Byzantine Intersectionality by Roland Betancourt

Author:Roland Betancourt [Betancourt, Roland]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2020-10-05T22:00:00+00:00

4.8. Washing of the Feet. Narthex, Church of Hosios Loukas, Greece.

In the mosaics at Hosios Loukas, the gaze of the Apostles varies strikingly in these two scenes. Whereas the Apostles’ gaze appears incredulous in the Doubting Thomas scene, in the mosaic of the washing they all look to one another. The gazes of the twelve men crisscross with a frantic energy: some look directly into the eyes of the man standing beside them, while others look over to catch the gaze of a man across the way, and some observe the others in these acts of looking. This multiplicity of gazes communicates both a longing voyeurism and an uncomfortably aroused energy, as if the Apostles are each (self)conscious of their exposed intimacy in the washing narrative. There is a pronounced sense of queer conviviality and community. And, while such a composition of glances is common in Byzantine art, the contrast with the incredulity mosaic is striking: there, none look to one another, no one looks to Thomas, all are fixed on Christ himself. Here, in contrast, it is not simply that most of them look to one another but that none look to the focus of the scene: Christ washing the feet of Peter. The youthful man who sits behind Peter, undoing his own sandal, looks intently at the scene unlike those behind him, eagerly awaiting Christ’s touch.

The artist has highlighted that this man is next. He sits on the bench as if about to slide over and have his feet washed. Christ is not simply washing Peter’s feet but also drying them, so there is a sense of urgency in the youth’s action of stripping off his own sandals. The way that Peter’s hand releases his forehead is also significant. In other scenes, the gesture of Peter clutching his head is meant to communicate the Apostle’s discomfort and shock at Christ’s submissive desire to wash his feet. These details stress to viewers that they are encountering the scene at the end of Peter’s wash, and the other man is thus placed in relief. The youth’s face tenderly rests on his own shoulder, his red cheeks blooming, as he looks back. Yet he looks not to Christ, not to Peter, but directly at Christ’s clothed hand caressing Peter’s right foot. In other words, this youth acknowledges the focus of the scene and longingly wishes to be touched by Christ next. He is the figure with which a monk might associate as he prepares himself to be washed by the abbot.

Given his round and beardless face, blushing red cheeks, and short hair, this figure can plausibly be identified as the young Apostle Thomas. A comparison between this man and the one depicted in the labeled portrait of Thomas to the left of the Doubting Thomas mosaic (see fig. 4.3) makes the association with Thomas all the more likely, for their facial characteristics are identical. Compositionally as well, this figure mirrors in location and gesture the figure of Thomas on the other

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