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Citation: S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies, V3 N1 (2024)
Art as Text: The Adoration of the Magi, CollyridianBread Offerings, and Theotokos
Ally Kateusz
Abstract Due to the loss of an estimated 85% of first and second-century Christian texts, we often find themes in early Christian art that do not correspond to the narratives of the canonical gospels. In some cases these themes can be traced to extracanonical gospels, such as the Protoevangelium of James, but in other cases the origin is uncertain. In this study, I address some themes in early Christian art of the Adoration of the Magi that indicate that artists or their patrons were already elevating Mary as if she were Theotokos, and doing so well before the Council of Ephesus in 431 affirmed that title for Mary. These themes include the star placed closest to Mary, the baby as well as the Magi facing Mary, and the Magi offering loaves or platters of bread—bread offerings reminiscent of the bread that some Christians were offering on their altars to the name of Mary according to Epiphanius of Salamis and a detailed liturgical manual embedded in the Six Books Dormition narrative.
Keywords Adoration of the Magi, Virgin Mary, Collyridian, Early Christian Art, Theotokos, Council of Ephesus, Six Books Dormition The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that sometimes early Christian art can be read as a form of visual text, text that preserves otherwise unknown (or little known) narrative and theological elements of early Christian tradition. Using art to reconstruct a lost text is an especially important method given that an estimated 85% of all first- and second-century gospels, narratives and other writings that early Christian authors mentioned have been lost.[1] The case study at hand includes…
[1] Christoph Markschies, “Lehrer, Schüler, Schule: Zur Bedeutung einer Institution für das antike Christentum, in Religiöse Vereine in der römischen Antike. Untersuchungen zu Organisation, Ritual und Raumordnung, edited by Ulrike Egelhaaf-Gaiser and Alfred Schäfer (Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002), 97–120.
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