Les saints briseurs d’idoles : étude sémiotique d’une iconographie paradoxale

The evolution of monotheism within a polytheist culture is strictly connected with the institution of the dialectics between monolatry and idolatry. On the one hand, a divinity among the others becomes the center of an increasingly exclusive cult. On the other hand, the progression of this exclusivity unfolds parallel with the stigmatization of any alternative veneration. The establishment of monolatry is substantiated both in sacred texts, which designate the only god, forbid the others, prescribe the legitimate cult, and condemn deviations, and in liturgy, where any reference to a multiplicity of transcendence is carefully avoided. The liturgical work of monolatry, however, is not only positive. It consists in a regulation of the signs of cult, but it entails also a destructive tension. So as to establish monolatry, determining the formulae for the evocation of the only transcendence is as central as destructing any sign that contaminates it by the representation of a rival divinity. The paper will bear on paradoxical representations of this negative work.