The Deisis in Panagia Drosiani, Naxos: The Fresco Tells its Story

ABSTRACT This article proposes a new interpretation of the Deisis fresco in the church of Panagia Drosiani, Naxos (500–700 CE). Though there are five figures in the fresco, only three are identifiable with certainty. The article argues that the other two—both clothed in imperial vestments—are misidentified by two nominal inscriptions, added later. By privileging image over text, the investigation uses the discourse of images to examine each figure’s stance and presentation, their elaborate costumes, and their roles in the ex-votive work of art. Comparisons of the fresco to other contemporaneous works of art in Rome, Ravenna, and Thessaloniki, disclose the fresco’s much larger story, testimony to Emperor Constantine IV’s achievements in the wider Mediterranean world. By contesting their identities assigned by the nominal inscriptions found on the Deisis fresco, the article exposes why the inscriptions are spurious, offers reasons for their later appearance, and suggests the original identities of the two unknown figures, based on the imagery itself set within the context of the late seventh century, thus allowing the fresco to speak.