In response to both suggestions.
Since, thanks to the knowledgeable help of Sharon Arnoult, the date of
the LS has now been firmly established as the Maundy Thursday, the
Friday-fish-day version seems the least applicable. I could work out
three major reasons for the fish being the main course at the LS:
1. Anachronistic "monasticism" of Christ and his band might have played
a role but, I believe, this message is more compicated for the average
beholders than
2. the fact that the whole story happened (again
anachronistically)during the Lenten.
3. the third, far less probable: the iconographic canon of the LS
emerged in the sea regions, where fish is a usual food item. It could
have influenced the later tradition but it is usually difficult to trace
immediate dependance in such things.
And, the fourth, the fifth,and the sixth which shouldn't be forgotten
but appear less relevant: 4. fish as a customary (but not prescribed)
part of Passover meal(I wonder if they at all thought of it): thus it
appears along with lamb;
5. fish as a part of any good feast, independently of its religious
connotations: hence fish neighbours with chicken or pig;
6. and again IXTYS (the last, doubtful refuge).
Would you agree?
Elena
<<< Phyllis Jestice <[log in to unmask]> 2/ 9 8:21p >>>
Could the presence of fish at the Last Supper in some art be a general
ascetic statement? After all, the apostles (and Christ) were
prototypical
monks, and a pious artist wouldn't want to show them eating meat,
despite
the Passover.
Phyllis
>> Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 11:08:48 +0100 (BST)
>> From: M.C. Gill <[log in to unmask]>
>> Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: New (old) member: Elena Lemeneva
>>
>> Dear Elena,
>> Your query reminds me of several fifteenth-century English depictions
>> of the Last Supper, such as that in the Hours of Elizabeth the Queen
>> (if I remember correctly) and the glass at Great Malvern, in which
>> fish is prominently displayed on the dining table and where Judas is
>> shown stealing a fish and hiding it under the table (this was also
>> shown in stained glass at Peterborough, now lost). This imagery is
>> usually explained in two ways; firstly (anachronistically|) that Good
Friday
>>was a 'fast
>> day', so the disciples ate fish; secondly that Judas stealing the
>> fish recalls the comment in John's Gospel that he was a thief and
>> pre-figures his betrayal of Christ.
>>
>> Perhaps other listmembers have come across similar images or
>> discussion.
>>
>> Best Wishes
>>
>> Miriam Gill
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
Phyllis G. Jestice
[log in to unmask]
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