by Krista West
Figure 9. Sant’Apollinare in Classe. Note how St Apollinare is vested as a bishop (Otto Von Simson, Sacred Fortress, Princeton University Press, Plate 22).
The phelonion originated as a very voluminous garment, originally worn almost to the feet in both the front and back of the body, essentially a large circle with an opening for the head in the center. Multiple examples of early phelonia are depicted in the mosaics of San Vitale and Sant’Apollinare in Classe. While the most famous mosaic in Sant’Apollinare is that of the titular saint as described above, the register of mosaics below this shows four episcopal successors, each of whom is depicted wearing the phelonion with omophorion. That the phelonion originally had a much longer front length than is currently used is further supported by the depictions of these four bishops; they all four have the phelonion hanging past the knee at their left sides as they cover their left hands holding the Gospel (factoring in the extra fabric to cover the left hand, the fully-draped length of the phelonion would have been almost floor-length). On their right sides, the excess drape of the phelonion is gathered into the crook of their elbow so that they may bless with their exposed right hand. Despite this original front length of the phelonion, practicality won out over time and the front of the phelonion began to be shortened so that the priest could more easily move about during divine services, the current length (typically to the waist) possibly being as late an adaptation as the seventeenth century, although it is unclear exactly when this transition occurred. It is just as likely that the phelonion could have been shortened very gradually over many centuries.
It is a feature of Orthodox liturgical dress that as a man advances through the major clerical orders, he does not lay aside his previous garments, but rather layers them one upon the other. Thus, the bishop is vested first in his sticharion, a sign of his diaconal vocation, then his phelonion, a sign of his presbyteral vocation, and finally his omophorion, the sign of his episcopal vocation.32 It is interesting to note that this layering of garments is a visual reminder of the Orthodox understanding that with more service comes greater responsibility. It also underscores an important concept in Byzantine ornamentation, that of layering. This is frequently seen in Orthodox Church decoration, an aesthetic approach that can appear overdone to the modern eye, accustomed as it is to utilitarian simplicity, but wholly appropriate to the Byzantine view in which the Church on earth was seen as a mirror image of Heaven and, as such, should look glorious and multi-faceted.
Scarves of Office: Orarion, Epitrachelion, Omophorion
It is with the omophorion that we come to one of the most debated topics in the study of liturgical dress, that of the origin of the specific “garments of office” for the major orders of the clergy. For in addition to their sticharion or phelonion, each order (that is, deacon, presbyter, and bishop) has a corresponding “scarf of office”: the orarion, epitrachelion, and omophorion. Most writers on this subject are at a loss to determine definitively the origins of these garments due to the lack of references in ancient texts and the often obscured, draped fabric folds depicted in iconography, ivory carvings, and mosaics. However, from a study of pre-Christian garments, Byzantine statecraft, and various ancient artworks, including early mosaics and consular diptychs, along with an understanding of the tailoring methods of producing these items, one may reach the conclusion that these three garments have their origin in two historical garments, namely the toga and the pallium, both of which had an either exclusively (in the case of the toga) or a primarily (in the case of the pallium) ceremonial or formal usage for at least two hundred years prior to the standardization of Orthodox Christian vestments.33
To begin with the deacon’s orarion, this garment is a long, narrow band, usually five to seven inches in width, which is worn over the sticharion, suspended from the left shoulder and extending to the hem of the sticharion both in front and in back (the additional length wrapped around the torso and over the right hip, as is now in use in the Greek tradition, seems to be a later addition, and its initial use could have been reserved to archdeacons). In its general design the orarion is a very long rectangle, approximately nine feet in length (fifteen feet with the Greek hip loop). Some authors have attempted to trace its origins to the imperial “handkerchiefs” distributed by Aurelian to be waved in approval at the theatre or circus.34 According to this attribution the garment would carry, despite its imperial gifting, connotations of worldliness and entertainment, both of which ideas are strongly at odds with the deacon’s primary role of service at the Divine Liturgy, such service being associated with the ministry of the angels in heaven. Several writers have tried to bolster the supposed connection of the orarion with Aurelian’s handkerchief on the basis of speculative etymology. “Os” is Latin for “mouth” or “face,” which some have taken to refer to the use of a scarf to wipe the face, thus suggesting that the orarion begins its liturgical service as a glorified napkin or sweat cloth.35 Such explanations might well strike one as insufficient and slightly ridiculous. Previously we have noted the importance of studying the fundamental design of a garment when attempting to determine the origins of a particular piece of Orthodox liturgical vesture. A long, rectangular garment used for a formal purpose is more satisfactorily found in the ancient pallium, which we have previously seen was reserved for dignified settings and thus is far more appropriate in both its design and usage for the Divine Liturgy. As with most cloak-like garments, the pallium had two methods of wear: the first being to wrap the garment around the shoulders letting the ends hang down the front of the body; the second being to wrap the garment around the front and back of the body, covering one shoulder completely and fastening at the other shoulder with a pin or fibula. This latter style of wear is depicted on the courtiers in the Sant’Apollinare mosaics (see Fig. 10), yet more evidence of the use of the pallium as a mark of office and service, since courtiers were servants of the imperial court, an earthly corollary to the office of the deacon at the Divine Liturgy. If we take the pallium thus worn sideways, fastening at the left shoulder, and abbreviate it to a narrow strip (a natural evolution from ancient forms of folding and draping garments so that only the decorative border would be displayed), we have a garment identical to the deacon’s orarion.36 While there is no conclusive evidence proving this origin of the orarion, this theory best answers the foremost questions of suitability of use and consistency of design.
Figure 10. A mosaic from Sant’Apollinare in Classe depicting courtiers wearing the pallium. Note tablion worn by courtiers. (Otto Von Simon, Sacred Fortress, Princeton University Press, Plate 27).
Moving on to the epitrachelion, the scarf of office of the presbyter, we may find its origins in the alternate wear of the pallium, that of suspending the garment around the shoulders and allowing the ends to hang down in front of the body. Once again, the pallium was associated with dignity and formality, as well as being the appropriate narrow, rectangular design, all of which points to the epitrachelion finding its origins in the pallium.37 (In the West the name of the historic pallium eventually came to be associated with a badge of archepiscopal office, a fact which further underscores its revered position in garment history.) As the noted liturgical scholar Duchesne observes, “In the last analysis this scarf [the pallium] was, no doubt, a relic of the short mantle which had been brought into fashion in the Roman Empire by the Greeks. But the discolora pallia of the Theodosian Code were evidently scarves, and scarves of office, which were worn over the paenula. . . .”38
In modern usage we are accustomed to seeing the epitrachelion held together with buttons up the front (or, more rarely, as a solid piece of fabric with a hole for the neck opening, sometimes referred to as the “Athonite” style due to its common use on the Holy Mountain), but this is a much later adaptation of the garment. The common form of the epitra-chelion in early centuries was certainly that depicted in icons of the early Fathers, such as St John Chrysostom and St Basil the Great; in these depictions it is clear that the epitrachelion is a narr
ow, non-buttoned length of fabric hanging down from either side of the neck. In addition to these artistic representations there are also a number of extant, embroidered epitrachelia, many dating from as far back as the eleventh century, that are made in this non-buttoned style as highly embellished, narrow rectangles to be draped around the neck, all of which support the origins of the epitrachelion being traced to the pallium (see Fig. 11).
Figure 11. Embroidered epitrachelion showing its origins in the pallium. (N. V. Drandakis, Ecclesiastical Embroidery at the Monastery of Arkadi, Holy Monastery of Arkadi, 67).
We now return to that garment which began our discussion of the various clerical scarves of office, the omophorion, the preeminent garment which identifies its wearer as a bishop. It is with the development of the omophorion that we find the most striking evidence of a conscious transference of symbolic garments from the civic to the spiritual realm. For in the omophorion of the Orthodox Church we find the last remnant of that great and quintessentially Roman garment, the toga. Other writers have opined that the origins of the omophorion are to be found in the pallium, but the widespread use of the pallium in late antiquity means that such a garment would not have been suitably commensurate with the status and respect accorded to bishops in the early Byzantine period. In order to better understand the elevated requirements of the bishop’s particular badge of office, it is necessary to consider the authority accorded to the Christian episcopate as early as the Constantinian era:
Under conditions, Constantine gave to the bishops the power of arbitration in certain suits; their findings were to be valid in the courts of the Empire, and it was enacted that the decrees of the Christian synods were to be upheld. Honorius later on enlarges the legislation of Constantine and gives to the arbitration of a bishop an authority equal to that of the Praefectus Praetorio himself, an officer second in importance only to the emperor. It would be thus quite natural that a bishop being a high Roman official should adopt some of the ensigns of his civil duties.38
This official honor and authority bestowed by the emperor upon the Church’s episcopate continued and expanded under Justinian:
Although the emperor appointed his bishops, the Justinian Code conceded to them independence, immunity, and authority to an extent that must have made them sovereign lords wherever the imperial power was not immediately present. In the administration of the Byzantine Empire the bishop occupied a position second to no one except the emperor himself. In the city the bishop nominated the municipal officers, maintained fortifications, aqueducts, bridges, storehouses, and public baths; supervised weights and measures; and controlled the city’s finances. In the provinces it was again the bishop who recommended candidates for the administrative posts and maintained a close watch on their activities, including those of the governor himself. In addition to these administrative powers, the bishop acted as judge. . . . The age did not distinguish between the two sources, spiritual and political, of the bishop’s power.39
For someone with authority as great as that wielded by a bishop, no mere pallium, however dignified, would suffice; he must wear the greatest symbol of office the ancient world had devised: the toga. We must remember that by the second century AD the toga was no longer used in its old senatorial form as a full cloak to cover the body, but as a purely ceremonial garment with distinctive folds, the toga contabulata, as shown in the consular diptych of Consul Anastasius in Fig. 12. In this diptych we see the consul wearing the toga, folded into a band approximately eight inches wide (this accorded with the eight-inch band of ornamentation along the edge of the toga), in the same Y-shaped configuration as the present-day omophorion, with the exception that the back section of the garment is wrapped to the right front and draped over the left arm. (In modern usage, this section of the garment simply hangs down the back of the bishop and is not brought to the front of the body; this difference is most likely because bishops now usually wear the omophorion standing while all extant ivory consular diptychs show the consul seated.) This and other consular diptychs as well as iconographic depictions (see Fig. 13) provide a very strong visual argument for the omophorion originating from the toga, not the pallium. Further evidence is found in the Theodosian Code, where the pallium is bestowed upon lower-ranking officials, not those with the kind of overarching authority a bishop would wield.40 Yet again, we must look not only at the design of the garment, but also consider its appropriateness and suitability according to the mindset of the Byzantines. A garment which was seen as suitable to a consul in the secular realm would accord perfectly with the respect and honor due a bishop in the spiritual realm.41
Figure 12. Consular diptych. Note the toga contabulata worn in similar draping as the omophorion. (May G. Houston, Ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Costume, 125).
Figure 13. Icon of Christ the High Priest showing same draping as consular toga. Copyright © Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, used by permission. All rights reserved.
Ancillary Vestment Pieces
Having surveyed the origins of the most significant pieces of Orthodox liturgical vesture, it now remains to consider a few auxiliary garments.
Zone (Belt)
The first of these is the zone, or belt, presently used by both presbyters and bishops. It is likely to remain impossible to establish this garment’s precise time and place of origin since in any visual representation a zone would be hidden by overgarments and it is rarely mentioned in any early documents. This is an understandable omission, for such a small detail of clothing, while practical and necessary, is easily overlooked. However we can presume the zone’s early usage due to the fact that many ancient forms of the tunic had folds held in place by some kind of girdle or belt, a necessary measure for the management of a voluminous garment. The zone almost certainly came into use as a practical garment but in time it took on symbolic significance. Its theological meaning was firmly rooted by the time of St Germanos (Patriarch of Constantinople from 715–730) who states, “The belt signifies that [the priest] wears the mortification of the body and chastity, having girded his loins with the power of truth.”42 The humble zone stands as a perfect example of how practical garments came to be imbued with theological symbolism in their evolution from daily wear to liturgical usage.
Epimanikia (Cuffs)
With the epimanikia, or cuffs, we find yet again a lack of precise information as to initial usage. We do know that they were first used by bishops who in later centuries then awarded the dignity of their use to presbyters and deacons. They were perhaps a fairly late addition as they are not mentioned in St Germanos’ On the Divine Liturgy (eighth century) or any earlier documents; their first mention as a liturgical garment is not until 1054 in a letter written by Peter of Antioch.43 However, this absence of mention may simply be due to the fact that unadorned cuffs could have been used in much the same way as the zone, that is to contain the voluminous sleeves of the tunic for practicality and, so may have not been considered a specialized garment associated only with vestments until they began to assume a highly embellished and decorative form which was more suitable to the character of an award piece. In the mosaics of San Vitale, Justinian is shown with bands around the sleeves of his tunica talaris, which could either be a decorative element of the actual tunic itself or removable cuffs worn to narrow the sleeves. Christ is depicted with similar bands, as is Melchizedek and the Evangelist Mark. In fact, it is interesting to note that in the mosaics of San Vitale, every single figure, whether male, female, or angelic, is depicted wearing some kind of banding at the wrist to gather in the full sleeves of their tunics (the only exception is the depiction of the four angels in the apse). At Sant’Apollinare in Classe the titular saint is shown with the same bands as those at San Vitale and the Emperor Constantine IV wears a more elaborate version of the cuffs that more closely resemble the epimanikia in use in modern times.
Epigonation
As with the omophorion, the origins of the epigonation have been a subject of much debate am
ong scholars. Many authors trace its origins to a handkerchief or to the maniple of the West, but this appears unlikely. All evidence points to the consistent use of the epigonation as an award piece, given as a mark of service or favor. The piece was originally referred to as an encherion. From the earliest depictions of epigonatia in iconography, they are shown to be highly embellished, usually by heavy gold and metal embroidery and the use of jewels. This lozenge-shaped, stiff, lavishly ornamented piece is far removed from any square, limp handkerchief. Additionally, the purpose of a handkerchief or napkin does not readily suggest its adoption as a garment that is to be granted specifically as an award.
We find a very compelling alternate theory of the origins of the epigonation, however, if we consider the garments of the Byzantine court, specifically the cloak-like garment of courtiers, called the paludamentum, which was worn in the sideways fashion of the ancient pallium, resting upon the left shoulder and fastened at the right with a fibula. On this paludamentum was an often elaborate piece of decoration in the form of a lozenge situated over the right hip of the wearer, called the tablion (see Fig. 10), which was an integral feature of Byzantine male court dress from the fifth to tenth centuries. The most exquisite and elaborate decoration of the courtier’s costume was often reserved for the tablion and in this the tablion exactly corresponds to the epigonation’s use among the Church’s vestments as that of a highly ornamented award piece.44 Due to its limited size and its use as an award piece, some of the finest examples of Orthodox embroidered iconography are found on epigonatia, many of which are on display in museums and monasteries to this day. Central motifs can include Christ, the Theotokos, or any of the Great Feasts, and surrounding this primary motif are often intricate vinework and floral designs.
