Only a few scholars have broached the difficult problem of the meaning of Wisdom in the cathedral church dedicated to Holy Wisdom in eleventh-century Kiev. The abstruseness of this problem lies in the fact that there is no direct reference to Wisdom as such anywhere in the cathedral, as was also the case for its model, Hagia Sophia, the church of Holy Wisdom in Constantinople. The key to Wisdom's meaning is symbolic analysis of the frescoes and mosaics, according to a tradition which deliberately hides its deepest mysteries below the surface, obvious meaning.
Sergej Averincev, in a now-famous article on the inscription in the
conch of the apse above the Mother of God's head, broaches the Mother
of God's symbolic association with Wisdom. He engages in a long
excursis on the classical and neo-Platonic roots of the concept of
Wisdom in order to show the allusive context in which her image exists
and specifically its role of symbolizing a world order inherent in the
city and the church.(1) John Meyendorff indicates that the entire apse
program in St. Sophia derives its significance from the patristic
exegesis of Wisdom builds
her House.
V. Brjusova devotes an article to the particular
tradition of patristic exegesis of this passage, which influenced the
decoration of Wisdom churches, specifically to the
Yet none of these scholars have addressed the relevance of this
symbolism to the image of the royal family on the western wall of the
nave. Nor have they examined the model of rulership, the state and
history implicit in this wisdom symbolism as it developed from its
origins in Hebraic Wisdom literature, through early Christian and
Byzantine exegetical tradition of Wisdom building her
house.
Today's paper will examine St. Sophia's apse decoration in light of
this exegetical tradition. I will show that while reflecting the
influence of the exegesis of Wisdom building her
house
into Christian terms. This translation, as I will show,
endowed the Wisdom tradition with theological depth and
historical-providential significance. I will describe how it
illuminates the meaning of the royal figures in the church and relates
them to a model of historical providence and ontological truth which
makes eschatological
wholeness mystically present in
time. I will then briefly indicate how these ideas directly resonate
with the portrayal of the ruler in Hilarion's
In my conclusions about the ideology of the ruler and the
kingdom
in Kievan Rus&soft;, I will show how the Wisdom
paradigm in St. Sophia relates to the analysis of the ruler's charisma
and its significance by M. &Chachek;ernjavskij in
1. S. Averincev,
2. John Meyendorff offers excellent descriptions of the
iconographic exegesis of
3. See P. Hunt,