 |
 |
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Dear John, While it would be lovely to see the life of Thecla played out extensively on these panels, I'm afraid that there are some major problems with that interpretation. The top panel really can't be T receiving water, as all figure shown are male. Male/female distinction is not always clear in Early Christian art, but following Roman conventions, women's garments normally go all the way down to the shoes (as in the second panel) while men's stop at the ankles. The figure on the ground receiving water is dressed in the short tunic and cloak of the worker or soldier, and both he and the man behind him wear "oriental" hats (not the loose hair or veils of women). The scene is normally interpreted as Moses bringing forth water, and soldiers. The second panel is generally thought to show the resurrection of Tabitha by Peter, a servant woman reacting in amazement on the left. The dolphin next to her is probably part of Tabitha's bed, with a large cushion. The end prop on such a bed is not usually quite such a large dolphin, but for the general shape see e.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ggnyc/2529909495/ The panels are included in the standard corpus publication: Wolfgang Fritz Volbach, /Elfenbeinarbeiten der Spätantike und des frühen Mittelalters/, Röm.-German. Zentralmuseum zu Mainz, Forschungsinst. für Vor- u. Frühgeschichte, 3rd ed. 1976, no. 117. Best, Genevra John Dillon wrote: > 3) Thecla of Iconium (d. late 1st cent., supposedly). > > On Thursday, September 23, 2010, at 10:04 pm, Genevra Kornbluth wrote: > >> There is also an earlier ivory with Thecla; see >> http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=62246&partid=1&searchText=paul+ivory&fromDate=300&fromADBC=ad&toDate=600&toADBC=ad&titleSubject=on&numpages=10&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx¤tPage=1 >> > > The British Museum's text accompanying that image describes only the lowest of the three panels shown. The other two panels also show scenes from the Acts of Paul and Thecla. For example, at left in the middle panel T. is shown standing next to the seal pond in the amphitheatre at Antioch into which she is said to have leapt in an act of self-baptism, while at right in the upper panel T. is shown receiving water from the cave in the rock where she spent her final days after escaping through the cleft. > > The animal in the pool, sometimes interpreted in versions of this scene as a dolphin, is in the texts a seal (a.k.a. sea calf). For an attested Roman amphitheatre with a pool containing seals, see Calpurnius Siculus, _Ecl._ 7. 65-68. > ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html