medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear all,
Thank you so much for your generous help thus far. As more information
becomes available from all of you (am I right that everyone seems to agree
the cruciform halo is very seldom used for non-trinities?), I am becoming
more convinced that the image cannot be read as Christ with two saints and
must be seen as an unusual trinity.... though I am still unsure how to
define each of the individual persons. Another aspect that supports the
trinitarian interpretation is the placement of the image in the main apse
of this small church.
Lastly, I went back to re-look at my slides to confirm whether, at Jim's
suggestion, there are wings on the woman or birds floating around
(neither). Before this, I had focused mainly on the central group, but in
checking for birds this time in a wider shot, I noticed another significant
detail. There are at least two much smaller figures, 3/4 profile, facing
in, at the outer edges of the ceiling, where there is some damage. The one
on the viewer's left, nearest the woman Trinity person, is mostly
destroyed; one can just make out a pair of arms gently crossed at the
wrist, palms upward, evoking a gesture that I think is often used for the
BVM in annunciations(?). The one on the viewer's right, closest to
beardless, is more complete: a bearded man holding up yet another, smaller
chalice, and with a plain halo. This would seem to establish that the
cruciform halos were a conscious choice. There may have been another pair
of small figures as well, but the wall is too damaged in this area to tell
much about them.
One final note: this image is a sinopia --- i.e., a preliminary sketch, so
it may be regarded more as a work in progress.
Thanks again,
Nancy Caciola
History, UC- San Diego
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