纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 067正信凯旋圣像（1）（在线收听）

067：EPISODE 67 - Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy 正信凯旋圣像

Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (painted in the late fourteenth century), from Istanbul

What does a great empire do when it's faced with imminent invasion and destruction? It can re-arm at home and seek allies abroad, but more cunningly it can revisit its history to forge a myth that will unite the people and carry them through to victory. A myth that will demonstrate to everyone that their country has been specially chosen by God and by history to uphold justice and righteousness.

History re-imagined can be a very powerful weapon. When the Christian Byzantine Empire faced obliteration at the hands of the Ottoman Turks around 1400, it turned to its past, found an event that proclaimed its unique and divinely ordained purpose, and turned that into a national myth. The Byzantines promoted their myth in the most public media at their disposal - they established a new religious feast-day, and they commissioned a religious icon to mark it.

"This icon is a document of a political event. I felt immediately that it was similar to the evening news." (Bill Viola)

"This debate about images just rolls in Christianity. Sometimes the image lovers win, sometimes the image haters win." (Diarmaid MacCulloch)

正信凯旋圣像

带蛋彩画与金箔的木板，来自土耳其君士坦丁堡（今伊斯坦布尔）公元一三五o年至公元一四o0年

一个大国面临迫在眉睫的入侵与破坏时会采取什么行动？可以对内组织武装，向外寻求盟国，但更妙的方式是重访历史并创造一个神话，以团结民众走向胜利。

这个神话应该让所有国民相信，他们的国家被历史特别挑选出来维护正义与公平。

一九一四年的法国和一九四年的英国都采用过这一方式。在这种情况下，对历史的重新理解可以成为强大的武器。公元一千四百年前后，当奥斯曼土耳其帝国即将把信仰基督教的拜占庭帝国从地图上抹去时，后者也开始回溯自己的历史，找出了一个可以表明自己存在的独特意义以及上天赋予其神圣权力的事件，再将其打造成国人皆知的神话。他们所选用的传播方式是影响最广泛且最为得心应手的一种：订立一个新的宗教节日，并委托绘制一幅新的宗教圣像画。