Mother of God, Cease Sorrow!: The Significance of Movement in a Late Byzantine Icon

Abstract

The relationships between movement, emotion, and ritual communion in Byzantium have drawn the attention of art historians in recent years. While Henry Maguire has considered many facets of this subject, a monumental Late Byzantine icon, the Two-Sided Icon with the Virgin Pausolype, Feast Scenes, the Crucifixion and Prophets, suggests others. While the catalog entry by Annemarie Weyl Carr in Byzantium: Faith and Power remains the only published discussion of this particular icon, or even specifically of the Pausolype ("cease sorrow!") iconographic type, I believe that this image contributes significantly to our understanding of Late Byzantine culture and liturgical practice. Careful study of this particular icon encourages a consideration of the problematic subject of emotion, and its interactions with movement, ritual and art. The paucity of evidence makes it difficult to address specific devotional practices associated with this particular object, although some observations can be made. I am able, however, to align it with its iconographic antecedents and establish contemporary relationships, illuminating aspects of its original function.