Dodekaórton
Dodekaorton ( Greek Δωδεκάορτον ; dodeka heorton = twelve festivals) is the orthodoxy for the twelve main festivals of the Christian year.
Since the Middle Byzantine period, attempts have been made to fix a certain number of festivals for the canon of icons and monumental paintings. Possibly based on the Twelve Apostles, the Dodekaorton developed. This more or less fixed holiday cycle, which has emerged since the 10th century, is, however, not binding. It includes the most important men's and Mary's festivals of the church year.
On a picture wall, the top row often belongs to the festival icons, and these holidays can be found in the vaults of Orthodox churches.
Holiday icons are considered to be the highlight of Byzantine icon painting.
Festivals
According to a treatise by Joannes Mauropus from the middle of the 11th century, the series of twelve contains the following festivals:
- Annunciation of the birth of Jesus to Mary by the angel Gabriel
- Birth of christ
- Circumcision of the lord
- Presentation in the temple
- Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist
- Transfiguration of the Lord
- Raising Lazarus from the dead
- Entry into Jerusalem
- Crucifixion ( good friday )
- Anastasis ( Easter )
- Ascension Day (39 days after Easter Sunday)
- Pentecost (49 days after Easter)
The order of the celebrations can differ for different media. In the case of books that are used in church readings, the order is based on the dates of the festivals during the church year. With the multi-scene icons, however, the order corresponds to the historical sequence.
literature
- Ulrich Bock (Hrsg.): Icons and Eastern ecclesiastical cult items from private Rhenish property . Catalog for the exhibition in the Schnütgen Museum. Cologne 1990 DNB 901103004 .
- Ernst Kitzinger, Reflexions on the Feast Cycle in Byzantine Art, in: Cahier Archeologiques, 36, 1988, p. 51ff.
- Konrad Onasch: Liturgy and art of the Eastern Church in key words taking into account the Old Church . Koehler and Amelang, Leipzig 1981, DNB 820809616 .
- Konrad Onasch, Annemarie Schnieper: Icons. Fascination and Reality . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1995, ISBN 3-451-23533-1 .
- Klaus Wessel (Hrsg.): Reallexikon zur Byzantine art . Vol. 1. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1966, DNB 457890126 .
