LJILJANA STOI

The Representation of Christ as King

of Kings with a Triple Crown

he representation of Christ as Great Archpriest occurs in Byzantine painting as early as the XIVth century in the context of two compositions The
Communion of Apostles and The Heavenly Liturgy. The Pantocrator in the Deesis scene gradually comes to be represented with the attributes of both Church
and sovereign power, assuming a combined image of Great Archpriest and King
of Kings (Xristoj Megaj /Arxiereyj kai Basileyj twn Basileyontwn).1
The creation of the new iconographic type of Christ has been brought in connection with the general political circumstances in the Byzantine Empire, and particularly with the newly established power balance between the Byzantine basileus
and the Patriarch of Constantinople in the time of John V Palaeologus.2 In Serbian wall painting, Christ the Great Archpriest acquires the imperial dalmatic
and the crown which coincides with the military conquests of King Duan.3 Scenes of this type commonly occured after Duan had been crowned Emperor and
the Serbian Archbishopric was elevated to the rank of Patriarchate (1346).
The XVIth century is the period when the religious and artistic influences
from the West are powerfully exerted upon the Orthodox East along with the secularization of programmes in painting. The subjects and motifs which used to
be out of sight and reach are now to be transferred to the central part of the temple to the iconostasis so that during the liturgy they can continuously be
1 M. Tati-Djuri, Icne signe de Constantinos Zgouros, avec la reprsentation du Christ
grand archevque, Praktik2, A/ divnoyj synedroy peloponnhsikwn spoyd%n, tom. II, ntypon, Sparth 714. 9. 1975 ('Au0na 1976), 213, 215.
2 T. Papamastorakhj, =H morc to Xristo-Megalo 'Arxiera, Delton tj xristianikj rxaiologikj tareia, per. D/, tom. IZ/ 19931994 ('Au0na 1994), 73, 77.
3 In Serbian medieval painting Christ the Great Archpriest wearing the imperial dalmatic and
crown was first represented in the northwestern cupola of the exonarthex in the monastery of Treskavac near Prilep (c. 1340) see P. Mijovi, Carska ikonografija u srpskoj sredwovekovnoj
umetnosti, Starinar H 1967 (Beograd 1968), 107109. The scenes with Christ the King
and Mother of God as Queen as direct illustration of David's 45th Psalm are common in the XIVth
century and besides Treskavac they appear in the Munich Psalter and in the wall painting of Zaum,
the Monastery of St Mark (Macedonia) and in the monastery of St Atanasius in Kostur (Greece).
see C. Grozdanov, Studii za ohridskot ivopis, Skopje 1990, 132.

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before the very eyes of the worshippers. The representation of Christ as Great
Archpriest and the King of Kings is at the head of a series of compositions
which the theologians and painters of the post-Byzantine period modified for iconographic purposes: the wall painting from the portal lunette or the altar diakonikon,4 becames the central throne icon together with the Mother of God as Queen
with the little Christ, entroned. On the day of his Second Coming, the moment of
his victory over the Devil, Christ is depicted upon the clouds, on his heavenly
imperial throne, to the right side of the Holy Father and his throne, with the
sceptre of justice in his hand, his vesture dipped in blood and his name written
on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. As a sign of this recently won
victory over the foe, Christ is usually shown seated on his luxurious golden throne, the shape of its back and base representing lions, or some other fantastic or
hybrid creatures.
The icons representing Christ as the head of Church and the King of Glory
allude to the Lord's Second Coming foretold by the Prophets of the Old Testament (Isaiah, David, Micah, Ezekiel and Zechariah), announced by the Apostle
Paul (I Tim. VI, 1415), and more thoroughly described by Saint John in his
apocalyptic vision (Revelation XVII, 14 and XIX, 1316). Appointed by God
the Father, Christ becomes his great heir for time immemorial" after the order
of Melchizedek, sitting to his right with his defeated enemies at his feet (Jews I,
13; V, 6; VI, 20). Christ's divine service as Great Judge with the sceptre of justice in his hands is higher than that of the Old Testament priests and consequently
his throne is not found in the Old Testament Tabernacle (Holy of Holies) but in
the perfect, New Testament one which is not of this world, which means it is in
heaven itself, before God's face. Having passed through heavens, Christ becomes
eternal High Priest after making a covenant with his death and being confirmed
by death he became the mediator to the New Testament. Called by God, Christ
becomes his son a partaker in the Holy Spirit" and therefore he is higher than
Moses and Aaron and the priest of Levi's sons, regardless of the fact that they
also issued from the loins of Abraham (Jews, III, V, VII and IX).
The preaching of Saint Paul is anticipated by David's 110th Psalm in which
Christ is described as the Eternal Emperor and Priest after the order of Melchizedek, to the right side of the Lord in Zion, with prostrate enemies as his footstool
and the sceptre of power in his hands. The double mention of Melchizedek in the
Old and New Testament is not accidental but serves to emphasize Christ's prerogatives as a Ruler and Emperor. Melchizedek was a priest and the King of Jerusalem who with Abraham's blessing became the King of Justice and the King of
Peace without beginning or end, therefore, the high priest for ever". It is a case
of honour and power which are not inherited, because then they would be limited
by death; it is a case of the unlimited duration of the priesthood since it did not
arise by the law of flesh but by the force of eternal life". The change in priest4

168

M. Tati-Djuri, op. cit., 214.

THE REPRESENTATION OF CHRIST AS KING OF KINGS

hood from Aaron's order to Melchizedek's order opened the road to Jesus Christ,
the Eternal High Priest. When Christ is represented as Great Archpriest and King
of Kings, the insignia of his earthly, as well as heavenly rank, are his sakkos,
omophorion, hypogonation, sceptre and mitre.5 All of this, except the hypogonation, are of sovereign origin and are emblems of the supreme royal dignity (insignia regia), and were originaly presented by the Emperor himself.
The archpriest's outer robe in the form of a tunic, sakkos, was originally a
festive robe of the Greek Emperors designed for exceptional occasions only, like
their Church's visits. This white surplice decorated with the golden and purple
embroidery was introduced into Church usage by the Patriarchs as a sign of the
ruler's extraordinary kindness, mercy and distinction. With time, bishops started
wearing the sakkos as well. The front slit in the middle, decorated with golden
bells, resembled the clothes of the Old Testament archpriests (2 Moses XXVIII,
3236). Since, according to Simeon from Thessaloniki, Christ was wearing a
robe similar to sakkos while the crowd maked a mock of him, this archiepiscopal
vestment acquired the symbolical meaning of the Saviour's sufferings and the
sacrifice of the just.
The omophorion, a cloak in the shape of a wide ribbon, stole, is a garment
of an archbishop and worn on top of the other liturgical vestments, over shoulders so that its ends fall at the front and the back, down to the lower hem of the
sakkos. It is also a distinction of royal origin because it originates from the loros
(lat. lorum) of the Byzantine Emperors who wore it only on festive occasions or
gave it as a present to their noblemen as a sign of imperial mercy. In the Church,
originally only Patriarchs used to wear it, and later archbishops as well but also
only while performing the most important part of divine service. This liturgical
cloak is an obvious sign of Jesus Christ's human nature and it symbolizes the
humankind redeemed by his sacrifice. When an archbishop dons an omophorion,
he then becomes the Good Shepherd who puts the lost sheep (omofor) over his
shoulders and carries it to his Holy Father to reunite it with the heavenly forces.
A four-cornered piece of cloth, the hypogonation is draped over the left
shoulder one corner is fixed to the waist so that it falls to the right thigh of the
archbishop; it is the sign of a special spiritual strength and power and it is a
symbolical representation of the spiritual sword or God's word itself. By wearing
it the church high dignitaries acquire its strength in the battle against religious
enemies and heretical illusions. According to Simeon of Thessaloniki, the hypogonation also means victory over death, Christ's resurrection and eternal life. As
with every other vestment for divine service connected with the waist and loins,
and with the donning of a waistband, the hypogonation indicates the symbolical
acquisition of strength, force, power, help and protection coming from God, but,
at the same time it also speaks of a consciousness of personal purity as a condition of readiness for Christ's Second Coming or The Kingdom of God.
5 L. Mirkovi, Pravoslavna liturgika ili nauka o bogosluewu pravoslavne istone
crkve, , Beograd 1965, 129135.

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The shepherd's crook, crosier or the ruler's rod or sceptre (lat. baculus;
gr. pateriza) is the sign of archiepiscopal power, the preacher's dignity and
fatherly care over Christ's flock (congregation). The miracle of Aaron's flowering staff was God's confirmation of his selection as an archpriest (4 Moses
XVII). Christ as a Good Shepherd in early Christian art was often shown with a
crook in his hand. The most luxurious, metropolitan and patriarchic crosiers have
their upper part decorated with patterns in the shape of snake heads facing each
other as symbols of God's wisdom which suggest the high moral qualities of those they are entrusted to. As a rule, they were also part of imperial gifts to
Church dignitaries, a sign of their mercy and symbolical recognition of the supreme (spiritual) power. As a mark of miraculous power (Moses') which inspires, conveys or takes away the energy of life, the sceptre is the sign of court
power and justness; it is the attribute of God's Mother, Christ (as King of Kings)
and the Archangel Michael.
In early Christian times, the highest Church dignitaries received a crown in
the shape of mitre straight from the Emperor's hand as a gesture of imperial benevolence, honour and dignity. In the beginning it looked like the ornate cap
worn by archpriests from the Old Testament and it was made of thin material (2
Moses XXXIX, 28) with the golden decorations at front; it was called holy
crown or kidar and it had all the symbolism of consecrated power which Moses
received from the Lord (3 Moses VIII, 9). The cap is the accolade which in the
New Testament became the laurel of glory which never wilts (1 Peter V, 4), the
laurel of life as a reward for the offered sacrifice and for the victory over pestilences and temptations (Jac. I, 12) and the laurel of justice which Jesus Christ
the Just Judge will give on the day of his Second Coming (2 Tim. IV, 8) to all
those who believed in him. Among the first, after Moses' brother Aaron, to wear
the mitre were the Apostles John and Jacob (a brother of the Lord and the first
bishop of Jerusalem). Later the mitre was worn only by Alexandrian Patriarchs,
but then all other Patriarchs without exemption until the XVIIth century; from
then on only metropolitans and bishops have been entitled to it. Among Catholics, since the Xth century the mitre has been worn by bishops, archbishops, Popes as well as mitred abbots with the special permission of the supreme Church
Father from Rome.
The shape of the mitre has changed considerably throughout the history and
once its appearance was nothing like today's form of crown-mitre which became
established in mid-XVIIth century in Russia, and afterwards in other Orthodox
countries as well. Considering its undoubtedly Indo-Persian origin, at the beginning the mitre was probably in the shape of a conical, so called Phrygian cap;
the phrygium is known as an attribute of the Phrygian, Persian and Greek-Roman
deities, Attis and Cybele, Mithras and Ceres (Demeter).6 Its connection with Mit6 D. Srejovi, A. Cermanovi, Renik grke i rimske mitologije, Beograd 1979, 64, 303,
270271, 494495; F. Revilla, Diccionario de iconografa, Madrid 1990, 358.

170

THE REPRESENTATION OF CHRIST AS KING OF KINGS

hraic religion and Mazdean learning seems quite justifiable, since these were
widespread in the antique world, and particularly in the Roman Empire in the
middle of the IIIrd century. As a solar deity, Mithras was considered to be the
mediator between God and people and he was respected as a protector of the
whole humankind. The followers of this cult set themselves high moral goals and
believed that through personal sufferings, purity, chastity and asceticism they could secure themselves a new birth, resurrection and immortality with the help
and guidance of Mithras, the Great and Just Judge. Mithraic cult legend was at
one stage the most serious competitor to the Christian learning which arose in
Palestine and started to penetrate the land of Roman Emperors and legionaries.
Something of its cosmological-astrological symbolism was taken over by the new
soteriology which transferred to Christ as the Invincible Sun and the Sun of Justice (Sol Invictus and Sol Iustitie). Late antique symbolism and middle eastern
cosmology related the monarch's absolute power coming from God with the divine power of governing which spreads over everything in heaven, on earth and
in the underworld. The headgear in the shape of a turban, a conical cap, so called
infula or tiara (gr. tiara) the triple crown was the closest in shape to the
crown of old Assyrian and Persian rulers.
The tiara, a closed crown consisting of three coronets of unequal size which
lie upon each other, is a sign of the highest imperial favour to the one it is presented to, since it should provide him maximum protection and invulnerability.
This understanding is also confirmed by the legend of Saint Sylvester7 (314
335), the Roman Pope who was the first in history to be presented with the mitre
in the shape of a white Phrygian cap8 by Emperor Constantine the Great (306
337). This was not only a gift of the highest level but also a serious and decisive
political step given the circumstances and conditions attached. In the year 330
Constantine moved his residence (translatio imperii) from Rome to the town
which would later be named after him (Constantinopolis or New Rome),9 and the
crown was presented to the Pope Sylvester to wear it and have priority over all
other great Patriarchs, on condition that from then on he recognize the imperial
power from the new, eastern capital.10 The first Roman Pope and his successors
were also granted temporary rule over Rome and the western provinces according to the document known as the Donation of Constantine. This written act,
considered valid until the IXth century even by anti-papists who questioned it;
was not pronounced a forgery until the XVIth century. The amount of attention
that was given to this event is shown by the verses from Dante's Divine Comedy,
more specifically the extract from its first part Hell (XIX, 116118) in which
the poet, while harshly criticizing the moral vices of his time, also tackles his
J. N. D. Kelly, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, OxfordNew York 1986, 28.
This is how it appears on the frescoes of the Roman Church SS. Quattro Coronati from
1246. see Lexikon der christilchen Ikonographie, IV, RomFreiburgBasselWien 1972, 314.
9 S. Ransimen, Vizantijska civilizacija, SuboticaBeograd 1964, 10.
10 J. N. D. Kelly, op. cit.
7
8

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personal political opponents and representatives saying that from Constantine's

gift to the first Roman Father, Pope Sylvester was a greater evil than his conversion to Christianity:
Ahi, Constantin, di quanto mal fu matre,
Non la tua conversion, ma quella dote
Che da te prese il primo ricco padre!11"

Since the three tiered crown with a cap and a cross at the top as one of the
signs of pontifical power and triple ruling dignity of the Roman Popes got its final shape at the beginning of the XIVth century,12 the artistic representations of
the tiara on the head of western holy fathers starting from this time represented
the unity of their autocratic-theocratic spiritual, worldly and supreme power.13
The XXV session of Council of Trent (1563) was of decisive significance
for the art of the Counter-Reformation. Precise instructions for the artistic expression of the holy secrets of Roman-Catholicism were prescribed in the decree
De sacris imaginibus.14 The militant and triumphant Church of the Holy Chair
soon received a catalogue of strictly prescribed personifications, the most common of which has three attributes: the triple crown (papal tiara), papal cross
(crux papalis) and the keys of Saint Peter.15
In the post-Byzantine art of the Orthodox East, when it did not appear on
the heads of western Church Fathers (St. Sylvester),16 the triple crown was a disL. Desanctis (prev. Lj. N. Vlai), Papa nije nasljednik svetog Petra, Sarajevo 1932, 6, 66.
J. Hall, Dictionary of Subjects & Symbols in Art, N. YorkHagerstownS. Francisco
London 1979, 303. At the beginning it was called a ring (regnum), that is a circlet which in mid-XIth
century changes into a diadem decorated with precious stones which was worn around the white
Phrygian cap. Three of such rings made up a tiara (it. treregno).
13 On the order of the Pope Julius II, around 1503 Rafael made a fresco on one of the wall of
the Vatican Stanze della Segnatura known under the name Disputa (The Triumph of the Christian
Church or The Exalting of Eucharist). The scene represent an imaginary council-debate, a political-religious meeting of the most outstanding defenders of the dogmas of the Catholic church under
the auspices of chosen Saints and St. Trinity with the intention of give verification, legality and
validity to the reached decisions. Two of the present holy fathers, Julius II and Sixt IV, are wearing
triple mitre-tiara.
14 F. Checa, Pintura y escultura del Renacimiento en Espaa 14501600, Madrid 1983, 326.
15 Among the best known Jesuit anthologies of the militant wave, which take over and
convincingly propagate the most important items of the new dogma, are the emblematic anthologies
of S. de Covarrubias (Emblemas morales, 1610, emblems with the motos Imperium sine fine dedi and
Nulli sua mansit imago) and Psalmodia Eucharistica (1622) of M. Prieto. As signs of imperial (signum imperii) and papal power (signum pontificii), the tiara together with the other symbols of
worldly glory and power found its place in the picture In ictu oculi (1672) by a famous painter of death, the Spaniard H. de Valdez-Leal. It is one of the most striking representations of the traditional
theme memento mori. On this occasion Spanish moralistic Baroque art included the papal crown,
cross and the keys of the first Apostle (St. Peter) among the symbols of transience and human vanity
whose meaning can be lost in one single moment not loner than the blink of an eye.
16 A Museum in Zacynthus (the capital of the Ionian island of the same name near Cephalonia
and opposite the Patra bay) looks after an icon of the Pope Sylvester (1711) produced by a local artist, Georgie Griparis. It is the earlier mentioned first pope of this name, and the first Roman holy father Sylvester I the contemporary of emperor Constantine who died very young, before the age
of 22. On this icon he is represented in the usual appearance of an orthodox hermit in his mature
11
12

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THE REPRESENTATION OF CHRIST AS KING OF KINGS

tinctive item of apparel for the Patriarchs from Constantinople (St. Gregory of
Nazianzus).17
By connecting the triple crown with Constantinople and not only with Rome and by putting it on the head of the highest eastern Church dignitary, the tiara not only looses the symbolism of the supremacy of papal rule but also denies
that the Roman holy father is the manifest head of the whole Christian Church.
By emphasizing the significant facts and decisive historical events, the aim was
to deny the primacy of St. Peter and the Roman Popes over the rights of the other Apostles to rulership, and to stress the equality of all regional Churches and
to call for the unity of the ecumenical Church.18
Since the Florentine council (1439) failed, despite the intention of the
Byzantine Emperor John VIII Kantakusen, both to impose the union with Rome
on Byzantium and also to secure western help against the unstoppable Osmanly
invasion, the Eastern Empire remained Orthodox in its religion, but it soon fell
apart and came under the Turkish rule. Local Churches in the former Byzantine
Empire became national, autonomous and canonically unique while remaining faithful to the democratic ideals of early Christianity".19 After the Council of
years: with a long beard, in archbishop's vestments, with omophorion and triple crown. The end letters of the inscription with the word archbishop" are still visible above the pope's left shoulder. The
inscription on the other side is far less legible. see M. Xatzhdakhj, =Ellhnj zwgrcoi tj
l3sh (14501830) me esagwg stn stora tj zwgracikj tj poxj, tom. I, Auhna 1987,
234, ill. 93.
17 The icon by the Cretan, Mihailo Damaskinos, called The First Ecumenical Council, one of
his last works from 1591, follows the iconic type of the cycle of the ecumenical and state synods
known in traditional Byzantine wall painting. Three lines of the highest church dignitaries of the Eastern Church hierarchy are led by a church ruler (with a triple crown or tiara) and a lay ruler (with
the imperial crown on his head). It is the question of the council held in Constantinople in 381 (better
known as the Nicaean-Constantinople meeting of the Eastern Orthodox church fathers), and therefore
there are no doubts as to who the people represented as major protagonists are, according to the rules
valid for the illustration of God the Father (emperor) and his son Jesus Christ (patriarch) who sits at
his father's right hand. The Emperor shown can be no other than Theodosius I the Great (379395)
and his companion and the main participant of this great and significant synod is the Patriarch of
Constantinople, Gregory Nazianzus better known as Gregory The Theologian (379381).
Besides officially confirming the Patriarch of Constantinople, nominated two years previously,
this synod was called to address more important religious and political affairs. To reiterate the condemnation of Arianism made in Nicea and fractional schism over the human as opposed to the divine
nature of Christ and thus to impose Orthodox Christian learning and its creed on the whole of the
Roman Empire. The decisions reached at Nicaea and Constantinople would later become a stumbling
block and seed of contention between the Eastern and Western Churches because of the differences
in their understanding of the origin of the Holy Spirit. The Orthodox would, believing in the sameness of God the Father and God the Son, consider the Holy Spirit comes from God the Father alone,
whereas Catholics maintain that it originates from both Father and Son (Filioque) thus recognising
their essentially different natures. See the same 251 ill. 120; A. Embiricos, L' cole crtoise, Dernire phase de la peinture byzantine, Paris 1967, 164165 ill. 80; Ch. Walter, Icones of the First
Council of Nicaea, Delton tj xristianikj rxaiologikj taireaj, per. D/, tom. IST/,
19911992 (Auhna 1992), 210, fig. 3.
18 By giving the tiara to the Patriarch of Constantinople Theodosius pronounced him equal to
the Roman Pontiff since Constantinople was New Rome. The fact that Gregory the Theologian is sitting to the right of Emperor Theodosius is simply the expression of the real status quo the subjugation of the Patriarch to the Emperor. See S. Ransimen, op. cit., 109.
19 Ibidem, 125.

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Trent, Orthodox schismatics" were exposed to even more brutal and frequent attempts at unification from the Papal Janisseries" (Jesuits).20 As the most learned, the best organized and the most numerous among the eastern brothers, Russian scholastic theologians felt invited to more in defense than in attack
collect, work out, systematize, confirm and reveal the symbolic dogmas of their
religion realizing that the shortage of such materials only provided justification
for the Catholic papal machinery's accusations of heresy and facilitate the conversion of the Orthodox to Catholicism.
The timely criticism of the Florentine Decree from the Moscow synod
(1441) and the Jerusalem synod (1443)21 was obviously insufficient defense of
the theology of the Eastern catechism. A Kiev Metropolitan and the founder of
the Spiritual academy in Kiev, Peter Mogila (15961647) wrote a Catechism of
Orthodox Religious Practice or Orthodox Homologia approved by the Constantinople synod of 1643 and published in Greek and Latin.22 Together with The
Confession of faith by a Jerusalem Patriarch Dositej (1672), better known as Dositej's Confession or the Epistle of Eastern Patriarchs,23 the theology of the Eastern Church acquired in this manner an official philosophy (in nuce) and a real,
clear and pure theology of the Orthodox faith which was, albeit reluctantly, recognized by the western Church Fathers and the Roman Catholic Church as well.
Both these books teach that Christ is the only head of the Church and therefore its manifest head cannot be the Pope, his representative on earth. Since the
Holy Spirit comes from God the Father himself, Filioque is a delusion for the
Orthodox Church which only confirms the conclusions of the first VII ecumenical councils.24 Similar to the unjust acquisition of the primacy of the Roman
high-priest over other Patriarchs, these official books deny the primacy of Saint
Peter over the other Apostles.25
20 T. Ostoji, Zaharija Orfelin, ivot i rad mu, SKANU, Posebna izdawa, kw. H,
Nauke filosofske i filoloke, kw. 12, Beograd 1923, 105.
21 I. Markovi, Slaveni i Pape, I, Zagreb 1903, 278, 287.
22 The first translation of Mogila's work into Slavonic" was not published until 1696 when
Patriarch Adrian of Moscow authorized it for church use, calling it a divinely inspired book." See
op. cit. 280 and by the same author, Cezarizam i bizantinstvo u povesti iztonog razkola, I, Zagreb,
1891, X.
23 The synod of Jerusalem made official the second part of Dositej's Confessions, better
known as the Shield of Faith or Apologia in 1720, see I. Markovi, Slaveni i Pape, I, 279. It is interesting that a year earlier, on the intervention of Peter the Great, the Jesuits were, for a second time,
officially expelled from Russia. In 1722 and 1725, to defend himself from accusations that he was
secretly in league with the Pope, the Russian Czar organized street theaters, lampooning the Conclave
of cardinals and the selection of a new Pope. In addition the Czar was receiving Protestant and Anabaptist publications from Europe and having them translated and published weekly in domestic journals. See I. Markovi, Slaveni i Pape, II, Zagreb 1904, 129131.
24 I. Markovi, Cezarizam i bizantinstvo u povesti iztonog razkola, I, VIIIXXV.
25 The prime evidence cited by the Latin Church, for its God given leading role the classic
place in St Mathew's Gospel (XVI, 1819) is refuted by the words of St Paul who sees local
arch-shepherds (rulers) around the Holy Spirit as Christ's representatives (D. ap. XX, 28). The first
among them is Christ (Colossians I, 18), the chief of the apostles" who would, at the time of his second coming, receive the never wilting laurel" (I Petr. V, 4). The head of the church as Divine construction can be no other than the one who is appointed, who is Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians III,

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THE REPRESENTATION OF CHRIST AS KING OF KINGS

The Kiev edition of Mogila's catechism Orthodox Homologia on its front

had an engraving with the image of the Holy Trinity on which God the Father
with a three tiered crown on his head, supports mundus (orbis) with his left hand
and blesses with his right hand, while Christ is sitting to his right with a crown
in the shape of a episcopate mitre, with his left hand on his chest and with a
sceptre in his right hand. The same composition was cut (1754) and printed
(1758) by Zaharije Orfelin in Sremski Karlovci, dedicating the book to his patron, a metropolitan Pavle Nenadovi26 in rhyming couplet on a stencil:
Father, Son and the Spirit of the holy Unity
turn you heavenly face to this unworthy creature"27

God the Father with the papal tiara has been most often shown in the composition of the Holy Trinity in Dutch paintings.28 To further emphasize the idea
of the supremacy of the Church and give it its full shape, besides the Father, the
Son, Christ was also in the habit of wearing the three tiered crown. Protestant
evangelism undoubtedly influenced Russian theological thought in before and during the time of Peter the Great, and so the philosophic methods and arguments
of Protestant theological teachings reached the Spiritual Academy in Kiev and
penetrated into the Russian scholastic theology.29 On the other hand, Calvinists,
although they officially adopted Petar Mogila's apologetic catechism, or precisely
because of it, publicly proclaimed that there were no serious differences between
their dogma and that of the Orthodox Church. According to theoretically orientated Roman Catholic Church prelates, Dositej's Confession of Orthodox Creed
was indeed produced to clarify the basis of such arbitrary interpretation" of Calvinist heretics". The agreement must, certainly, have been particularly obvious
in the part opposing the papal system through the understanding that the glory
belongs exclusively to God (Soli Deo Gloria). Peter the Great accepted the idea
of a secular ruler and the separation of the state from the Church through the independence of the Czar's power from the Church, possibly after his journey to
911), and all the other Apostles are only servants and helpers by God's order (Colossians I, 25),
starting from the first two Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
26 In his circular letter the metropolitan expressly ordered that catechism The Orthodox Confession of Faith is to be learnt by heart by all priest and monks; those who failed to do so could expect any punishment and many other inconveniences. The documents, however, tell that in most cases the Confession was sooner forgotten than it was learnt. see T. Ostoji, Dositej Obradovi u
Hopovu, Studija iz kulturne i kwievne istorije, Kwige Matice srpske, 19 i 20, Novi Sad
1907, 285286.
27 D. Davidov, Srpska grafika H veka, Novi Sad 1978, 163, 310 i 141.
28 J. Hall, Dictionary, 303.
29 No less interesting is the fact that the Serbs in Austria also resisted the theocratic rule of the
church hierarchy. This resistance showed itself particularly in the literary work of Zaharije Orfelin.
His inclination towards Protestantism and Protestant writers has already been noted, the ideological
influence of Teofan Prokopovi has been observed and explained, and the anachronistic fascination
with the ideal of great Russian Czar was so strong that it had to be paid for dearly. see M. Bokov, Zaharija Orfelin i knjievnost ruskog prosvetiteljstva, Zbornik za slavistiku Matice srpske, 7,
Odeljenje za knjievnost i jezik (Novi Sad 1974), 69.

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Europe where he got himself acquainted with anti-papal and Protestant literature.30
In 1704, the Serbian zographos Kozma Damjanovi painted three icons representing the Holy Trinity of the so-called angelic type for the village orthodox
churches in Slavonia. It is the well-known composition of Christ as King of
Kings, but, instead of one, three Saviour's heads are represented. The iconographic concept of the Holy Trinity with the three heads of the young and beardless
Christ (triceps, trimurti)31 was not unknown to the Balkan painters of Byzantine
and post-Byzantine period (Matei, Ohrid, Mostai near Trebinje, tip, Bijelo
Polje, Shelcan in Albania, Chilandari, Deani, Studenica).32 What is new and
unique about the icons of zographos Kozma, is the triple crown whose wide side
wreathes the three heads in thus schemed visual concept of consubstantiality of
the three persons of the Holy Trinity.33 The three icons representing the three-headed Christ, were painted in the north of Croatia, the territory where the majority
population was Catholic, served the idea of national homogenization and the
struggle for religious survival of the Serbian Orthodox population. Contrary to
the Western Christian learning about the Holy Spirit proceeding from both Father
and the Son (et Filio, Filioque), the Nicaean-Constantinopolitan Creed recognized
by all the Ecumenical Councils, firmly states that the Spirit does proceed from
the Father, but not from the Son. The perfect equality of Father, Son and Holy
Spirit in the Eastern Creed accepts one and only Catholic and Apostolic Church,
which is in opposition to the Roman Catholic diarchal learning about Filioque.34
Seen in the light of such discrepancies concerning the concept of Holy Trinity,
the appearance of our icons at the beginning of the XVIIIth century showing the
three crowns on the three heads of the divine persons, is an evident expression of
consistent confession and the apology of Eastern theological dogmas.
In the representation of the three-headed Holy Trinity as an iconographic
type disappeared from early-Byzantine Serbian painting after the zographos Kozma as suddenly and unexpectedly as it had appeared the image of Christ as
30 In 1721 Peter the Great dismissed the Russian Patriarchate, founding the Holy Synod with
himself as its head.
31 R. M. Gruji, Ikonografski motiv slian induskom trimurtiu u staroj srpskoj likovnoj umetnosti, Tkaliev zbornik, I (Zagreb, 1955) 103, fig. 15a and 15b; S. Duani, Muzej srpske pravoslavne crkve, Beograd 1969, XVII and table in color I; D. Medakovi, O srpskoj umetnosti u
oblastima stare Slavonije i Hrvatske, Starinar (Beograd 1953), reprinted in Putevi
srpskog baroka, Beograd 1971, 341; S. Mileusni, Ikonopisac Kozma Damjanovi od Kostajnice, Glas svetih ravnoapostola irila i Metodija, , 104 (Zagreb, januarapril 1980), 12;
Idem, Muzej Srpske pravoslavne crkve, catalogue, Beograd 1989, 21.
32 D. Medakovi, op. cit; A. Vasili, Riznica manastira Studenice, Saoptewa,
(Beograd 1957), 53, sl. 23; Th. Popa, Piktort mesjetar shqiptar, Tiran 1961, 96, ill. 29; S. Petkovi, Zidno slikarstvo na podruju Peke patrijarije 15571614, Novi Sad 1965, 7375;
V. J. uri, Vizantijske freske u Jugoslaviji, Beograd 1975, 7071; M. akota, Deanska riznica, BeogradPritina 1984, 101, 125 (sign. I-50), sl. 58.
33 The debates on the issue of three faces ended in the conclusion that it was the case of three
faces (trinitas numerica) of the same nautre (unitas specifica). see A. V. Kartaov, Vaselenski
sabori, , Beograd 1995, 7576.
34 Ibidem, I, 93.

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THE REPRESENTATION OF CHRIST AS KING OF KINGS

King of Kings with triple crown appeared in different variants at the end of the
XVIIth and in the first decades of the XVIIIth century, in areas far away from
one another, the areas inhabited by Serbs from Krajina, the territories on the borders of two empires, the Austrian and Turkish Empire.
The earliest icon of this type is the work of a Serbian painter Savatije Krabule in 169735 for the monastery of Orahovica in Slavonia (present-day Croatia).
The triple crown on Christ's head was originaly painted, then wrought in silver
retaining36 the shape of the crown and only later on to be decorated with
jewels.37
Around 1720 an anonymous artist painted Christ as King of Kings without a
throne for the Serbian church in Villny (Baranja). Christ is in a standing position, in his long sovereign robe decorated with gold with one hand blessing,
and the other holding a sceptre.38 Christ is shown in the light mandorla, the sun
rays being emitted in all directions. He is wearing a tall triple crown, its points
distinctly separated. This icon is an illustration of the magnificent vision of the
Glory of God from the second line of David's Psalm 104.
The icon of Christ as King of Kings from Srpski Mileti (Baka) is dated to
the first quarter of the XVIIIth century, and is believed to have been brought
from somewhere in Baranja.39 If it were not for the triple crown on Christ's head
and the open Gospel in his left hand, as well as the chiton and himation he is
wearing, the representation would be suggesting the Pantocrator seated on his
imperial throne.
The fourth icon of this type comes from Mohovo (Western Srem, present-day Croatia).40 There are two six-winged Seraphim next to the throne from
where Christ is making the gesture of benediction with one hand and holding the
sceptre in the other. The throne itself is rich in highly stylized floral ornamentation. As it becomes the imperial and sovereign majesty, Christ is represented
wearing a purple robe and shoes of the Byzantine basileus. There is a triple
35 V. Bori, Zbirka ikona Odjela Srba u Hrvatskoj, Zagreb 1974, 78; D. Medakovi, Barokne teme srpske umetnosti, in Tragom srpskog baroka, Novi Sad 1976, 252253; Idem,
Istorijske osnove ikonografije sv. Save u H veku, in Barok kod Srba, Zagreb 1988, 136.
36 It is interesting that the icon Bogorodica Odigitria by an unknown painter from Dubrovnik
also had the silver ornament in the shape of a three-tiered crown. The icon is in the possession of the
parish church on the island of Lastovo. It is so called lithian icon painted on both sides, a copy of a
famous original from the third or fourth decade of the XVIth century from Constantinople. It is not
known when the icon received its silver ornament: three coronets are placed above the little Christ
and next to the Virgin's head, on her right side. Thanks to the known original, it can be said with
certainty that all six parts of the added crowns were the result of later ideas and the interventions of
donators from among the wealthier orthodox citizens. see V. J. uri, Dubrovaka slikarska
kola, Posebna izdawa SANU, kw. SSSH, Odeqewe drutvenih nauka, kw. 45, Beograd
1963, 215216, 135.
37 R. M. Gruji, Starine manastira Orahovice, Beograd 1939, 38.
38 D. Davidov, Ikone srpskih crkava u Maarskoj, Novi Sad 1973, 164, T. HH, cat. 31.
39 D. Davidov, L. elmi, Ikone srpskih zografa H veka, exhibition catalogue, Beograd 1977, 29, 4950, cat. no. 15.
40 Ibidem, 60, cat. no. 35.

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LJILJANA STOI

crown with its points wide-spread apart on his head, with a cross-shaped top going beyond the frame of the icon.
The last and the most recent icon of Christ as King of Kings is painted about 1730. for the Serbian church in Fenj (Foeni), in present-day Romanian Banat,
near Yugoslav-Romanian border.41 The only iconographic changes in comparison
to the previous icon from Mohovo is that the Seraphims have been replaced by
the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
In Serbian Baroque painting not until the fourth decade of the XVIIIth
century was the enthroned Christ represented as the Great Archpriest but as King
of Kings. As a symbolical image of the very end of Saint John's apocalyptic vision, Christ as Victor in the battle waged in Heaven, is wearing the appropriate
insignia on his head a triple crown which nobody but himself is entitled to.
The Victor, triumphant over the conquered one, takes and puts on the best war
trophy. The triple crown on the head of Christ represented as the Byzantine basileus symbolizes the victory of Orthodox faith over the Roman Catholic Church
and its misconception that its role of the leader on earth is beyond question. The
Popes under the pretext of the primacy of the Apostle Peter try to usurp and
deny the supreme power of Christ, and thus they have become the greatest
enemy of his, the false prophet, the Anti-Christs. The head of Church, being the
creation of God, can be nobody but Jesus Christ himself, and all of his Apostles
and Emissaries on earth can be nothing but his God-ordained assistants and servants beginning with the first ones, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Since the Popes, by wearing the triple crown, have tried to usurp the God-granted power
which belongs exclusively to Christ, this part of regalia is an obvious warning to
the Orthodox against the proselyting efforts to convert them to the union with
Rome.
Apart from religious reasons for the representation of the triple crown, more
serious, political reasons should be sought as well. The best evidence to back up
this statements is this group of small Serbian icons painted at the crossroads of
the two centuries, two religions, two empires and the two global spheres of interest.

Qiqana Stoi
PREDSTAVA HRISTA KAO CARA NAD CAREVIMA SA TROSTRUKOM KRUNOM
Rezime
esnaesti vek je doba prodirawa snanijih verskih i umetnikih uticaja sa
Zapada na pravoslavni svet Istoka uz istovremenu laicizaciju slikarskih programa. Predstava Hrista kao Velikog Arhijereja i Cara nad Carevima na elu je ni41 M. Jovanovi, L. elmi, N. Kusovac, Umetniko blago Srba u Rumuniji, exhibition
catalogue, BeogradNovi Sad 1991, 2627, cat. no. 3.

178

THE REPRESENTATION OF CHRIST AS KING OF KINGS

za onih kompozicija koje su bogoslovi i slikari postvizantijskog perioda ikonografski preradili: od zidne slike sa portalske lunete ili iz oltarskog akonikona ona postaje centralna prestona ikona zajedno sa Bogorodicom kao Caricom sa
malim Hristom na prestolu.
Ikone sa likom Hrista kao svetenikim poglavarom i Carom Slave aludiraju na Drugi dolazak Gospoda koji su predskazali starozavetni proroci, nagovestio sveti Pavle, a sveti Jovan podrobnije opisao u svojoj apokaliptikoj viziji.
Hristos se na dan svog Drugog dolaska koji je i as wegove pobede nad avolom, prikazuje na nebeskom, carskom prestolu na oblacima, postavqenim sa desne
strane od trona Boga Oca, sa skiptrom pravde u ruci, obuen u haqinu crvenu od
krvi, sa svojim imenom ispisanim na stegnu: Car nad Carevima i Gospodar nad Gospodarima. Spoqna odlija wegovog zemaqskog i nebeskog stareinstva jesu sakos,
omofor, nabedrenik, skiptar i mitra. Sva, sem nabedrenika, vladarskog su porekla i, kao odlike najvieg carskog dostojanstva (insignia regia), prvobitno su primane iz ruku samog imperatora.
U grkom ikonopisu postvizantijskog perioda trostruka kruna se, osim na
glavama zapadnih crkvenih otaca (sveti Silvestar), predstavqala i kao odlije
carigradskih patrijaraha (sveti Grigorije Nazijanski). Prikazivawem na glavi
najvieg istonog crkvenog velikodostojnika i vezivawem za Konstantinopoq kao
Novi (Drugi) Rim, tijara je negirala rimskog svetog oca kao vidqivu glavu sveopte hrianske crkve.
Kada bi se papska tijara, kao to je to bio sluaj u ruskoj baroknoj umetnosti, nala na glavi Boga Oca u okviru kompozicije Svete Trojice, ona je postajala i nosilac ideje o svetovnom vladaru i razdvajawu uloga drave i crkve.
Ako je predstava troglave Svete Trojice posle ikona zografa Kozme Damjanovia (1704) iezla kao ikonografski tip iz srpskog slikarstva ranog baroka
isto onako naglo i neoekivano kao to je u wega i ula lik Hrista kao Cara
nad Carevima sa trostrukom krunom javqae se krajem XVII i prvih decenija XVIII
veka u razliitim varijantama u meusobno udaqenim krajevima koje su nastawivali Srbi iz Krajine (manastir Orahovica u Slavoniji, 1697, Vilawi u Barawi
oko 1720, Srpski Mileti u Bakoj u prvoj etvrtini XVIII veka, Mohovo u zapadnom Sremu, danawa Hrvatska, poetkom XVIII veka i Few u rumunskom Banatu,
oko 1730).
U srpskom baroknom ikonopisu sve do etvrte decenije XVIII veka Hristos
na prestolu se ne prikazuje kao Veliki Arhijerej nego kao Car nad Carevima. Kao
simbolina slika same zavrnice apokaliptike vizije svetog Jovana, Hristos
kao pobednik rata koji se vodio na nebu, na glavi nosi dolino obeleje trostruku krunu na koju niko sem wega nema pravo. Kako pobednik uvek, trijumfujui nad pobeenim, uzima i stavqa na sebe najboqe od zaplewenog ratnog plena,
trostruka kruna na glavi Hrista prikazanog kao vizantijski vasilevs, znak je izvojevane pobede pravoslavne vere nad zabludom rimokatolike crkve o wenoj bogomdanoj predvodnikoj ulozi na zemqi. U pokuaju da preko primata apostola
Petra prisvoje i poreknu Hristovu neprikosnovenu vlast, pape su postali Hristovi najvei protivnici i lani proroci Antihristi. Poto su rimski
crkveni oci noewem tijare pokuali da uzurpiraju vlast koja je od Boga (Oca)
i pripada jedino Hristu, ovo carsko znamewe na glavi Spasiteqa vidqivo je

179

LJILJANA STOI

upozorewe pravoslavnima za uvawe od prozelitistikih pokuaja prevoewa u

uniju sa Rimom.
Za predstavqawe trostruke krune u likovnoj umetnosti uvek i svuda treba,
osim verskih, traiti i dubqe, politike razloge. Najboqi dokaz za to jeste i
grupa malih srpskih ikona nastalih na razmeu dvaju vekova, dve vere, dveju imperija i dve globalne svetske interesne sfere.

180

A. Drer, Holy Trinity (1511), woodcut, detail

S. de Covarrubias, Emblemas morales (1610), emblem with moto

Imperium sine fine dedi, engraving

M. Prieto, Psalmodia Eucharistica (1622),

The Personification of the Catholic Church, engraving, detail

G. Griparis, Pope Sylvester (1711), icon, Museum in Zacynthus

G. Damaskinos, The First Ecumenical Council (1591), icon,

St. Catherine in Heraklion, detail

P. Mogila (1643) Z. Orfelin (1758), Orthodox Homologia, Holy Trinity,

engraving

S. Krabule, Christ as King of Kings (1697), icon from the Serbian monastery
of Orahovica, Slavonia

Unknown painter from Dubrovnik, Bogorodica Odigitria icon with silver ornament in
the shape of triple crowns (the first half of the XVIth century), Lastovo, detail

Kozma Damjanovi, Holy Trinity (1704), the icons, property of the Museum
of Serbian Orthodox Church, BeogradZagreb, details

Kozma Damjanovi, Holy Trinity (1704), the icons, property of the Museum
of Serbian Orthodox Church, BeogradZagreb, details

Kozma Damjanovi, Holy Trinity (1704), the icons, property of the Museum
of Serbian Orthodox Church, BeogradZagreb, details

Unknown painter, Christ as King of Kings (c. 1720),

icon from Villny, Szentendre, detail

Unknown painter, Christ as King of Kings (the first quarter of the XVIIIth century),
icon from Srpski Mileti, Gallery of Matica srpska, Novi Sad, detail

Unknown painter, Christ as King of Kings (beginning of the XVIIIth century),

icon fom Mohovo, Gallery of Matica srpska, Novi Sad, detail

Unknown painter, Christ as King of Kings (c. 1730), icon from Foeni,
Temisoara, detail