Frankish ReactionDuring the same period that Theophano was redefining the West's relationship with Byzantium, the resentment the Ottonian elite harbored toward their imperial rivals also asserted itself into the visual forum. A close examination of the Ottonian crown (left) reveals panels depicting Old Testament kings such as David and Solomon representing kingly virtues, as well as an image of Christ (bottom left). Here, Christ appears as kosmokrator, or “the ruler of the universe,” and claiming the authority by which all other kings reign.[1] He still wears what appears to be a chlamys, but David (bottom right) and the other kings do not. David’s short tunic, the bands holding his hose, and the shape of his cloak are much more similar to the Frankish costume described earlier in Einhard and seen in the image of Charlemagne from Sacramentary of Charles the Bald. This difference in costume from the other representations of Old Testament kings signifies a shift from seeking validation for Western royal power through visual association with Byzantine emperors, to a desire to claim David and the other biblical kings as the Holy Roman Empire’s direct forebears in the chain of divine political authority. By dressing the images of great political figures of the past in the costume of the present, the present rulers were perceived to inherit their essence and leadership qualities through the connection of the royal robes. By putting on those robes, the kings became new people, invested with the strengths of their predecessors.
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[1] Distelberger and Leithe-Jasper, The Kunsthistorishes Museum, 48, 51.