 it is clear that the marble Eudokias garment falls between the two The separation of the wrapped thmakion from the shield-like thmakia that became popular in the eleventh century shows that this detail of the imperial costume does not require the plaques dating in the eleventh century

One final costume element that may be diagnostic is the diadem worn by Eudokia An archaizing diadem depicted on Byzantine coinage as a row of large pellets between two rows of dots was revived on the portrait solidus of Leo VI41 This accurately represented crown had been absent from Byzan- tine coinage since the reign of Heraklios in the early seventh century In Eudokias diadem as well as that of Alexander which also resembles those found on Leos coinage pellets and dots are translated into colored gemstones and pearls The cross that surmounted the imperial crown is here rendered as a foliate ornament

The popularity of polychrome decoration the figure style and the costume combine to support an early-tenth-century date for the Eudokia plaque The identification of the woman and the motivations that guided the selection of this obscure female saint for inclusion in the decorative program of church of the Virgin still need to be explored

The Sainted Eudokia In the tenth century when the Constantinopolitan synaxarion was first compiled and the church of the Virgin was newly constructed the name Eudokia was common in the imperial family Leo VI (r 886-912) was surrounded by women bearing that name His mother was Eudokia I r~~er ina ~ Leos un- happy marriage to his first wife Theophano produced a single daughter named Eudokia Leos third wife was named Eudokia Baiane These three Eudokias were all buried in the

40 For Paris Bibl Nat gr 510 fol B see Henri Omont Mznzatures desplur a n c h manurnts grecs de la Bibliothique Nationale du C7e au XlVe sock Paris 1929 pl XVI The manuscript is dated between 880 and 883 See Sirarpie Der Nersessian The Illustrations of the Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus Paris gr 510 Dumbarton Oaks Papen m 1962195-228

41 Grierson (as in n 35) 127-30 42 See Cyril Mango Eudocia Ingerina the Normans and the Macedonia

Dynasty Zbmik radova Mantoloskog Inrtituta xN-xv 1973 17-27 Ewald IJislinger Eudokia Ingerina Basileios I und Michael 111 Jahrbuch der Ostemampchischa Byzantintstik xxxn~ 1983 119-36 Michael I11 was married to Eudokia Dekapolitissa following the forced dissolution of his relationship with Eudokia Ingerina

43 Leos daughter Eudokia died in 893 According to the list of imperial tombs in the Holy Apostles described in the Book of Ceremonies she was entombed with her mother Another sarcophagus green Thessalian in which lies St Theophano the first wife of the blessed Leo with Eudokia her daughter Glanville Downey The Tombs of the Byzantine Emperors at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople Journal of Hellatc Studm LXXIX 1959 30 See also Philip Grierson The Tombs and Obits of the Byzantine Emperors Dumbarton Oaks Papers m 196222

44 Downey (as in n 43) 30 line 14 45 The typikon of the Pantokrator Monastery in Constantinople is a later

source that describes the regulated ceremonies that took place before the

Holy Apostles and are possible candidates for the imperial figure remembered in that church by the synaxarion on August 13 Eudokia Ingerina was entombed with her hus- band Basil I and her son Alexander The child Eudokia shared a sarcophagus with her mother T h e ~ p h a n o ~ ~ Accord-ing to a list of tombs located within the mausoleum that Constantine built in the Holy Apostles there was another sarcophagus green Thessalian in which lies Eudokia the third wife of the same Lord Leo she who was surnamed ~aiane The solitary entombment of this Eudokia may indicate that a separate commemorative service was said before her s a r~ophagus ~~ Other reasons rule out the first two Eudokias as candidates for memorialization in the synaxarion Eudokia Ingerina had a sullied reputation as Michael 111s mistress prior to her marriage to Basil I and the second Eudokia the daughter of Leo VI died at too young an age In addition to these facts the date of the commemoration may be significant As far as can be determined from the sources none of the three Eudokias was buried on August 13 the date for the memorial service in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon Eudokia Baiane however died on April 12 and was laid to rest in the imperial mausoleum at the Holy Apostles on April 1346 It is possible that a scribal error in inserting the abbreviation for April could account for its replacement by the abbreviation for August the incorrect month in the late-tenth-century edition of the s y n a x a ~ i o n ~ ~On the basis of the burial site and the day of commemoration we may hypothesize that Eudokia Baiane the third wife of Leo VI was the empress whose memory was recalled in a ceremony in the Holy Apostles But was she the Eudokia depicted on the Lips plaque

For an explanation of how this Eudokia might have come to be depicted as a saint we need to look more closely at the imperial household Leos marital misfortune combined with unusual ecclesiastical censure made his relationship with his wives a matter of uncommon interest and significance48 Leos first three marriages to Theophano Zoe (daughter of Styli- anos Zaoutzes) and Eudokia Baiane were relatively short- lived and failed to produce a male heir Leo chose to remember his first two wives by constructing churches dedi-

sarcophagi of the monasterys imperial founders The tnsagion prayer and the pannychis were to be intoned in front of the tombs See Paul Gautier Le typikon du Christ Sauveur Pantocrator h u e des itudes byzantinrs XXXII 1974 81 line 872

46 For the date of Eudokia Baianes death see Venance Grumel Chronolc- gie des kvenements du regne de Leon VI (886912) Echos d(hient x x x v

193617-19 47 I thank Nicolas Oikonomides for his ingenious suggestion regarding the

problem of the commemoration date 48 On the problems caused by Leos multiple marriages see Nicolas

Oikonomides Leo VI and the Karthex Mosaic of Saint Sophia Dumbarton Oaks Papers x x x 1976 151-72

49 On the church of St Theophano see Theophanes Continuatus Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 1838 364 Leo Grammaticus Chronographia in CSHB X L L ~ I Bonn 1842 274 S p e o n Logothete Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 703 Georgius Hamartolus Chronicles in The Chronzck of George Hamartolus r r ed Vasilii Mikailovich Istrin Petrograd 1922 30 John Skylitzes Synqps~s Histmiarum in Corpus Fontzum Hzstmim Byzantinae v ed Hans Thurn Berlin 1973 180 On the name and location of the church see George P Majeska The Body of St Theophano the Empress and the Convent of St Constantine Byzantzn~ slavzca x x x l I I 1977 14-21 Gilbert Dagron Theophan6 les Saints-Ap6tres et Ieglise de Tous-les-Saints in S~mmeiktaXI ( M n r w D A Zakythynou) I

S A I N T EUDOKIA AND THE IMPERI-L HOUSEHO1D O F IEO V I 705

cated to them as saints Theophanos popularity in Constanti- nople might have spurred Leos decision to build a church in her name4g An anonymous source contemporary with Leo commenting on an unrelated text about the construction of temples built in honor of the deified Hephaestion noted that the same thing has also happened in our time and everybody is seized by a hysteria characteristic of women so as to proclaim the emperors [late wife] Theophano a saintjO The imperial canonization did not sit well with all segments of the Constantinopolitan population The church dedicated to Saint Theophano was the subject of some controversy among the Byzantine clergy and the name of the church was changed shortly thereafter to All Saints Despite the objec- tions to the dedication of a church in her name Saint Theophano was remembered in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon on December 16 and is the subject of a saints life51

The church dedicated to Saint Zoe is less well known Only the so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete mentions its construction following the death of Leos second wife Accord- ing to this source around the month of May having built the church of Saint Zoe he placed her [coffin] inside Ray-mond Janin suggests that the church may have been near the Holy Apostles but there appears to be no evidence to confirm this hyp~thesis ~ Zoe is also mentioned in the synaxnnon but only as the object of miraculous intervention A feast on August 31 recalls her being healed by the girdle of the Virgin a relic housed in the church of the Chalk~pra te ia ~~

Having established a pattern for the construction of churches dedicated to his sainted wives Leo might be expected to honor his third wife Eudokia in a similar fashion In 900 Leo married Eudokia Baiane This marriage was not sanctioned by canon law but the patriarch Antony I1 Kauleas conceded the union on grounds of political expedi- ence Leo needed an empress to perform ceremonial func- tions in the palace and a son to carry on his line55 Concern- ing Eudokia Baiane the chroniclers provide little information The so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete is typical The emperor married an outstandingly beautiful girl from the Opsikion theme Her name was Eudokia He married her and crowned her and had a male child by her whereupon both

Athens 1994 201-18 Glanlille Downey The Church of All Saints (Church of St Theophano) near the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople Dumbarton Oaks Papers IX-x 1956 301-5 Raymond Janin La giographie eccliszastzque de lempire byantzne 2d ed Paris 1969 245 Grierson 1962 1-60

50 Quoted in Alexander Alexakis Leo VI Theophano a Magirtros Called Slokakas and the Vita Theophano (BHG 1794) Bosphmus Essays in Honm of Cyril mango special issue of ByzantinischPFmschungen XXI 19954647

51 Theophanos main feast day in the Constantinopolitan synaxanon is Dec 16 Theophano is also mentioned on Dec 17 and 18 SynaxCP cols 314 12 321 37 325 51 314 54 For the life of Saint Theophano see Eduard Kurtz Zwei griechische Texte iiber die hl Theophano die Gemahlin Kaisers Leo VI Mhozres d~ IXcadimze Imphale des Sciences dr St-Pitmsbourg 8th ser 111 no 2 1898 1-24

52 Logothete (as in n 49) 703 Majeska (as in n 49) 14 n 4 53Janin (as in n 49) 134 54 SynaxCP 936 For chronological calculations that identiij Zoe the

second wife of Leo as the object of the miracle see M Jugie Homilies mariales byzantines in Patrolopa Orientalzs ed R Graf3in and F Nau x

Paris 1922484-86 55 On the role played by Byzantine empresses at court see Judith Herrin

Theophano Considerauons on the Education of a Byzantine Princess in The Empress Thrqphano Byzantzum and the U b t at the Turn ofthe First Milknzum ed Adelbert Davids Cambridge 1995 64-85

704 ART BULLETIN DECEMBER 1997 VOLUME LXXlX NUMBER 4

4 Ivory casket with scenes from the life of David Rome Palazzo Venezia (photo Anthony Cutler)

The wrapped thmakion may be a transitional manner in representing the empresss Imos In a slightly earlier represen- tation the lmos worn by Eudokia Ingerina the mother of Leo VI in the ninth-century illustrated Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzos is slightly thickened and is wrapped over the empresss right hip and draped over her left arm40 In comparing this late-ninthcentury representation to the shield- like cloth panel worn by Theodora in the Menologion of Basil 11 it is clear that the marble Eudokias garment falls between the two The separation of the wrapped thmakion from the shield-like thmakia that became popular in the eleventh century shows that this detail of the imperial costume does not require the plaques dating in the eleventh century

One final costume element that may be diagnostic is the diadem worn by Eudokia An archaizing diadem depicted on Byzantine coinage as a row of large pellets between two rows of dots was revived on the portrait solidus of Leo VI41 This accurately represented crown had been absent from Byzan- tine coinage since the reign of Heraklios in the early seventh century In Eudokias diadem as well as that of Alexander which also resembles those found on Leos coinage pellets and dots are translated into colored gemstones and pearls The cross that surmounted the imperial crown is here rendered as a foliate ornament

The popularity of polychrome decoration the figure style and the costume combine to support an early-tenth-century date for the Eudokia plaque The identification of the woman and the motivations that guided the selection of this obscure female saint for inclusion in the decorative program of church of the Virgin still need to be explored

The Sainted Eudokia In the tenth century when the Constantinopolitan synaxarion was first compiled and the church of the Virgin was newly constructed the name Eudokia was common in the imperial family Leo VI (r 886-912) was surrounded by women bearing that name His mother was Eudokia I r~~er ina ~ Leos un- happy marriage to his first wife Theophano produced a single daughter named Eudokia Leos third wife was named Eudokia Baiane These three Eudokias were all buried in the

40 For Paris Bibl Nat gr 510 fol B see Henri Omont Mznzatures desplur a n c h manurnts grecs de la Bibliothique Nationale du C7e au XlVe sock Paris 1929 pl XVI The manuscript is dated between 880 and 883 See Sirarpie Der Nersessian The Illustrations of the Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus Paris gr 510 Dumbarton Oaks Papen m 1962195-228

41 Grierson (as in n 35) 127-30 42 See Cyril Mango Eudocia Ingerina the Normans and the Macedonia

Dynasty Zbmik radova Mantoloskog Inrtituta xN-xv 1973 17-27 Ewald IJislinger Eudokia Ingerina Basileios I und Michael 111 Jahrbuch der Ostemampchischa Byzantintstik xxxn~ 1983 119-36 Michael I11 was married to Eudokia Dekapolitissa following the forced dissolution of his relationship with Eudokia Ingerina

43 Leos daughter Eudokia died in 893 According to the list of imperial tombs in the Holy Apostles described in the Book of Ceremonies she was entombed with her mother Another sarcophagus green Thessalian in which lies St Theophano the first wife of the blessed Leo with Eudokia her daughter Glanville Downey The Tombs of the Byzantine Emperors at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople Journal of Hellatc Studm LXXIX 1959 30 See also Philip Grierson The Tombs and Obits of the Byzantine Emperors Dumbarton Oaks Papers m 196222

44 Downey (as in n 43) 30 line 14 45 The typikon of the Pantokrator Monastery in Constantinople is a later

source that describes the regulated ceremonies that took place before the

Holy Apostles and are possible candidates for the imperial figure remembered in that church by the synaxarion on August 13 Eudokia Ingerina was entombed with her hus- band Basil I and her son Alexander The child Eudokia shared a sarcophagus with her mother T h e ~ p h a n o ~ ~ Accord-ing to a list of tombs located within the mausoleum that Constantine built in the Holy Apostles there was another sarcophagus green Thessalian in which lies Eudokia the third wife of the same Lord Leo she who was surnamed ~aiane The solitary entombment of this Eudokia may indicate that a separate commemorative service was said before her s a r~ophagus ~~ Other reasons rule out the first two Eudokias as candidates for memorialization in the synaxarion Eudokia Ingerina had a sullied reputation as Michael 111s mistress prior to her marriage to Basil I and the second Eudokia the daughter of Leo VI died at too young an age In addition to these facts the date of the commemoration may be significant As far as can be determined from the sources none of the three Eudokias was buried on August 13 the date for the memorial service in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon Eudokia Baiane however died on April 12 and was laid to rest in the imperial mausoleum at the Holy Apostles on April 1346 It is possible that a scribal error in inserting the abbreviation for April could account for its replacement by the abbreviation for August the incorrect month in the late-tenth-century edition of the s y n a x a ~ i o n ~ ~On the basis of the burial site and the day of commemoration we may hypothesize that Eudokia Baiane the third wife of Leo VI was the empress whose memory was recalled in a ceremony in the Holy Apostles But was she the Eudokia depicted on the Lips plaque

For an explanation of how this Eudokia might have come to be depicted as a saint we need to look more closely at the imperial household Leos marital misfortune combined with unusual ecclesiastical censure made his relationship with his wives a matter of uncommon interest and significance48 Leos first three marriages to Theophano Zoe (daughter of Styli- anos Zaoutzes) and Eudokia Baiane were relatively short- lived and failed to produce a male heir Leo chose to remember his first two wives by constructing churches dedi-

sarcophagi of the monasterys imperial founders The tnsagion prayer and the pannychis were to be intoned in front of the tombs See Paul Gautier Le typikon du Christ Sauveur Pantocrator h u e des itudes byzantinrs XXXII 1974 81 line 872

46 For the date of Eudokia Baianes death see Venance Grumel Chronolc- gie des kvenements du regne de Leon VI (886912) Echos d(hient x x x v

193617-19 47 I thank Nicolas Oikonomides for his ingenious suggestion regarding the

problem of the commemoration date 48 On the problems caused by Leos multiple marriages see Nicolas

Oikonomides Leo VI and the Karthex Mosaic of Saint Sophia Dumbarton Oaks Papers x x x 1976 151-72

49 On the church of St Theophano see Theophanes Continuatus Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 1838 364 Leo Grammaticus Chronographia in CSHB X L L ~ I Bonn 1842 274 S p e o n Logothete Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 703 Georgius Hamartolus Chronicles in The Chronzck of George Hamartolus r r ed Vasilii Mikailovich Istrin Petrograd 1922 30 John Skylitzes Synqps~s Histmiarum in Corpus Fontzum Hzstmim Byzantinae v ed Hans Thurn Berlin 1973 180 On the name and location of the church see George P Majeska The Body of St Theophano the Empress and the Convent of St Constantine Byzantzn~ slavzca x x x l I I 1977 14-21 Gilbert Dagron Theophan6 les Saints-Ap6tres et Ieglise de Tous-les-Saints in S~mmeiktaXI ( M n r w D A Zakythynou) I

S A I N T EUDOKIA AND THE IMPERI-L HOUSEHO1D O F IEO V I 705

cated to them as saints Theophanos popularity in Constanti- nople might have spurred Leos decision to build a church in her name4g An anonymous source contemporary with Leo commenting on an unrelated text about the construction of temples built in honor of the deified Hephaestion noted that the same thing has also happened in our time and everybody is seized by a hysteria characteristic of women so as to proclaim the emperors [late wife] Theophano a saintjO The imperial canonization did not sit well with all segments of the Constantinopolitan population The church dedicated to Saint Theophano was the subject of some controversy among the Byzantine clergy and the name of the church was changed shortly thereafter to All Saints Despite the objec- tions to the dedication of a church in her name Saint Theophano was remembered in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon on December 16 and is the subject of a saints life51

The church dedicated to Saint Zoe is less well known Only the so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete mentions its construction following the death of Leos second wife Accord- ing to this source around the month of May having built the church of Saint Zoe he placed her [coffin] inside Ray-mond Janin suggests that the church may have been near the Holy Apostles but there appears to be no evidence to confirm this hyp~thesis ~ Zoe is also mentioned in the synaxnnon but only as the object of miraculous intervention A feast on August 31 recalls her being healed by the girdle of the Virgin a relic housed in the church of the Chalk~pra te ia ~~

Having established a pattern for the construction of churches dedicated to his sainted wives Leo might be expected to honor his third wife Eudokia in a similar fashion In 900 Leo married Eudokia Baiane This marriage was not sanctioned by canon law but the patriarch Antony I1 Kauleas conceded the union on grounds of political expedi- ence Leo needed an empress to perform ceremonial func- tions in the palace and a son to carry on his line55 Concern- ing Eudokia Baiane the chroniclers provide little information The so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete is typical The emperor married an outstandingly beautiful girl from the Opsikion theme Her name was Eudokia He married her and crowned her and had a male child by her whereupon both

Athens 1994 201-18 Glanlille Downey The Church of All Saints (Church of St Theophano) near the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople Dumbarton Oaks Papers IX-x 1956 301-5 Raymond Janin La giographie eccliszastzque de lempire byantzne 2d ed Paris 1969 245 Grierson 1962 1-60

50 Quoted in Alexander Alexakis Leo VI Theophano a Magirtros Called Slokakas and the Vita Theophano (BHG 1794) Bosphmus Essays in Honm of Cyril mango special issue of ByzantinischPFmschungen XXI 19954647

51 Theophanos main feast day in the Constantinopolitan synaxanon is Dec 16 Theophano is also mentioned on Dec 17 and 18 SynaxCP cols 314 12 321 37 325 51 314 54 For the life of Saint Theophano see Eduard Kurtz Zwei griechische Texte iiber die hl Theophano die Gemahlin Kaisers Leo VI Mhozres d~ IXcadimze Imphale des Sciences dr St-Pitmsbourg 8th ser 111 no 2 1898 1-24

52 Logothete (as in n 49) 703 Majeska (as in n 49) 14 n 4 53Janin (as in n 49) 134 54 SynaxCP 936 For chronological calculations that identiij Zoe the

second wife of Leo as the object of the miracle see M Jugie Homilies mariales byzantines in Patrolopa Orientalzs ed R Graf3in and F Nau x

Paris 1922484-86 55 On the role played by Byzantine empresses at court see Judith Herrin

Theophano Considerauons on the Education of a Byzantine Princess in The Empress Thrqphano Byzantzum and the U b t at the Turn ofthe First Milknzum ed Adelbert Davids Cambridge 1995 64-85

Holy Apostles and are possible candidates for the imperial figure remembered in that church by the synaxarion on August 13 Eudokia Ingerina was entombed with her hus- band Basil I and her son Alexander The child Eudokia shared a sarcophagus with her mother T h e ~ p h a n o ~ ~ Accord-ing to a list of tombs located within the mausoleum that Constantine built in the Holy Apostles there was another sarcophagus green Thessalian in which lies Eudokia the third wife of the same Lord Leo she who was surnamed ~aiane The solitary entombment of this Eudokia may indicate that a separate commemorative service was said before her s a r~ophagus ~~ Other reasons rule out the first two Eudokias as candidates for memorialization in the synaxarion Eudokia Ingerina had a sullied reputation as Michael 111s mistress prior to her marriage to Basil I and the second Eudokia the daughter of Leo VI died at too young an age In addition to these facts the date of the commemoration may be significant As far as can be determined from the sources none of the three Eudokias was buried on August 13 the date for the memorial service in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon Eudokia Baiane however died on April 12 and was laid to rest in the imperial mausoleum at the Holy Apostles on April 1346 It is possible that a scribal error in inserting the abbreviation for April could account for its replacement by the abbreviation for August the incorrect month in the late-tenth-century edition of the s y n a x a ~ i o n ~ ~On the basis of the burial site and the day of commemoration we may hypothesize that Eudokia Baiane the third wife of Leo VI was the empress whose memory was recalled in a ceremony in the Holy Apostles But was she the Eudokia depicted on the Lips plaque

For an explanation of how this Eudokia might have come to be depicted as a saint we need to look more closely at the imperial household Leos marital misfortune combined with unusual ecclesiastical censure made his relationship with his wives a matter of uncommon interest and significance48 Leos first three marriages to Theophano Zoe (daughter of Styli- anos Zaoutzes) and Eudokia Baiane were relatively short- lived and failed to produce a male heir Leo chose to remember his first two wives by constructing churches dedi-

sarcophagi of the monasterys imperial founders The tnsagion prayer and the pannychis were to be intoned in front of the tombs See Paul Gautier Le typikon du Christ Sauveur Pantocrator h u e des itudes byzantinrs XXXII 1974 81 line 872

46 For the date of Eudokia Baianes death see Venance Grumel Chronolc- gie des kvenements du regne de Leon VI (886912) Echos d(hient x x x v

193617-19 47 I thank Nicolas Oikonomides for his ingenious suggestion regarding the

problem of the commemoration date 48 On the problems caused by Leos multiple marriages see Nicolas

Oikonomides Leo VI and the Karthex Mosaic of Saint Sophia Dumbarton Oaks Papers x x x 1976 151-72

49 On the church of St Theophano see Theophanes Continuatus Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 1838 364 Leo Grammaticus Chronographia in CSHB X L L ~ I Bonn 1842 274 S p e o n Logothete Chronographia in CSHB XXXIII Bonn 703 Georgius Hamartolus Chronicles in The Chronzck of George Hamartolus r r ed Vasilii Mikailovich Istrin Petrograd 1922 30 John Skylitzes Synqps~s Histmiarum in Corpus Fontzum Hzstmim Byzantinae v ed Hans Thurn Berlin 1973 180 On the name and location of the church see George P Majeska The Body of St Theophano the Empress and the Convent of St Constantine Byzantzn~ slavzca x x x l I I 1977 14-21 Gilbert Dagron Theophan6 les Saints-Ap6tres et Ieglise de Tous-les-Saints in S~mmeiktaXI ( M n r w D A Zakythynou) I

S A I N T EUDOKIA AND THE IMPERI-L HOUSEHO1D O F IEO V I 705

cated to them as saints Theophanos popularity in Constanti- nople might have spurred Leos decision to build a church in her name4g An anonymous source contemporary with Leo commenting on an unrelated text about the construction of temples built in honor of the deified Hephaestion noted that the same thing has also happened in our time and everybody is seized by a hysteria characteristic of women so as to proclaim the emperors [late wife] Theophano a saintjO The imperial canonization did not sit well with all segments of the Constantinopolitan population The church dedicated to Saint Theophano was the subject of some controversy among the Byzantine clergy and the name of the church was changed shortly thereafter to All Saints Despite the objec- tions to the dedication of a church in her name Saint Theophano was remembered in the Constantinopolitan synax-anon on December 16 and is the subject of a saints life51

The church dedicated to Saint Zoe is less well known Only the so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete mentions its construction following the death of Leos second wife Accord- ing to this source around the month of May having built the church of Saint Zoe he placed her [coffin] inside Ray-mond Janin suggests that the church may have been near the Holy Apostles but there appears to be no evidence to confirm this hyp~thesis ~ Zoe is also mentioned in the synaxnnon but only as the object of miraculous intervention A feast on August 31 recalls her being healed by the girdle of the Virgin a relic housed in the church of the Chalk~pra te ia ~~

Having established a pattern for the construction of churches dedicated to his sainted wives Leo might be expected to honor his third wife Eudokia in a similar fashion In 900 Leo married Eudokia Baiane This marriage was not sanctioned by canon law but the patriarch Antony I1 Kauleas conceded the union on grounds of political expedi- ence Leo needed an empress to perform ceremonial func- tions in the palace and a son to carry on his line55 Concern- ing Eudokia Baiane the chroniclers provide little information The so-called chronicle of Symeon Logothete is typical The emperor married an outstandingly beautiful girl from the Opsikion theme Her name was Eudokia He married her and crowned her and had a male child by her whereupon both

Athens 1994 201-18 Glanlille Downey The Church of All Saints (Church of St Theophano) near the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople Dumbarton Oaks Papers IX-x 1956 301-5 Raymond Janin La giographie eccliszastzque de lempire byantzne 2d ed Paris 1969 245 Grierson 1962 1-60

50 Quoted in Alexander Alexakis Leo VI Theophano a Magirtros Called Slokakas and the Vita Theophano (BHG 1794) Bosphmus Essays in Honm of Cyril mango special issue of ByzantinischPFmschungen XXI 19954647

51 Theophanos main feast day in the Constantinopolitan synaxanon is Dec 16 Theophano is also mentioned on Dec 17 and 18 SynaxCP cols 314 12 321 37 325 51 314 54 For the life of Saint Theophano see Eduard Kurtz Zwei griechische Texte iiber die hl Theophano die Gemahlin Kaisers Leo VI Mhozres d~ IXcadimze Imphale des Sciences dr St-Pitmsbourg 8th ser 111 no 2 1898 1-24

52 Logothete (as in n 49) 703 Majeska (as in n 49) 14 n 4 53Janin (as in n 49) 134 54 SynaxCP 936 For chronological calculations that identiij Zoe the

second wife of Leo as the object of the miracle see M Jugie Homilies mariales byzantines in Patrolopa Orientalzs ed R Graf3in and F Nau x

Paris 1922484-86 55 On the role played by Byzantine empresses at court see Judith Herrin

Theophano Considerauons on the Education of a Byzantine Princess in The Empress Thrqphano Byzantzum and the U b t at the Turn ofthe First Milknzum ed Adelbert Davids Cambridge 1995 64-85

706 ART BULIETIN DECEMBER 1997 V O L U M E IXXIX N U M B E R 4

she and the infant died56 The child was named Basil in honor of his paternal grandfather57

If the chroniclers were the sole source on this marriage we would have little more to say But the Life of Saint Euthymios the Patriarch reveals that the early death of the empress had severe consequences for Leo

But when the Sunday of the Holy Anastasis [Easter] arrived the wife of the sovereign Eudokia Baiane expired in the pains of childbirth-a pitiful spectacle to the inconsolable grief of the emperor to whom she had been married one year and the Senate spent this joyful and glorious holy day as a day of mourning and sharing in the suffering of the emperor But when he wished her to be conveyed for burial in his newly constructed monastery of Saint Lazaros he was checked in his purpose at the very gate by the holy man who was abbot there Hierotheos by name who sent the remains back to the palace and because of this on the next day it was conveyed by the Senate to the holy shrine of the apostles The monarch requested that the father [Patriarch Euthymios] come to the palace adding through his messenger also the follow- ing Look father we see that the prophecy you showed us has come to pass But as for the funeral tomorrow do not refuse to attend But he responded May God the Holy One the consolation of the mourners the comfort of the afflicted heal the grief in your heart and give you the relief of patience But do not on the glorious and august day of the Holy Anastasis bring a cloud over your royal city making the brightness and joy of our common salvation and resurrection give way to lamentation and the wailing of mourners For this is unworthy of our blameless faith as Christians But if you will take the advice of a humble old monk let her be buried quietly for of what avail to her are the shouts and cries of the mourners in procession For all these no less surely will she go down into the same grave But this I know now you will take these words of my humility for babbling Later you will see When the emperor had heard this message though it was late in the evening he wrote to him We have seen clearly the accomplishments of that long before revealed to us in hints by your Holiness and for your recent communica- tions and your declaration now that these were deserved and ourselves the author of what overtook us we thank you agreeing to these points But where has your Holiness read that the dead should not be buried on Easter day I found nothing true in what you sent except that I should take your words for babbling So I shall and take no account of them For tomorrow I will escort her to the grave as an empress in royal state followed by the Senate and I will show this populous city that Eudokia empress of

56 Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos De cerzmonzzs aulae byzantznae in CSHB eds J J Reiske and I Bekker Bonn 1829-40 643 lines 19-20 Theophanes Continuatus (as in n 49) 364 Leo Gralnlnaticus (as in n 49) 274 Georgius Hamartolus (as in n 49) 30 Symeon Logothete (as in n 49) 703 VitaEuthymzzpatnarchae Cp trans and ed Patricia Karlin-Hayter Brussels 197063

57 This child is mentioned in the list of tombs in Holy Apostles Another small sarcophagus Sagarian or pneumonouszan in which lies Basil the brother of Constantine Porphyrogennetos See Downev (as in n 43) 195930

58 I have modified slightly and abbreviated Karlin-Hayters English transla-

the Romans is dead that among them at least I may find fellow-mourners and sharers of my grief5s

The differences in the sources are startling The Life presents a vivid picture of the grief of the emperor a sorrow that was undoubtedly compounded by the death of his first son For Leo the official church was decidedly unsympathetic to his loss as well as to his predicament in finding Eudokia a suitable burial place and providing her an honorable funeral There is no mention of Leos constructing a church in the name of his third wife Considering his documented feelings for her his last legitimate wife we might explore a possible connection between the marble plaque and Leo or a high court official close to him We need look no further than Constantine Lips grand hetaireiarchjg

As grand hetaireiarch at the court of Leo VI Constantine Lips was the official responsible for the security of the imperial palace he also carried out delicate assignments for the emperor and could be placed at the head of the army60 According to several sources his church of the Virgin was inaugurated in June 907 in a ceremony attended by the emperor61 The new church was close to the Holy Apostles where Eudokia Baiane was buried At the time of the dedica- tion Leo had been married one year to his fourth wife Zoe Karbonopsina Four months before the dedication of the Lips monastery charged with the sin of quadruple marriage (tetragamy) Leo had been barred from attending services in the cathedral church of Hagia Sophia Did Leo honor his third sanctioned wife Eudokia while in the midst of a heated battle over the legality of his fourth marriage to Zoe The construction of a church in Eudokias name would have further irritated a disaffected clergy for whom the unseemly dedication of a church to Saint Theophano was still relatively fresh But the decoration of a small chapel in the newly dedicated monastery of a close supporter might have been an acceptable compromise

The inclusion of the unique marble plaque bearing the abstract representation of a Saint Eudokia may demonstrate the elevation of Leo VIs third wife within the relatively private context of an imperially favored building project The inser- tion of this empresss name moreover into the Constantinop- olitan synaxarionwould have elevated her into the ranks of the holy although she was never formally sainted The use of an abstract style for the saints representation assisted in this process for the manner of depiction prohibited the recogni- tion of a specific portrait type and instead delivered the dual message of sanctity and royalty To my knowledge no other depiction of an imperial Saint Eudokia survives from By~an- tium indicating that the Lips plaque was executed under particular conditions in a period in which the creation of new

tion of the Life of Euthymios the Patriarch For the English translation and the original Greek text see Vita Euthymit (asi n n 56) 63-65

59 For a discussion of Constantines rank in the imperial administra~ion see Mango and Hawkins Additional Notes 299-300 In addition to the rank of grand hetairetarches Constantine also held the titles of anthypatos (procon-sul) and patrikios (patnctu) For brief discussions of each of these titles see Thp Oxfmd Dictionary ofByzantium ed Alexander P Kazhdan New York 1991 I

11111 925 111 1600 60 The Oxfmd Dictzonary ofB~zanttum 11 925 See also Patricia Karlin-Hayter

LhetCriarque Jahrburh dm Ostmr~rhtschen Byzantinzstzk XXIII 1974 101-43

saints was possible The reign of Leo VI marked by political ecclesiastical and marital turmoil was clearly such a time

The medium selected for the Lips plaques is also a matter of interest Inlaid marble (opus sectile) had long been favored in Constantinople for luxurious floor pavements In the church of Constantine Lips the technique was revived for the decorative program of the walls of the church and for specific chapels6 The Eudokia plaque rendered in inlaid marble may be seen as a product of the classical revival that has often been connected with emperors of the Macedonian dynasty This artistic link to the past is also manifested as we have seen in the type of crown worn by the empress In considering the plaques unusual medium we might recall another monument associated with a sculptural revival a bath house built by Leo VI in the imperial palace A contempo- rary ekphrasis written by Leo Choirosphaktes describes the statues that adorn the interior of the bath a form of decoration common in the earlier years of the empire but remarkable in the tenth century The bath program included portraits of Leo and his fourth wife Zoe Karbonopsina presumably executed in mosaic Choirosphaktes addresses Zoes image in the following manner the empress in turn throws out the beauty of petals in her sweet face wearing a rosy appearance Words cannot describe the beauty 0 sisterly one who has painted you and set you up to be gazed at like a luxuriant shoot64 We might ask the same question of the Eudokia plaque

The careful examination of the Eudokia panel raises a number of questions about the identification of this enig-

61 Skylitzes (as in n 49) 186 Theophanes Continuatus (as in n 49) 371 Georgius Hamartolus (as in n 49) 34 Leo Grammaticus (as in n 49) 280 Symeon Logothete (as in n 49) 709-10

62 Preiconoclastic examples of inlaid marble used for wall decoration include a half-length figure of Christ from Ostia (4th century) and fragments of the stone inlay of a saint from the 6th-century Basilica 14 at Cape Drepanum near Peyia Cyprus See Asemakopoulou-Atzaka (as in n 2) pls 15a 53g For Asemakopoulou-Atzaka and Weitzmann the popularity of opus sectik in the 10th century signals an artistic revival Asemakopoulou-Atzaka 148 Weitz- mann 58 A related plaque of comparable workmanship from Thessalonici is

matic saint It is clear that the association of the plaque with Athenais-Eudokia can no longer be accepted The style medium and historical circumstances surrounding the cre- ation of this unusual object suggest that the most likely candidate for the represented figure is the third wife of Leo VI Eudokia Baiane the outstandingly beautiful girl from the Opsikion theme who like the emperors other wives was immortalized by unofficial sainthood and by imperially sanctioned art

Frequently Cited Sources

CSHB Corpus Scnplmum Histonne Byzantinae SynaxCP Synaxanum eccksiae Constantinopolitanae Pro$ylaeum ad Acta Sancto-

rum Novabris ed Hippolyte Delehaye Brussels 1902 Firatll Nezih with C Metzger A Pralong and J-P Sodini La sculpture

byzantinrfigurir au Musie Archiologzqur d Btanbul Paris 1990 Macridy Theodore The Monastery of Lips (Fenari Isa Camii) at Istanbul

Dumbarton Oaks Papers mrr1964 249-76 Mango Cyril and Ernest J W Hawkins The Monastery of Lips (Fenari Isa

Camii) at Istanbul Additional Notes Dumbarton Oaks Papers DTII 1964 299-315

Sharon E J Gerstel holds a joint appointment at the University of Maryland and Dumbarton Oaks Her articles on liturgical themes in Byzantine monumental painting have appeared in Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies and Cahiers arch6ologiques [Depart-ment of Art History and Archaeology University of Maryland College Park Md 20742-1335sgll30umailumdedu]

inlaid with crackled glass paste The plaque depicting three apostles and dated to the late 10th-early 11 th century is now in the Byzantine Museum in Athens

63 Paul Magdalino The Bath of Leo the Wise in Maistm Classiral Byzantine and Renaissance Studits f m Robert Browning ed Ann Moffatt Can- berra 1984 225-40 idem The Bath of Leo the Wise and the Macedonian Renaissance Revisited Topography Iconography Ceremonial Ideology Dumbarton Oaks Papers XLII 198897-118

64 Leo Choirosphaktes quoted in Magdalino 1988 (as in n 63) 117

saints was possible The reign of Leo VI marked by political ecclesiastical and marital turmoil was clearly such a time

The medium selected for the Lips plaques is also a matter of interest Inlaid marble (opus sectile) had long been favored in Constantinople for luxurious floor pavements In the church of Constantine Lips the technique was revived for the decorative program of the walls of the church and for specific chapels6 The Eudokia plaque rendered in inlaid marble may be seen as a product of the classical revival that has often been connected with emperors of the Macedonian dynasty This artistic link to the past is also manifested as we have seen in the type of crown worn by the empress In considering the plaques unusual medium we might recall another monument associated with a sculptural revival a bath house built by Leo VI in the imperial palace A contempo- rary ekphrasis written by Leo Choirosphaktes describes the statues that adorn the interior of the bath a form of decoration common in the earlier years of the empire but remarkable in the tenth century The bath program included portraits of Leo and his fourth wife Zoe Karbonopsina presumably executed in mosaic Choirosphaktes addresses Zoes image in the following manner the empress in turn throws out the beauty of petals in her sweet face wearing a rosy appearance Words cannot describe the beauty 0 sisterly one who has painted you and set you up to be gazed at like a luxuriant shoot64 We might ask the same question of the Eudokia plaque

The careful examination of the Eudokia panel raises a number of questions about the identification of this enig-

61 Skylitzes (as in n 49) 186 Theophanes Continuatus (as in n 49) 371 Georgius Hamartolus (as in n 49) 34 Leo Grammaticus (as in n 49) 280 Symeon Logothete (as in n 49) 709-10

62 Preiconoclastic examples of inlaid marble used for wall decoration include a half-length figure of Christ from Ostia (4th century) and fragments of the stone inlay of a saint from the 6th-century Basilica 14 at Cape Drepanum near Peyia Cyprus See Asemakopoulou-Atzaka (as in n 2) pls 15a 53g For Asemakopoulou-Atzaka and Weitzmann the popularity of opus sectik in the 10th century signals an artistic revival Asemakopoulou-Atzaka 148 Weitz- mann 58 A related plaque of comparable workmanship from Thessalonici is

matic saint It is clear that the association of the plaque with Athenais-Eudokia can no longer be accepted The style medium and historical circumstances surrounding the cre- ation of this unusual object suggest that the most likely candidate for the represented figure is the third wife of Leo VI Eudokia Baiane the outstandingly beautiful girl from the Opsikion theme who like the emperors other wives was immortalized by unofficial sainthood and by imperially sanctioned art

Frequently Cited Sources

CSHB Corpus Scnplmum Histonne Byzantinae SynaxCP Synaxanum eccksiae Constantinopolitanae Pro$ylaeum ad Acta Sancto-

rum Novabris ed Hippolyte Delehaye Brussels 1902 Firatll Nezih with C Metzger A Pralong and J-P Sodini La sculpture

byzantinrfigurir au Musie Archiologzqur d Btanbul Paris 1990 Macridy Theodore The Monastery of Lips (Fenari Isa Camii) at Istanbul

Dumbarton Oaks Papers mrr1964 249-76 Mango Cyril and Ernest J W Hawkins The Monastery of Lips (Fenari Isa

Camii) at Istanbul Additional Notes Dumbarton Oaks Papers DTII 1964 299-315

Sharon E J Gerstel holds a joint appointment at the University of Maryland and Dumbarton Oaks Her articles on liturgical themes in Byzantine monumental painting have appeared in Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies and Cahiers arch6ologiques [Depart-ment of Art History and Archaeology University of Maryland College Park Md 20742-1335sgll30umailumdedu]

inlaid with crackled glass paste The plaque depicting three apostles and dated to the late 10th-early 11 th century is now in the Byzantine Museum in Athens

63 Paul Magdalino The Bath of Leo the Wise in Maistm Classiral Byzantine and Renaissance Studits f m Robert Browning ed Ann Moffatt Can- berra 1984 225-40 idem The Bath of Leo the Wise and the Macedonian Renaissance Revisited Topography Iconography Ceremonial Ideology Dumbarton Oaks Papers XLII 198897-118

64 Leo Choirosphaktes quoted in Magdalino 1988 (as in n 63) 117