Валерия Косякова – Apocalyptic Concepts in the Middle Ages (страница 11)

A collective eschatological statement that had developed by the 9th century. The scene in the conch of the apse depicts the coming Second Coming of Christ. The Lamb standing on a mountain, the tree of life, and the rivers of paradise express the idea of the heavenly Jerusalem. In the center is depicted the Savior walking on red, blue, and green clouds. In his left hand, Christ the Lawgiver holds a scroll ( traditio) . legis ) with the Greek letters Α and Ω. This image illustrates the beginning of the Apocalypse: " Behold, He comes with clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him... I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End " (Rev. 1:7-8 ) . Christ's right hand is raised, bearing the marks of the nails—stigmata—a symbol of torment, death, and resurrection. The scroll with seven seals and the lamb surrounded by the Four Living Creatures, the empty throne awaiting Christ, symbolizing his reign and the Second Coming, Christ himself standing among the apostles—all these are vivid images of the End of the World, visualized in mosaics and on the pages of manuscripts.

The abundance of apocalyptic motifs in early Christian art can be interpreted as a reflection of eschatological reflections on the actual arrival of the last day, expected relatively soon after the already accomplished Resurrection of Christ. The timeless, triumphal character of the images affirmed by the representation of Christ is linked to the interpretation of the "true parousia"—a concept in Christian theology that originally denoted both the invisible presence of the Lord in the world from the moment of His appearance and His coming into the world at the end of time.

On the one hand, the abstraction and dehistoricization of the Apocalypse was the result of the exegesis of Tichonius and Augustine. On the other hand, theology linked the heavenly and earthly worlds—not least through the fusion and identification of the image of the ruler with that of Christ. The concept of the divine origin of kingship acquired strength and significance. This process resulted in changes in iconography: the idea of God—and especially Christ—was personified not in the good shepherd, but in the emperor, the Pantocrator-Almighty 25. Not only iconography changed, but also the very understanding of the world: everything physical acquired its metaphysical dimension. Christian culture was enriched and filled with signs, symbols, and interpretations, the decipherment of which depended on knowledge of Holy Scripture. The world was conceived through text. The word, possessing a sacred nature, became fundamental to understanding all of life and the structure of existence. Therefore, contemplative study, meditative copying and contact with the sacred text were embodied in the cult of the manuscript book, as well as in the beauty of the miniatures that accompanied it.

Although the development of manuscript culture—the creation and reproduction of sacred texts—was one of the most important components of Christianity, illuminated Apocalypses from the early Christian period and late antiquity have not survived, but they certainly existed from the fifth century onward. However, later works inherited the earlier imagery, allowing us to reconstruct two traditions: first, early Christian Romanesque prototypes, which influenced the iconography of Central Europe and the early medieval Spanish tradition; second, North African prototypes of the fifth and sixth centuries, reflected in the Apocalypse of Beatus 26.

Even Constantine the Great, who had conceived the idea of creating a second capital for the Roman Empire, chose between the contenders Milan, Trier, Troy, and Byzantium. The choice fell on the latter, which was immediately renamed Constantinople in honor of the emperor. In the 9th century, Charlemagne, crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III , proclaimed Aachen, located near Trier, as his capital. The so-called "Carolingian Renaissance" had begun. Charlemagne's imperial ambitions inspired him to turn to the established formulas of Roman and early Christian art: the lost mosaic of the dome of the imperial chapel in Aachen depicted the well-known scene of the adoration of the throne by the 24 elders ( a urum) . coronarium ), also recorded in the depiction of the adoration of the lamb in the late Carolingian Codex Aureus of Emmeram ( Aureus of Saint Emmeram , circa 870) 27.

The influence of the late antique tradition is also found in other Carolingian monuments. For example, the Prologue of St. John from the Gospel of St. Medard ( Plures fuisse É vang é liaire de Saint - M é dard de Soissons (early 9th century) 28shows a free depiction of the early Christian worship of the lamb, combined with a late antique image of the sea (" and before the throne a sea of glass like crystal ," Rev. 4:6) and architectural motifs symbolizing the New Jerusalem of the Apocalypse in the form of a richly decorated permanent backdrop of the ancient theater ( scaenae) frons — the backdrop of an ancient theatre, see Fig. 4 4) 29.

As a result, the image of the Roman Empire, which is depicted in the Revelation of John exclusively in monstrous allegories, became an integral part of the discourse of power and the iconography of the Apocalypse.

An outstanding example of medieval Romanesque art is the Apocalypse, now housed in the Trier Library 30. This early ninth- century manuscript, created in the northern scriptoria of the Charles Empire, in the Abbey of Saint-Martin in Tours, or in the city of Cambrai, where a partial copy survives 31, contains 74 full-page miniatures and is considered the earliest and most complete illustrated Apocalypse to have survived from the Carolingian era. The Trier Apocalypse, while not entirely based on an ancient manuscript, absorbed the late Roman visual tradition, adapted for Christian expression: Satan traces the image of Bacchus, and the angel traces the goddess of victory, Nike. The images of paradise and the lamb are borrowed from Roman mosaics, as are many other details: the earth is represented by a human figure, and God's punishments and evil are represented by a dragon, depicted as a winged serpent. The Whore of Babylon riding the Beast harks back to the iconography of the goddess Isis riding the dog Sirius on Roman Gnostic coins (see Fig. 45) . A book is depicted as an ancient scroll, and the painful expressions of the tragic faces are reminiscent of ancient theatrical masks. The personified winds are depicted as naked busts with winged heads, a reference to the wide-brimmed winged hat "petasus" of Hermes (sometimes medieval artists depicted horns instead of wings, misunderstanding the origins of the iconography). The Apocalypse unfolds in the architecture of ancient cities; the angels are dressed in Roman togas, with laurel wreaths adorning their heads. The specific arrangement of the illustrations within the text also harks back to late antique examples 32. However, despite the direct connection with the ancient tradition, the text itself is written in the Vulgate and a specific Carolingian minuscule (font) 33.

Among the entire tradition of visualizing the Apocalypse, the Beatus cycle stands out , having appeared in Spain in the 8th – 9th centuries. It is distinguished by its schematic illustrations, reminiscent of the distinctive graphics of Dendy video game consoles. The first versions of these were created during the lifetime of Beatus, a priest who wrote a commentary on the text of the Apocalypse 34. The combination of bright, primitive images with Beatus' commentary on the main text transformed Revelation into an entertaining and instructive "comic," while the distinctive iconography "preserved" an early North African type of imagery, also present in the Coptic tradition. Such visual interpretations reflected the mnemonic technique of the Benedictine monastic practice ( Lectio Divina ), which consisted of reading and memorizing the text, meditating, and reflecting on its content.

It is much more difficult to determine the origin of the medieval image of Christ in Majesty ( Majestas Domini ), inspired by the vision of God in the Apocalypse (chapters 4-5 ) , as opposed to the Eastern Byzantine type, drawn from the visions of Ezekiel.

The Western prototype is present in early medieval manuscripts depicting Christ with a book sealed with seven seals, seated on a globe or throne, surrounded by the Four Living Creatures (symbols of the Evangelists). If we compare the Christ in Powers from the Codex Amiatinus (c. 700) 35and the early Trier Apocalypse (early 9th century) 36, both based on Italian models of the 6th century, we can see how the Western, "Roman" type was combined with the "Eastern," Byzantine type of depicting Christ in Powers. It was in the second quarter of the 9th century that a unique Carolingian style was created in the scriptoria of Tours. Such enduring visual symbols emerged as the mandorla (a distinctive halo surrounding Christ), the rainbow throne (on which Christ sits), the arched throne, and the Four Living Creatures framing the image.