166 Part Two: Epigrams in Context
simply painted “the likeness of his appearance”, the corporeal shape in which
he once presented himself to the Holy Virgin. Leontios commissioned this
particular wall painting, hoping that he, though a wretched sinner, might be
redeemed at the Last Judgment. The holy figures that have to intercede on his
behalf are Gabriel the Archangel and the Holy Virgin, whom he had depicted
on the triumphal arch. As they are the first two protagonists to play a role in
the incarnation of God, they must surely be able to mollify Him by their
entreaties. And as Christ in the medallion is looking benevolently upon the
scene of the Annunciation depicted in the sanctuary, there is surely hope for
Leontios. Moreover, whenever Mass is celebrated, the faithful looking at the
bema and its decoration will remember “wretched Leontios” and commemo-
rate him in their prayers. The collective devotion of the faithful assembled in
the church that Leontios had decorated ensures that his plea will be heard in
the heavenly abodes each time the Incarnation of God is re-enacted upon the
altar. To put it otherwise, in modern terms, the money he invested in the
decoration of the sanctuary will undoubtedly pay itself back with interest. For
Leontios has made sure that his plea for salvation will be heard in heaven, and
as Christ normally listens to the intercessions of His mother and Gabriel as well
as to the prayers of ordinary people, Leontios can certainly hope for divine
forgiveness.
**
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The Paraklesis 6 Inhaltsverzeichnis
The Paraklesis is a well-known iconographic type of the Theotokos stand-
ing upright, her face turned slightly in semi-profile and her left hand holding a
text scroll. The earliest picture of the Virgin Paraklesis known to us is a ninth-
century mosaic in the church of St. Demetrios in Thessalonica, but this partic-
ular mosaic does not yet have the standard feature of later depictions of the
Paraklesis: the epigram on the text scroll. The epigram turns up for the first time
on three pictures dating from the twelfth century: on a fresco in the church of the
Virgin Arakiotissa in Lagoudera on Cyprus, on another fresco in the church of
the Anargyroi in Kastoria, and on the icon of the Virgin Paraklesis in Spoleto^46.
The epigram is a dialogue between the Holy Virgin and Jesus Christ:
T5, m‰ter, aœte¦ß; tën brot0n szthr5an.
parwrgis1n meº symp1qhson, yW6 moy.(^46) See S. DER NERSESSIAN, DOP 14 (1960) 72–75 and MERCATI 1970: II, 509–513.