The Holy Name of Jesus in Venetian-ruled Crete

The present article focuses on a Cretan icon dating from the third quarter of the fifteenth century and signed by Andreas Ritzos, which stands out for its unusual combination of Italian and Byzantine visual elements. It displays an awkward "iconized" version of the standard Gothic abbreviation for the Holy Name of Jesus – the IHS monogram associated with the preaching of St. Bernardine of Siena – the letters of which are decorated with the scenes of Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection and accompanied by a Greek inscription taken after the ritual formulas of Orthodox Sunday Matins. The object is analysed against the background of Veneto-Greek interactions in fifteenth-century Crete and of contemporary discussions about the use of the IHS as an alternative to image worship.