Byzantinische Epigramme auf Ikonen und Objekten

Within Byzantine literature epigrams, which can be of considerable length, play an important role. A considerable amount of them is still preserved in situ. Their investigation is the aim of the four planned volumes of the project "Byzantinische Epigramme in inschriftlicher Überlieferung" ["Byzantine epigrams on objects"]. The second volume within the series is devoted to Byzantine epigrams on icons and objects of minor arts. 67 icons, 115 metal objects, 34 ivories, 9 wooden objects, 4 steatites and 11 textiles bearing metrical inscriptions and belonging to the period 600 A. D. - 1500 A. D. are known. The present volume also contains 33 Addenda to volume 1 (Byzantinische Epigramme auf Fresken und Mosaiken [Byzantine epigrams on frescoes and mosaics]). The Addenda-part primarily provides those epigrams which were discovered after the publication of the first volume, e.g. the verses of Ignatios Diakonos on fables of Aesop in the cave complex of Eski Gümü? (Cappadocia) or the metrical inscriptions in the church Timios Stauros tou Hagiasmati (Cyprus) which have not been edited so far. In the introduction, reference is made to the specifics of the epigrams on the mentioned objects. Questions concerning authorship, metrics and prosody, language, palaeography, and the interaction of word, image and beholder are discussed. The most common metre is the Byzantine dodecasyllable; while there are other metres, they hardly occur. The majority of the inscriptional epigrams is composed in a very learned style which is primarily based on the language of hymnography and liturgy. Occasionally vernacular forms occur; they are normally kept in the Greek text as far as they provide possible variants. With respect to the dating of the inscriptions a short palaeographical analysis is undertaken which is normally based on the existing literature. Since the majuscule is used for almost all inscriptional epigrams the exact dating on the basis of palaeography is sometimes difficult. Thus, the content of the epigrams has to be analyzed carefully in order to discover indications useful for the dating process. Remarks on the corresponding or in some cases less corresponding interaction between word and image, i.e. between epigram and object, are to be found in the introduction of the book, in the commentary of the epigrams and in accompanying articles (cf. bibliography). The main part of the book consists of the critical editions of all epigrams, their German translation, as well as a commentary focusing on philological, linguistical and historical matters. Furthermore, the material is also compared with epigrams which are only transmitted in manuscripts and with other inscriptional epigrams. In this way one is able to detect common structures and topoi, like in metrical founder`s inscriptions for example. Such inscriptions are inscribed both on icons - either on the icon itself or on the gold / silver cover - and objects of minor arts, e.g. on reliquaries such as on the well-known staurotheke of Limburg. At the end of the volume indices of the beginnings of the epigrams, Greek words, biblical, ancient and Byzantine references and a general index are provided. In addition, images (colour as well as black and white) of almost all epigrams are presented in the tables. On the basis of the discussed material in this volume the importance of inscriptional epigrams for Byzantine culture is once more emphasised.