ABSTRACT
The one place where we can be sure that questions of identity and the projection of identity were paramount is in the image of the emperor Manuel I Grand Komnenos himself, which was originally located in the church of Hagia Sophia in Trebizond (Fig. 96). This image brings together all the issues that have been discussed in previous chapters. This single portrait best illustrates the various tensions embodied in Manuel's reign: the need to balance the competing goals of projecting an international imperial identity, and of grounding rule in the local realities of the Pontos.
