The Syncretic Revelation of John of Gaza

This paper suggests that John of Gaza’s poem Tabula Mundi which is in general considered to be an ekphrasis of a real picture that had once adorned winter baths in Gaza or Antioch, actually reflects the author’s personal cosmological beliefs and is an ekphrasis in form only. In the poem there are parallels both with the mystical narratives of the ascent to heaven, and with Christian apocalyptic teachings. However, John of Gaza’s ʻrevelationʼ is not about the end of the world, but about its infinity and wise structure. The form of ekphrasis may have been chosen for the sake of disguise, since in the time when John lived, the views reflected in his poem may have been considered heretical.