User:NoahWhite06/Veroli Casket
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Pagan Elements
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[edit]Pagan Elements in Byzantium are a common appearance, they are widely featured both in churches, but their significance is not fully understood. The Pagan elements featured on the Veroli Casket may have been a continuation of Roman relationships to Pagan themes that were favored by nobility. This interpretation suggests that the forms and movement of the mythological heroes is consistent with older forms of art that Byzantine nobility celebrated. The forms, themes, and visual complexity of Pagan imagery were discussed after the sack of Constantinople by historian Nicetas Choniates, leading scholars to believe that Pagan imagery invoked discussion and ontological thought.
Other scholars believe that the art represents resistance to Christianity and serve as an experimental work during the transitory period of Christianization. It is also theorized that the Pagan elements are a symbol of profanity, this can be understood both as a symbol of entertainment for nobility and their guests, but also the dangers of non-Orthodoxy. Nudity in Byzantine art was typically condemned in official view unless it served a strictly Christian meaning. Nudity on the Veroli Casket therefore may have been strictly for humor, as other works of Byzantine art typically used nudity in this fashion.