Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 104. (Budapest, 2006)
ANNA EÖRSI: "...there is One Among You Whom You Do Not Recognise": Some Golden Threads to Miklós Boskovits with Reference to Duccio's Saint John the Baptist
2 CHRIST APPROACHES ACCOMPANIED BY HIS FOLLOWERS AND JOHN BAPTIZES A JEW F ROM AN ELEVENT! I CFN T U RY BYZANTINE MANUSCRIT I . FORMERLY PARIS, BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATION A I E In the related art historical literature, the topic and the relationship of the preachings and testimonies are not clear. As regards the latter, only two or three occasions are usually alluded to. 17 All this is justified, in so far as the paintings are mostly not literal illustrations of the texts. But only for the most part. As in the case of other themes, the relationship of the depictions to the related passages of the Gospels is intricate, changing from case to case. It may also happen that artists illustrate a text word for word, and also that similar compositions accompany different passages of the Bible. 18 Quite frequently the chosen iconographical type lives an autonomous life, and it cannot be related to a given passage, nor even to the inscription on it. 19 The titles, rendered by posterity, are often misleading.-" From among the standard iconographical manuals, it is only Pigler who, with reference to the theme, stresses John 1:26: "but there is one among you whom you do not recognise." 21 In my opinion, the paintings with the theme of the Testimony of Saint John comprise a hitherto neglected, well-definable group, which can be derived from this passage. The essence of the iconographical type is that the Logos is present in the midst o/John's audience, visible only for the Forerunner. This time, the Baptist does not identify the Agnus Dei, but announces that the Messiah is still invisible, but has already arrived. The rendering of this specific moment of the preaching and bearing testimony probably evolved in tenth- to eleventh-century Byzantine manuscript illumination. Stubblebine refers to the Gospels of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, grec 74, as the antecedent of the examples presented by him, which is, in my opinion, only partially justified. 22 On the recto of fol. 168, John preaches and bears testimony to the Pharisees and Lévites interrogating him; furthermore, he answers their questions. 2 ' His audience is a compact group without the Redeemer. On the verso of fol. 168, Christ approaches accompanied by his followers, and to the right, John baptizes a Jew (fig. 2). 24 On the same page, the illustration of another testimony is shown, 25
