medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: CARLOS <[log in to unmask]>
> I have found an example of a saint surrounded by the Evangelists:
>
> http://www.geocities.com/cdesastre20008/ABBOT.htm
> The image is from M Lindsay, "The iconography of St. Paul in Medieval
Malta", in C. Hourihane (ed.) Insights and Interpretations, Princeton,
2002, p. 145.
i'd be a bit careful, here, Carlos.
the iconography of this image is *very* unusual, in my experience
http://www.geocities.com/cdesastre20008/DSCN4197.JPG
i've never seen it --which doesn't mean much, admitedly, since my knowledge of
Maltese art doesn't extend much beyond certain gold (or lead, depending upon
which version) statues of large birds
http://imdb.com/title/tt0033870/
--but more important is the fact that i can't recall ever having seen this
iconography of a non-Christ surrounded by the evangelist symbols.
> J. F. Hamburger states that "Popes, archbishops, and abbots also had
themselves portrayed in Christomimetic guise" (i. e., with the symbols
of the Evangelists): St. John the Divine, p. 6.
Jeffrey Hamburger's knowledge obvious excedes my own, so i'll yield the field,
even without having his examples to hand, or eye.
but those instances must be *very* rare --and, perhaps, as in your Malta
example, from relatively "marginal" areas.
(put aside for a moment the clear issue of whether or not such a depiction is
inherently blasphemous.)
it could be argued, of course, that this factor of "marginality" works
somewhat in favor of the possibility of seeing your capital as an instance of
this unusual iconography --i'm assuming (from the quality of its style) that
your "little church" is hardly a major site.
> I'll pursue this path...
your option.
but, while your Malta example obviously fits Hamberger's so happily described
"Christomimetic guise" interpretation --the figure is *so* close to the quite
common depictions of X surrounded by the Evangelists that the only things i
can see which suggest that it is *not* a question of X there are the presence
of the sword and the absence of a cruciform halo-- i don't think that your
Spanish capital does fit Hamberger's catagory.
it differs in a least two significant respects:
1) there are only two Evangelists present --which suggests (to me at least) a
deliberate emphasis on the part of the iconographer on those two, *specific*
Evangelists, viz., Mark and John.
if this supposition is correct, then it *may* be that there is a clue in that
*specific* choice as to the identity of your central figure (whom the
venerable MG has suggested we call "Mark", for some reason).
again, i suggest the possibility of your abbot-priest/bishop "Mark" being
recognized by his contemporaries and collegues as something of exegetical
expert on the writings of these two Evangelists, which expertise might --or
might not-- *survive*, in the form of writings such as sermons or
commentaries.
b) just as the non-X figure in the Malta example so perfectly fits into the
more familiar and common iconography of X surrounded by the Evangelists, so
does your Spanish capital --conversely-- fit into the much more familiar and
common (especially on romanesque capitals) iconography of a single human
figure beset by two flanking (and usually threatening) beasts.
indeed, when i first saw your capital it took me a while find the crucial
"attributes" (viz., the books) which distinguished those particular beasts
from the common or "garden variety" ones which we see so often and which the
contemporary intended audience would have recognized so readily.
for these reasons --and because we (apparently) do *not* have a common
iconography of X between only *two* Evangelists/Beasts-- i rather doubt that
your capital is an example of the "Christomimetic guise" theme which Hamburger
delineates.
again, there is the *possibility* that your capital is part of a broader
iconographic program which includes images on neighboring capitals.
do the other capitals in the church survive?
and, if so, are they from the same "campaign" of construction as your
capital?
(i noted previously that at least one side of the compound pier which your
capital is a part of appears to have been from a different campaign)
if the answers to the above is "yes", what is depicted on those other
capitals? --especially, what *figures* (animal or human) do we find on them?
best from here,
christopher
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