Trebizond Alexander Romance

A Literary Classic

The so-called Alexander romance contains the pseudo-historical legend of the biography of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great (356–323 BC). It tells mainly about his countless battles and military successes in the expansion of his dominion. Especially in the Middle Ages, the text enjoyed great popularity and its wide dissemination and the many translations contributed to the emergence of different versions of the story over time – Many of them 'Christianized' the ancient text and made Alexander an ideal and model of Christian rulers.
The Greek copy from the Istituto Ellenico holds a particularly detailed version of the tradition-rich text and was probably produced by an unknown scribe in the second half of the 14th century at the imperial court of Trebizond for Emperor Alexios III (1338–1390).

Fine Art for Political Propaganda

The Empire of Trebizond, with its eponymous 'capital', was a successor state of the Byzantine Empire founded after the conquest of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It comprised what is now known as Pontos and was formerly Byzantine territory on the southern coast of the Black Sea. Alexios III's 41-year reign began when he usurped the throne of the small empire in 1349. He took over an empire that was in a state of civil war, which he then sought to pacify by any means necessary. His goal was to recapture the glory of the early days of the empire and regain political prestige in the region in order to assert himself against Constantinople.
These efforts are also evident in the magnificent Alexander romance: in its picture program, Alexios III appears as the successor and 'heir' of Alexander the Great, whose story is actually told in the manuscript. Thus, a continuity between Alexander's powerful Empire of antiquity and the Empire of Trebizond is depicted, which should additionally legitimize Alexios' claim to power. This becomes particularly clear, on the one hand, in the depictions of the ancient ruler in Byzantine imperial garb, i.e. as a Byzantine emperor, but also in the opposing images of Alexander and Alexios on the first pages of the manuscript. Thus, there was once a portrait of the first at the beginning of the codex, which was followed by the still preserved, but badly damaged, frontal representation of Alexios III. – today fol. 1r.

Legendary images in imperial garb

The propagandistic details are found in almost all 250 large-scale miniatures, which were placed by three unknown illuminators on only 386 pages. The expressive and multi-figured images can be read almost like a comic novel and provide the reader with a colorful insight into the almost mythical life of Alexander the Great. His birth, his legendary fights with terrible monsters, the numerous battles, his weddings as well as his death are particularly focused on. The scenes are decribed by captions in red display script, which was also used for title lines and initials.
The dominant miniatures usually take up about half a page, but were also frequently executed on a full page and are then usually divided into two registers. The dynamic, polychrome sceneries unfold in striking red frames. Particularly striking is the exuberant use of gold leaf, which was employed not only for any backgrounds, but also for countless details in the robes of the figures. This sumptuous decoration also radiates courtly power and political legitimacy of rule.

Testimony to an eventful history

The old splendor still dwells in the manuscript today, although it bears clear traces of its changing ownership history. In the course of time, not only was the binding and thus the order of the folios changed, but some were also lost. And the surviving leaves are corroded - partly due to the pigments used - and the ink has faded in many places. On the other hand, the valuable manuscript also received some additions: After Trebizond was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1461, it passed into the hands of Ottoman owners, who added Turkish inscriptions in black ink to the miniatures. After that, the manuscript reappears in the sources only at the beginning of the 19th century, in Venice, where it was possibly brought by Konstantinos Maroutses (Maruzzi), in whose possession it was until shortly after his death in 1846. Thirty years later it was in the Archbishop's Library of San Giorgio dei Greci, and in 1879 it was part of the possessions of the Greek Brotherhood of Venice. Eventually, in 1953, it was transferred to the newly established Istituto Ellenico in Venice.