Painters’ Names as Saints’ Amulets: Of Inscribing Oneself into Sacredness

Abstract

Michael Astrapas, Eutychios and John Theorianos are the three Byzantine painters who are known to have left signatures painted somewhere amidst the attire of the warrior saints they depicted (swords, armour, shields, or garments). Whether in the form of simple monograms or as part of a more complex formulation, this paper aims to show that they envisioned their names as amulets for the chosen saints, intentionally instigating paradox. After exploring the customary ways in which painters usually acquired a ‘sacred share’ of their work, the paper analyses the conceptualised understanding of inversion as an instrument pregnant with power and possibilities. Special attention is given to the examples of signatures on painted vessels in narrative scenes, for they do not imply any obvious connection to the proximate saintly f igures, and thus seemingly undermine the delivered argument. Finally, by making an illustrative comparison with the famous Wilton Diptych and its angels represented as though they are in service of King Richard II while tending the Virgin Mary, it is argued that the three Byzantine painters relied on the magical conception of inversion, as well as the notion of gift exchange, in order to achieve their ultimate goal – gaining lasting divine protection.