Abstract:

Monograms, symbols formed by the combination of a name, title or a series of letters indicating a prayer, have taken an important place in Byzantine symbolism since the early Christian world. Monograms of holy persons, derived from the nomina sacra and became symbols for the sacred characters, served an apotropaic function. Secular monograms, on the other hand, referred to the names of secular persons or groups and were most commonly seen in imperial artworks. Their functions are different from religious monograms. They became a symbol of ownership, power and power by integrating with the object on which they are located. For today's researchers, the most important problem with monograms is that their reading does not go beyond a hypothesis, since the systematics of placement of letters cannot be found. In addition, the function of monograms on architectural structures, personal use items such as jewellery, ceramics, and textiles are still debated. It is necessary to formally divide the monograms inherited from the ancient times to Byzantium into four categories: Box monograms, cross monograms, bar monograms, and juxtaposition monograms. In this article, it was aimed to systematize the types of monograms in the Byzantine visual records and to discuss their functions.

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