The other image at the palace gate and the visual propaganda of Leo III

Abstract

Much has been written about the icon of Christ that adorned the outside of the Chalke Gate, the main entrance to the Great Palace of Constantinople, particularly regarding its early history. A key question is whether an icon existed before the period of Iconoclasm, who commissioned it, and whether its removal by Emperor Leo III in 726 marked the beginning of the Iconoclastic controversy as later described by Iconophile writers. Regardless of the historical accuracy of these accounts, attention has often overlooked evidence from a letter by Patriarch Germanos I to Metropolitan Thomas of Claudiopolis, preserved in the Acts of the Second Council of Nicaea. The letter describes a composite religious image erected by Leo III and Constantine V at an entrance to the imperial palace. This evidence has been largely absent from major studies of Byzantine art and Iconoclasm, despite offering valuable insight into Leo III's use of visual propaganda and helping clarify debates surrounding the Chalke icon and the motivations of the first Iconoclast emperor.