medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: "Goskar T." <[log in to unmask]>
> I am looking for a solid reference I can consult on the significance of a
motif which incorporates two peacocks flanking a chalice/vase/jug - also
interpreted as the Greek 'kantharos'. I have a similar symbol with what could
be either peacocks or doves flanking what looks like a chalice (on a cameo).
what you want, i believe, is a quite good article (in German) by Jan van der
Meulen which i came across quite by accident a few years ago and is buried in
some Festschrift (for a German or, perhaps, Italian scholar, if my dim memory
is right) published in the '70s or so.
> The context is 6-7th century and the motifs are found on Italian jewellery.
vdM's article traces it back to the early examples, but is primarily (memory,
again) interested in it's western, 12th c., "romanesque" manifestations --it
is found, for example, on a very prominent capital on the North tower of the
cathedral of Chartres (which is vdM's specialty).
you can just make it out here
http://tinyurl.com/5ds84y
http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/image-idx?q1=FCAi2001;rgn1=chartres_dn;sid=d59fb6f5770ac4d56578f971d125b245;size=20;c=chartres;lasttype=simple;view=entry;lastview=thumbnail;subview=detail;cc=chartres;entryid=x-fcai1e200100;viewid=FCAI1E200100.TIF;start=1;resnum=4
if you go to the highest magnification and scroll to the right.
or this one, equally blurry
http://tinyurl.com/63tn5p
larger still, but still hardly legible:
http://tinyurl.com/55ejnp
the dating, "1130-1230" is generic to the cathedral as a whole, and the
sculptures of the lowest level of the North tower are most likely in the 1130s
--perhaps after a fire in 1134, but some (vdM) prefer an earlier date.
a companion capital to the right of this one sports a centaur with a bow
saving a maiden from a be-sworded goat-demon,
http://tinyurl.com/6ytc47
http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/image-idx?view=entry;cc=chartres;entryid=x-FCSVI1001200
this is much easier to date by figure style, at least in theory, and, on that
basis, a date in the 1130s fits with what few other figurative monuments we
have more or less from the region (e.g., St. Stephen of Dreux, Ste. Genevieve
of Paris).
i will try my best to find the precise reference to vdM's article as soon as i
can think of some way to do that.
however, it's more of a challenging job for some hot-shot Reference Librarian
wanting to Prove his Chops.
of suchlike animals we have at least two on this list.
c
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