medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Genevra,
It would make sense that the Vexillum of St Peter came into prominence
during the Investiture Controversy, but there were a couple of mosaics
put up by Pope Leo III, flanking the triclinium in the Lateran Palace --
there are replacements there now -- which showed Christ handing a
vexillum to Constantine on one side, and St Peter handing a vexillum to
Charlemagne on the other. Presumably, these reflect some sort of
presence of a vexillum of St Peter by the late 8th century. Come to
think of it, however, these were the "western" type of vexilla, a pennon
with tails, rather than the rectangular "Byzantine" type of vexillum, as
on your ivory.
Jim
On 05/05/2012 8:34 PM, Genevra Kornbluth wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Wikipedia (source of all things reliable) says that the vexillum
> started as a papal thing during the Investiture Controversy, long
> after the ivories were made. Is this right? And of course the item is
> held on the Paul side of the ivories, not the Peter side.
> Also, it appears to me that the Paul/Andrew figure is likewise holding
> something rectangular, just a bit lower down than Peter/Philip. Of
> course, between a distinctly non-naturalistic style and a fair bit of
> surface wear, it's really anyone's guess.
>
> On 5/5/2012 2:06 PM, Dr Jim Bugslag wrote:
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
>> culture
>>
>> On the other hand, Peter is associated with a vexillum, which was
>> presented by popes to those fighting on their behalf.
>> Jim
>>
>> On 05/05/2012 12:32 PM, Robert Kraft wrote:
>>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
>>> culture
>>>
>>> When I checked the images, after CC's post, I was interested to find
>>> the figure on the left holding a book (a codex, it seems; or a
>>> tablet), since some earlier depictions of Philip on this thread show
>>> him holding some sort of roll (not clear whether one read
>>> horizontally or vertically; is it because Philip interprets Isaiah
>>> to the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts?). I don't recall Peter being
>>> associated with book holding in the artistic conventions, so I
>>> wonder if maybe CC is onto something here.
>>>
>>> Bob Kraft. UPenn emeritus
>>>
>>> On 5/5/2012 9:54 AM, Genevra Kornbluth wrote:
>>>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
>>>> culture
>>>>
>>>> Sorry for the delay in my response to CC-- this is a busy time of
>>>> year.
>>>> The panels are each 29 cm high (11.4"). The figures are generally
>>>> identified as Peter and Paul, but really, it could go either way.
>>>> They are not distinguished physiognomically. Neither is balding or
>>>> bearded, and a beard was as standard for Andrew as it was for Peter.
>>>> The object held by Paul/Andrew is normally identified as a labarum
>>>> (not standard iconography for any apostle that I know of!).
>>>>
>>>> On 5/3/2012 2:19 PM, Christopher Crockett wrote:
>>>>> http://www.kornbluthphoto.com/images/HarrachDipt2.jpg
>>>>> but surely the two figures here are not Pete & Paulie, but Phil
>>>>> and Andy? (where's Pete's beard and, what, did he get a hair
>>>>> transplant?)...and what is that attribute the figure on the right
>>>>> is holding?
>>>>
>
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