Abstract

Trinitarian theology is the first framework within which was expounded a reflection on the possibility of conceiving an image of the Divinity itself divine since unseparated from what it is an image of. In the discussions on the Trinity that followed the first Nicean Council, the image stands both as evidence of and argument for substantial unity, for distinctiveness which implies specific actions and for the relation of iconic reflexivity and doxological equality between the divine Hypostases. The definition and the functions of the iconic image are borrowed from Timaeus and Sophist, even though the image will be used as a key notion in the domain of substances, actions, genres and individuals, in other words, the domain of Metaphysics and Categories. In any case, the image matches the noetic reality of its referent, which it identifies with, means and represents at the same time. It thus establishes the link between hupostasis and prosôpon, the two dimensions of the Trinitarian «person». Those two functions, conceptual and phenomenal, of the image go together and cannot be separated, even though they are as unconnected as the levels, metaphysical and theological, to which they apply.