15 - The Power of Amusement and the Amusement of Power: The Princely Frescoes of St Sophia, Kiev, and their Connections to the Byzantine World

Summary

The largest Orthodox church of the eleventh century, St Sophia of Kiev, challenges the boundaries between the sacred and profane spheres. It unites under one roof carefully constructed representations of the sounds, movements, amusements and merriments of the Byzantine court and invocations of the stillness, silence and tears of Orthodox piety. These two irreconcilable realms were brought into dialogue for prince Iaroslav the ‘Wise’ (died 1054), a second-generation Christian who prevailed over his rivals after decades of fratricidal conflict. While in Byzantium these two spheres had long ago established a clear modus vivendi, in Iaroslav's Rus’ their relationship was just being formulated.

The fresco decorations of St Sophia's princely towers were created as a sophisticated artistic and architectural stage-set for the wise prince. Executed as part of a comprehensive programme of elevating obscure Kiev onto the stage of world politics, the images display intimate knowledge of Constantinopolitan court spectacle, pageantries of power and imperial amusement. I argue here that its imagery disrupts the Byzantine balancing act between sacred and profane spheres. It projects a sophisticated message about the power of amusement and the amusement of power. The significant civilisational capital embedded in the imagery of musical performances helped to mark Kiev as a new place of refinement. Simultaneously it revealed the prince's hand in valuing and balancing the two spheres, as well as his ability to move between them.

POLITICS OF PLACEMENT: ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN THE SACRED AND PROFANE WORLDS

The profane frescoes of the turrets of Kiev's St Sophia constitute a unique and singularly important collection of secular images (see Fig. 15.1). They are the only large-scale, extant medieval representations of courtly pleasures associated with the Byzantine capital. In their sweeping vision of imperial pleasures they provide unparalleled glimpses into performances of imperial power and the mechanisms of control that made them possible. Their singularity rests in their celebration of authority, which is not refracted through the prism of the church. We do not encounter heaven-granted coronations, close affiliations with the Mother of God, King David, angels or saints. Instead we behold the uncensored pleasures of power.