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Abstract
The development of Christ’s iconography was vital to the success of Christianity, claiming the power of the ancient world’s most venerated figures. This thesis explores scholarly arguments surrounding the origins of Christ’s iconography, discussing the works of prominent scholars, including André Grabar’s theory of the “Emperor Mystique” and Thomas Mathews’ book The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art and their reviews, which respectively argue the Byzantine imperial and classical pagan bases of Christ’s image. These works illustrate the complexity of the scholarly divide on this issue, which this thesis endeavors to bridge through an additional emphasis on a third major influence, referred to as “Christ the True Philosopher.” Proposing the combination of these influences in each of Christ’s characteristics and arguing that they should be considered as parts of a complex whole, this argument is illustrated through a sixth-century icon of Christ Pantocrator at St. Catherine’s Monastery.