The Apostles in Early Christian Art and Poetry

569 Pages·2016·13.23 MB·English

by  Roald Dijkstra

The Apostles in Early Christian Art and Poetry
Supplements
to
Vigiliae Christianae
texts and studies of early christian life and language
Editors
J. den Boeft
B.D. Ehrman
K. Greschat
J. Lössl
J. van Oort
D.T. Runia
C. Scholten
Volume 134
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/vcs
The Apostles in Early Christian
Art and Poetry
Edited by
Roald Dijkstra
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Want or need Open Access? Brill Open offers you the choice to make your research freely accessible online
in exchange for a publication charge. Review your various options on brill.com/brill-open.
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 0920-623X
isbn 978-9004-29804-0 (hardback)
isbn 978-9004-30974-6 (e-book)
Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and
Hotei Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without prior written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided
that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive,
Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.
This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
In Dei nomine feliciter
∵

Contents
Preface xiii
Abbreviations xiv
Introduction 1
1 The Apostles 3
2 Status quaestionis of the Presence of the Apostles in Early Christian
Art and Poetry 8
3 Definition of the Corpus 14
4 Methodology 21
4.1 The Circuit of Culture 21
4.1.1 Representation 21
4.1.2 Production 23
4.1.3 Regulation 31
4.1.4 Consumption 34
4.1.5 Identity 41
4.2 Word and Image 43
4.2.1 Modern Scholarship on the Antique Word-Image
Relationship 44
4.2.2 Reflections and Methods 49
4.2.2.1 Tituli 49
4.2.2.2 Art, Poetry and Prose 58
4.2.2.3 The Approach of Early Christian Poetry 60
4.2.2.4 The Approach of Early Christian Art 62
4.2.2.5 Bringing Art and Poetry Together: Comparing the
Use of Apostle Narratives 64
1 Early Christian Poets and the Apostles 67
1.1 Commodianus 67
1.1.1 The Apostles in Commodianus’ Poetry 70
1.1.2 Concluding Remarks 74
1.2 Juvencus  75
1.2.1 The Apostles in Juvencus’ Euangeliorum libri quattuor 77
1.2.2 The Apostles as a Group 78
1.2.2.1 Discipuli 79
1.2.2.2 Other Words Used to Indicate the Apostles 84
1.2.2.3 Omissions of Apostle Names 87
viii contents
1.2.3 Individual Apostles 89
1.2.3.1 Peter 89
1.2.3.2 Judas 95
1.2.3.3 Andrew, James, John, Philip, Nathanael, Matthew and
Thomas 97
1.2.4 Concluding Remarks 100
1.3 Proba 102
1.3.1 The Apostles in the Cento Probae 106
1.3.2 The Apostles as a Group 107
1.3.3 Individual Apostles 114
1.3.4 Concluding Remarks 117
1.4 The Hymnum dicat turba fratrum or Hymnus de Christo 118
1.4.1 The Apostles in the Hymnum dicat turba fratrum 119
1.4.2 Concluding Remarks 121
1.5 Damasus 122
1.5.1 The Apostles in Damasus’ Epigrams 124
1.5.2 The Pair of Peter and Paul 124
1.5.3 Peter 129
1.5.4 Paul 130
1.5.5 The Apostles in the pseudodamasiana 134
1.5.6 Concluding Remarks 136
1.6 Ambrose 136
1.6.1 The Apostles in (pseudo-)Ambrosian Poetry 141
1.6.2 The Pair of Peter and Paul 142
1.6.3 Peter 146
1.6.4 John 148
1.6.5 The Other Apostles in Ambrose’s Hymns 152
1.6.6 Concluding Remarks 152
1.7 Claudian 153
1.7.1 Another Anti-Christian Poem? The Case of Palladas 155
1.7.2 The Apostles in Claudian’s carmen minus 50 156
1.7.3 The Apostles in the Miracula Christi 160
1.7.4 Concluding Remarks 161
1.8 Amphilochius of Iconium 162
1.8.1 The Apostles in the Iambi ad Seleucum 163
1.8.2 Concluding Remarks 164
1.9 Gregory of Nazianzus 165
1.9.1 The Apostles in Gregory’s Poetry 170
1.9.2 The Apostles as a Group 171
1.9.3 Paul 177
1.9.4 Peter 182
Contents ix
1.9.5 Judas 186
1.9.6 Matthew 188
1.9.7 John 189
1.9.8 Concluding Remarks 189
1.10 Prudentius 190
1.10.1 The Apostles in Prudentius’ Poetry 197
1.10.2 The Apostles as a Group 198
1.10.3 The Individual Apostles 201
1.10.4 Peter 202
1.10.5 Paul 211
1.10.6 The Pair of Peter and Paul 217
1.10.7 John 225
1.10.8 Judas 225
1.10.9 The Other Apostles 227
1.10.10 Concluding Remarks 227
1.11 Paulinus of Nola 228
1.11.1 The Apostles in Paulinus’ Poetry 236
1.11.2 The Apostles as a Group 237
1.11.3 The Individual Apostles 243
1.11.4 Paul 245
1.11.5 Peter 249
1.11.6 The Pair of Peter and Paul 253
1.11.7 Andrew 256
1.11.8 Thomas 261
1.11.9 John 263
1.11.10 The Other Apostles 264
1.11.11 Concluding Remarks 265
1.12 The Oratio consulis Ausonii versibus rhopalicis 267
1.12.1 Concluding Remarks 269
1.13 Synthesis: The Apostles in Early Christian Poetry 270
1.13.1 The Poets and Their Tradition 270
1.13.2 Frequency of Occurrence of the Apostles 272
1.13.3 The Twelve Apostles 272
1.13.4 The Pair of Peter and Paul 275
1.13.5 Peter 277
1.13.6 Paul 279
1.13.7 Judas 281
1.13.8 John 281
1.13.9 Thomas 283
1.13.10 Matthew 283
1.13.11 Andrew 283