This book examines ideas of spiritual nourishment as maintained chiefly by Patristic
theologians ¿those who lived in Byzantium. It shows how a particular type of Byzantine frescoes
and icons illustrated the views of Patristic thinkers on the connections between the heavenly
and the earthly worlds. The author explores the occurrence and geographical distribution of
this new type of iconography that manifested itself in representations concerned with the human
body and argues that these were a reaction to docetist ideas. The volume also investigates the
diffusion of saints¿ cults and demonstrates that this took place on a North-South axis as their
veneration began in Byzantium and gradually reached the northern part of Europe and eventually
the entirety of Christendom.
