Валерия Косякова – Apocalyptic Concepts in the Middle Ages (страница 12)

A consistent iconography of the Apocalypse is recorded in numerous manuscripts and monumental art of the "Carolingian Renaissance," which influenced the artistic canon of churches in Germany, France, and Italy from the 9th to the 13th centuries. 37Isolated scenes from the Apocalypse are also found in illuminated manuscripts 38. These typically consist of a depiction of the Son of Man amidst seven candlesticks (1: 12–20 ) and an apocalyptic-decorative initial in Romanesque bibles. Sometimes Christ was depicted in power, seated on a globe (either a globe or a rainbow, holding a book in his hands, surrounded by a mandorla), as in the 11th- century "Maximinian" Gospel 39or the Admont Bible, which depicts Christ from the vision of the prophet Ezekiel 40.

In both imagery and interpretation, the Church lived with a premonition of the Second Coming, placing its hopes and aspirations in the Last Judgment as the triumph of justice and faith in Christ. Early Christians keenly sensed the coming Kingdom of Heaven, the Judgment, punishment, and retribution. Justin Martyr (110–165) wrote: " I and other sensible Christians throughout the world know that there will be a resurrection of the body and a millennium in Jerusalem, which will be built, adorned, and exalted . " 41However, the Second Coming, expected any day, never arrived, so its arrival was delayed for 1,000 years. The change of millennia has always been painful and fatal for humanity, a striking example being the transitional year 1000 and the dates surrounding it 42.

Bernard, a Thuringian hermit, took these words of Revelation: " And I will strike her children dead: and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will render unto every one of you according to your works " (Rev. 2:23), " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away: and there is no more sea " ( Rev. 21:1) as the text of a sermon, and in about 960 publicly declared that the End of the World was near. Bernard even gave the exact date of the fateful day, which was to occur when the date of the Annunciation coincided with the date of Good Friday, and such a day was to fall in 992.43

The eschatological monk Drutmar of Aquitaine, abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Corbie, predicted the end of the world for March 24, 1000. In many cities 44, belief in the impending apocalypse was so strong that people sought refuge in churches to spend the night in prayer to the saints at their relics and crosses. The first page of a manuscript by monk Raoul Glaber describes a premonition of the imminent arrival of Satan, " as John foretold, when the thousandth year shall come, and that shall be now . " 45Sylvester II , Pope under Otto III, calculated the official date of the apocalypse, which reinforced the terrifying mood in Europe. During his reign, the famous illuminated manuscript, which vividly depicted images of the coming Day of Judgment, was produced - the Bamberg Apocalypse 46, as well as the later Carolingian Apocalypse from Munich (both were created in Reichenau) 47.

Another important and frequently encountered theme in connection with the apocalypse is the image of the Last Judgment and the Archangel Michael defeating the dragon (serpent). Since the 9th century, scenes of the Last Judgment have adorned the western walls of cathedrals. The earliest surviving example is the frescoes from the church of the Benedictine monastery of St. John in Müstair ( Benediktinerinnenkloster St. Johann , Müstair, early 9th century, Switzerland). Unlike the Byzantine iconography of the Last Judgment, the Western one is much closer typologically to the representation of the Apocalypse. Forming a single motif, two angels with books are depicted on either side of the Judge (Rev. 20:12), St. Michael piercing the dragon with a spear, saints accompanied by angels, Heavenly Jerusalem, and the bride of the lamb (Rev. 21–22). Later, the image of the Last Judgment became more complex due to the addition and detailing of scenes.

Under the influence of book miniatures, monumental art—fresco—developed. The baptistery of the cathedral in Navarra (Italy) depicts majestic scenes from the Revelation of John, dating from the 11th century. Extraordinary 11th-century Lombard frescoes, preserved in northern Italy at the Abbey of St. Peter in Civate (Abbazia di San Pietro al Monte), depict Eden, the rivers of paradise, evil in the form of griffins and chimeras in the narthex , the Archangel Michael and his companions defeating the dragon on the western wall of the choir , and the Adoration of the Lamb by eighteen persons, including eight women and ten men, in the dome of the ciborium above the altar. The surviving scenes from the Apocalypse in the central nave of the French abbey of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe (Vienne, 1100) immerse the viewer in the figurative world of Romanesque emblematic monumental art.

The late 10th and early 11th centuries were a terrifying time in European history. Between 980 and 1040, it seemed as if the angel of death himself had spread his wings over the world: famine reigned, pestilence swept across Europe, and a disease known as St. Anthony's Fire—ergotism, a gangrenous disease of the extremities that burned away people's bones—raged. Sufferers besieged the roads leading to holy sites, especially the relics of St. Anthony, filling churches with the stench and the spirit of death. The passions of this disease are captured in Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Temptation of St. Anthony." As a result of the crisis of hygiene and medicine, unable to cope with the human plague, approximately 40,000 people fell victim to the plague in the Aquitaine region of southern France. The Black Death decimated vast swathes of Europe, and then came famine. From 987 to 1060, a long period of famine and epidemics raged. The Hungarian invasion began, and the horrors of Attila the Hun returned: the Hungarians represented a different anthropology and an alien culture, leaving a frightening, terrifying, and terrifying impression on the inhabitants of Europe, whose territories were devastated. Raoul Glaber describes scenes of a terrible state of decline and human impotence, including cannibalism. Historical circumstances were perceived as the beginning of an apocalypse. In proportion to the popularity of eschatological ideas, a figurative tradition also developed: from the 11th century onward, an increasing number of manuscripts were created on the theme of the Revelation of John. A vast Romanesque cycle of apocalypses emerged, dominating medieval Europe from the late Carolingian period until the beginning of the Gothic era ( 9th – 13th centuries). These manuscripts are united by a common style of majestic and large-format illustrations; their number grew, the drawings became more detailed, acquiring exegetical significance. The images of the Romanesque cycle can be found not only on the pages of manuscripts: wall frescoes, decoration, and church sculpture also developed within the same paradigm. Early precursors of the Romanesque tradition in manuscripts are scenes from the Apocalypse from Carolingian bibles: the Moutier-Grandval Bible (Tours, 830–840) 48, the Vivian Bible ( Tours , 846) 49, and the Bible from San Paolo fuori le Mura in Rome (Reims, circa 870) 50. Their frontispieces depict the Lamb and the Lion, the Holy See (Rev. 5), angels, or an image of a church symbolizing the messages (Rev. 2:3).

As if taken from the pages of Romanesque manuscripts, the frescoes of the Abbey Church of Saint-Chef (third quarter of the 12th century, France) depict monumental scenes from the Apocalypse on a large scale: the 24 Elders, Christ in His Might, the Judgment, and the Heavenly Jerusalem. The much less well-preserved frescoes of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Clayton (England, second quarter of the 12th century) are executed in the same stylistic manner , as are the majestic fresco fragments from the Abbey of Saint-Polycarpe (Aude, France, second half of the 12th century). Grandiose frescoes adorn the interior of the Romanesque double church of St. Mary and Clement in Bonn (Doppelkirche St. Maria und Clemens, Germany, second half of the 12th century).

From the late 12th to the 13th centuries, the iconography of the apocalypse continued to develop, with scenes and images becoming more complex: adoring elders sat on thrones in a semicircle around Christ, holding cups or musical instruments in their hands. One of the earliest examples is Saint-Sever Beatus (mid- 11th century) 51.

In the 12th century, transformed elders appear in images of the missal in the treasury of the Abbey of Saint-Germain in Auxerre ( Abbaye Saint Germain d ' Auxerre ) and on the tympanums of the portal of the Abbey of St. Peter in Moissac ( Abbaye Saint Pierre de Moissac ). The most striking examples from the Romanesque cycle are the Bible from the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes (Girona, Spain) 52and the Lombard Beatus from Berlin 53, which differs from the pectoral Spanish tradition described above.