Валерия Косякова – Apocalyptic Concepts in the Middle Ages (страница 13)

Around the beginning of the 12th century, a unique cycle of frescoes was created in the crypt of the Cathedral of Anagni (Italy)—one of the most important surviving ensembles of the Middle Ages 54. Scenes from the Apocalypse are integrated into a complex narrative about the microcosm and macrocosm. Man, his creation, and natural history are linked with the events of Holy Scripture and the lives of heavenly beings. The fresco scenes depict the signs of the zodiac, Noah's Ark, and the prophets. In the apse itself, over the story of the martyrdom of St. Magnus, the patron saint of Anagni, scenes from the Apocalypse are depicted: four living creatures surround a lamb with seven horns, seven eyes, and a sealed book, while elders, holding cups, address it in prayer. The eastern, rather than the western, part of the crypt depicts the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the opening of the seals, and the Son of Man with hair as white as snow, fiery eyes, and a double-edged sword protruding from His mouth . He sits on a rainbow with keys in his right hand—a symbol of the keys of heaven and the keys of hell, where evil will be imprisoned after the Judgment.

Other Italian monuments also date back to this period: frescoes conveying early Italian imagery in the transept of the Basilica of St. Elias near Lake Nepi ( Basilica di Sant ' Elia ), poorly preserved frescoes in the nave of San Severo in Bardolino (Chiesa di San Severo, Bardolino, second half of the 12th century) and two manuscripts of the New Testament by Veronese (early 13th century) 55.

The Romanesque tradition is represented not only in Italian monuments, but also in the cycles of miniatures of Central Europe: the commentaries on the Apocalypse of Archbishop Haimon of Auxerre (Haimo Autissiodorensis, ca. 865) 56and the encyclopedia "Book of Flowers" ( Liber floridus ) 57Lambert of Saint-Omer ( Lambertus de Sancto Audomaro (1120), containing approximately 60 scenes from the Apocalypse 58. A characteristic feature of the style of these manuscripts is their abundant illustrations: a page offers numerous images, accompanied by a few inserted quotations from the text of Revelation. The frescoes in the gallery of the cathedral in Gurk (Dom zu Gurk, Austria, 1260–70) are also executed in a similar style.

Influenced by the intensive development of apocalyptic imagery in manuscripts of the 12th and 13th centuries, church decoration, including bas-reliefs and sculpture, also became more complex. From now on, scenes of the Last Judgment on the tympanums of Gothic cathedrals loom grandly over the congregation; inside, demons writhe and grimace from the capitals, tormenting sinners, while Archangel Michael pierces Lucifer with a spear. Furthermore, many apocalyptic scenes are depicted in carved bone reliquaries.

The Romanesque capitals of the portico of the Abbey of Saint-Benedict on the Loire (Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, France, second half of the 11th century) depict a scene with the four apocalyptic horsemen, while the capitals of the southern galleries of the aforementioned monastery in Moissac (Cloître de l'abbaye Saint-Pierre de Moissac, 1100 ) represent the four horsemen and the apocalyptic beast. The tympanum of the portal of the Church of Saint-Pierre in La Lande-de-Fronsac, Gironde (Église Saint-Pierre de La Lande-de-Fronsac, 12th century) depicts Christ with a double-edged sword. On the vaults of the porch of the Romanesque abbey church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe (France, circa 1100), the New Jerusalem, represented as the bride of Christ, and a choir of the saved are carved in stone.

Certainly, exegetical practice had a primary influence on the formation of the iconography of the Apocalypse: different biblical images could be combined, and the new synthetic image, in turn, generated new meanings. For example, in the fresco in the apse of the Church of St. Pere ( 10th - 11th centuries), the Archangel Michael fights with a seven-headed dragon. This image is placed next to the Adoration of the Magi. The dragon spews water from its mouth, aiming at Mary from the adoration scene. The fusion of two different plots is associated with one medieval interpretation of the Apocalypse (Chapter 12), voiced by Ambrosius Outpert . Autpertus , 730–784) 59, and his followers, Gaimo of Auxerre and Berengaudus ( Berengaudus , Expositio super September visions libri Apocalypsis , see Fig. 8, 27 ) 60, who identified the Mother of God with the Woman from the Apocalypse, clothed in the sun, and Herod with the seven-headed dragon (see Fig. 22).

A unique frontispiece to St. Augustine's manuscript of The City of God, housed in Oxford (c. 1130–40), depicts Christ enthroned among the apostles beneath the City. Below and to the left, the Christ-like Archangel Michael casts the defeated Satan out of the Heavenly City with his spear (Rev. 12:7–9), while to the right is the gracious Church, represented as a Woman (the Virgin Mary) clothed in the sun. In her arms, she holds, protectively, newly baptized souls, reborn from sin and immune to Satan's attacks, while the old body of a newly baptized soul lies nearby (Rom. 6:22) 61.

12th- century fresco from the crypt of St. Stephen in Auxerre Cathedral reveals a confluence of imperial ambitions and theological ideas in the image of Christ the Equestrian, seated on a white horse (Rev. 19:11–16). Christ is depicted in the context of the ceremony of Rome's triumphal entry into the city ( Adventus : in ancient Rome, the formal greeting of the emperor after a military campaign) facing a frontal depiction of a huge cross and accompanied by a heavenly army of riding angels.

Christ on horseback can also be seen on the capital of the choir of the church of Saint-Nectaire ( Puy - de -Dôme, France, 12th century): the Savior, dressed in a red toga and seated on a white horse with a bow and arrow, is combined with an image of the Last Judgment carried out by the Archangel Michael. And on the capital of the choir of the church of St. Peter in Chauvigny (É glise Saint - Pierre de Chauvigny , France, 12th century) Archangel Michael, carrying out the Last Judgment, is combined with the image of the Babylonian harlot and the fall of Babylon itself - the idea of the collapse of evil.

Around 1130, a magnificent tympanum, one of the masterpieces of Romanesque sculpture, was created on the theme of the Last Judgment in the Cathedral of Autun, France (Cathédrale Saint-Lazare d'Autun). At the very center of the composition, in a mandorla, surrounded by angels, sits Christ on a throne. To the right, the righteous enter the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem, opened by the Apostle Peter. To the left, the Archangel Michael, on one side, and the devil, on the other, weigh the souls of men. Above this scene is an inscription stating: "Let the horror of these images terrify sinful, earthly people, for all the terrible things depicted here will truly happen 62." The judgment is surrounded by scenes from the Apocalypse. The arches of the vault above Christ are decorated with zodiac signs and medallions depicting the seasons and seasonal activities. The existence of the planets and natural cycles—the time of the world—is subordinated to its Creator and moves toward an inexorable end that will expose all human deeds. The relief's symbolism consistently reflects the theological views expressed by Honorius Augustodunensis (c. 1080–1156), a medieval scholastic, historian, and philosopher. The third book of Honorius's encyclopedia, Elucidarium ( Lamp ), enthusiastically discusses Christian eschatology. In the spirit of Socratic dialogue, it discusses the Antichrist, the Second Coming, the Last Judgment, and Purgatory, demonstrating the torments of hell and the joys of the Heavenly Jerusalem. Honorius's ideas are also linked to the interpretation of the Woman Clothed with the Sun as the Church-ecclesia. This interpretation of the Virgin Mary is presented in the famous "Garden of Delights" ( Hortus deliciarum ) — the first encyclopedia written by a woman, Herrada of Landsbergensis (1130–1195), a Benedictine nun and abbess of the Hohenburg Monastery. Completed in 1185, the manuscript was one of the most famous of its period, a compendium of 12th- century knowledge. However, in 1870, the manuscript perished, surviving only in copies. In addition to encyclopedic topics, the text contained excerpts from Greek and Arabic authors, Herrada's poems set to music, and numerous illustrations, 336 of which covered a variety of topics: theosophical, philosophical, literary, including discussions of the Apocalypse.

The popularity of medieval interpretations of the Apocalypse was also reflected in monumental art: in unique iconographic programs, such as the frescoes of the All Saints' Chapel in Regensburg (Allerheiligenkapelle, Germany, circa 1165). They depict motifs from the Liturgy of All Saints, based on the commentaries of Honorius and Rupert of Deutsch on scenes from chapter 7 of Revelation: angels hold back the winds from the four cardinal directions, the sealing of the sons of Israel, Christ Pantocrator ascending in the dome, and a choir of the elect before the throne of God. These scenes are executed according to the canon of Byzantine iconography and are analogous to the mosaics of the Palatine Chapel in Palermo 63.