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[log in to unmask]" type="cite">medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Getting back to the original query about the birds, one does find birds on crosses from time to time, though they are not normally so prominent. An example is the Ottonian cross of Liudolf in Cleveland, with four pairs of confronted birds in enamel (the glass mostly lost), c.1045. One of my images shows the birds fairly well:
http://www.kornbluthphoto.com/images/LiudolfCross4.jpg
--for other views of the cross see http://www.kornbluthphoto.com/HistoricalCrosses1.html
These birds are probably peacocks, with different symbolism from doves.
There are doves perched on the arms of the cross (as on the Passion Sarcophagi) on one of the sarcophagi in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia,
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/ravenna-galla-placidia-photos/slides/IMG_1181p.htm
At one point I dug into the early symbolism of birds on/in trees, and found that they could be used to signify the Tree of Life. Thirty years ago (and perhaps still today?), it appeared that the iconography came from Jewish art; an ancient ref: Ameisenowa, "The Tree of Life in Jewish Iconography,'' Journal of the Warburg Institute, v. 2 (1938/9) pp. 326-345.
In Early Christian art, see the Munich Ascension ivory:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reidersche_Tafel_c_400_AD.jpg
where I see the tree (with birds) growing out of/up behind the tomb, compositionally paralleling the ascending Christ, as the Tree of Life.
Though I have not traced it historically, the step from 'birds on the Tree of Life' to 'birds on the cross-as-tree-of-life' seems like a small one, at least conceptually.
best,
Genevra

On 4/20/2011 8:14 AM, Paul Chandler wrote:

[log in to unmask]" type="cite">medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
The central part of the 12/13-c. apse mosaic at San Clemente in Rome shows a crucifixion as the tree of life <http://www.classicalmosaics.com/images/sanclem2.jpg>. On the cross are twelve birds, which I take to be doves. I'm wondering if there is an agreed interpretation. Do they represent the apostles? Is there a precedent for doves-as-apostles, and for the very prominent placement of these birds on the cross? (There are other birds below, peacocks and cranes of some kind, but I'm intrigued by the especially prominent doves, if that's what they are, and how they fit into the iconographical scheme.)

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