Les cerf - le canthare - les quatre fleuves du Paradis dans la mosaïque chretienne de Tunisie. Les catechumenes et le Bapteme / Les fideles et l’Eucharistie : une contribution a l’iconongraphie paleochretienne d’Occident

The figures of deer, of kantharos (cantharus), and the four rivers of Paradise are all part of a rich catalog of early Christian iconography in Tunisia. We often find this iconography in the mosaics of baptisteries, as well as mosaics in the basilicas. The presence of such iconographic figures in all Tunisia, whether in prominent basilicas or in small rural churches reflects the unity of the Christian faith throughout the territory, as well as the firmness of the Christian traditions that came from the East. In this article, we will first explain the spiritual and Christian signification of these iconographic figures and afterwards we will present the models in mosaics found in Tunisia within their archeological context. Las figuras de los ciervos, del cántaro y de los cuatro ríos del Paraíso son parte del rico repertorio de la iconografía paleocristiana en Túnez. Estas imágenes plasmadas especialmente en mosaicos, las encontramos frecuentemente en contexto bautismal como decoración de pavimento, y en contexto eucarístico decorando el suelo de las basílicas cristianas. La presencia de estas imágenes iconográficas en Túnez, ya sea en las grandes basílicas como en las pequeñas iglesias rurales, muestra la unidad de la fe católica en todo el territorio como también la solidez de las tradiciones cristianas heredadas de Oriente. Este artículo explicaremos primero el significado espiritual de estas figuras y luego presentaremos los ejemplares que la arqueología ha encontrado en las distintas regiones de Túnez. Les représentations de cerfs, de kantharos (cantharus) et des quatre fleuves du Paradis font partie d’un riche répertoire dans l’iconographie ancienne tunisienne. Souvent, ces représentations iconographiques se retrouvent dans les mosaïques des baptistères ainsi que dans les celles des basiliques. La présence de ces types d’images dans toute la Tunisie, que ce soit dans de grandes basiliques ou dans de petites églises rurales, reflète l’unité de la foi chrétienne sur tout le territoire, ainsi que la force des traditions chrétiennes venues d’Orient. Dans cet article, nous expliquerons d’abord la signification spirituelle et chrétienne de ce style de décoration,que nous appuierons à travers des modèles dans les mosaïques trouvés en Tunisie dans leur contexte archéologique

Catching Ghosts and Consecrating the Forgotten: The Seen and Unseen in the Work of Diane Victor

Since pre-history, humankind has relied on archetypes and myths to describe the ineffable and has made use of fictional and mythological narratives to understand the meaning of life and death. Dying and death are topics reluctantly discussed in open society. Yet, the global COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to the process of dying and death, and hence the survival of humankind. By embracing their finitude, humans attempt to create meaningful experiences in life and, therefore, attain “freedom towards death” (Heidegger, 1962: 311). This paper investigates how South African artist Diane Victor uses universally known myths and symbols of Christian iconography within a South African context to create meaning, as well as how she uses medium and exhibition sites to evoke intense emotions within viewers urging them to consider their finitude. By recognising how fragile and vulnerable life is, the artist captures the ephemeral in a poignant way. In this paper, I argue that Victor embraces the challenge of consecrating the forgotten or lost. Through incorporating religious icons, signs, and symbols in her work, Victor ‘catches ghosts’ of the ‘seen’ and ‘unseen’ in, about, of and from South Africa. Her works are understood through a contemporary reading of religious (Christian) iconography and interpreted in the symbolic and fragile mediums of smoke, stain, ash, charcoal, light and shadow, emphasising the ephemerality and impermanence of the human condition.

Tintin ‘In Black and White’

The Tintin albums that were first printed in black and white offer a revealing picture of the conservative, Catholic, nationalist climate in which the young Hergé was immersed in the 1920s and 1930s. Taken together, they offer a coherent vision of the world. Tintin sometimes takes on the role of a pious young hero, and a character such as Rastapopoulos may seem like a perfect illustration of the enemy as defined by a writer like Charles Maurras. But Belgian conservative Catholics also had a powerful social mission. From the Congolese escapade up to L’Oreille cassée [ Tintin and the Broken Ear ], Tintin is combating the same proponents of Anglo-American cosmopolitan capitalism. Conversely, he comes to the help of the poor and needy, reactivating a whole Christian iconography of charity, as, for example, when he rescues Tchang from drowning in Le Lotus bleu [ The Blue Lotus ].

Tintin ‘In Black and White’

The Tintin albums that were first printed in black and white offer a revealing picture of the conservative, Catholic, nationalist climate in which the young Hergé was immersed in the 1920s and 1930s. Taken together, they offer a coherent vision of the world. Tintin sometimes takes on the role of a pious young hero, and a character such as Rastapopoulos may seem like a perfect illustration of the enemy as defined by a writer like Charles Maurras. But Belgian conservative Catholics also had a powerful social mission. From the Congolese escapade up to L’Oreille cassée [ Tintin and the Broken Ear ], Tintin is combating the same proponents of Anglo-American cosmopolitan capitalism. Conversely, he comes to the help of the poor and needy, reactivating a whole Christian iconography of charity, as, for example, when he rescues Tchang from drowning in Le Lotus bleu [ The Blue Lotus ].

Philip K. Dick

Chapter 3 discusses Crumb’s illustrations to the life and work of Philip K. Dick, beginning with an exploration of Crumb’s connections to the California counterculture and its fascination with occult and Gnostic philosophies. Crumb began to turn increasingly towards mysticism in his artwork, and this is exemplified in “The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick.” Crumb’s own experiences with LSD had opened him up to a visionary realm which also set him out on the quest for his “real self.” Crumb sees in Dick’s encounter with Gnosticism a reflection of his own spiritual search. In “The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick,” Crumb directly explores Gnostic ideas and as in his illustrations for Jelly Roll Morton, explores whether intense spiritual experiences such as those recorded by Dick are “real” or not. We can also see Gnostic ideas reflected in “Can You Stand Alone and Face up to the Universe?”, one of Crumb’s greatest works, as well as in his depiction of Christian iconography.

The bed in images of the Annunciation of the 14th and 15th centuries: a dogmatic symbol according to Greek-Eastern Patrology

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this article is to interpret the deep doctrinal meanings underlying the bed that appear in the symbolic depiction of some images of the Annunciation of the 14th and 15th centuries. To do so, I adopt two complementary methodological strategies, based on comparative analysis. In essence, from the outset I analyze an abundant corpus of explanatory texts by Fathers of the Greek-Eastern Church when they interpret some quotations from the Old Testament that include metaphorical terms such as thalamus, Sponsus, and Sponsa; second, I analyze twelve images from the Annunciation of the period that include a bed. Based on the fact that these Greek-Eastern Fathers unanimously consider that these metaphorical expressions signify the dogmas of the human incarnation of God the Son in the womb of the Virgin, and, as a consequence, also the divine virginal motherhood of Mary, I conclude that the bed included in these Annunciations is an eloquent visual symbol or metaphor for both dogmas. KEYWORDS: Christian Iconography, Medieval Art, Annunciation, Christ’s Incarnation, Virginal Divine Motherhood. RESUMEN: Este artículo tiene el propósito de interpretar los profundos significados doctrinales subyacentes en el lecho que aparece en la escenografía de algunas imágenes de la Anunciación de los siglos XIV y XV. Para ello adoptamos dos estrategias metodológicas complementarias, basadas en análisis comparativos: de entrada analizamos un abundante corpus de textos exegéticos de Padres de la Iglesia Greco-oriental cuando interpretan algunos textos del Antiguo Testamento que incluyen términos metafóricos tales como thalamus, Sponsus y Sponsa; en segundo lugar, analizamos doce imágenes de la Anunciación del período que incluyen un lecho. Basándonos en el hecho de que dichos Padres greco-orientales consideran unánimemente que esas expresiones metafóricas significan los dogmas de la encarnación humana de Dios Hijo en el vientre de la Virgen, y, como consecuencia, también la virginal maternidad divina de María, concluimos que el lecho incluido en esas Anunciaciones es un elocuente símbolo o metáfora visual de ambos dogmas. PALABRAS CLAVES: Iconografía cristiana – arte medieval – Anunciación – encarnación de Cristo, virginal maternidad divina.

The Mounted Angel in Byzantine Art

Angels, incorruptible beings of incorporeal matter, according to the teaching of Christianity are the first and most perfect God’s creatures, members of the Church whose Head is Christ. God’s messengers, guardians and heavenly warriors, or belonging to other ranks which were later defined and classified by theologians as found in the different texts of the Old and New Testaments, they do not have a clearly defined appearance and attributes, with the notable exception of Cherubim and Seraphim. Very rarely are flying angels even vaguely mentioned in Biblical texts, still less – winged angels. Rather, the angel – God’s herald, ascends and descends on Jacob’s ladder (Gen 28:12), or rides on a red horse in Prophet Zechariah’s vision (Zech 1:8). According to Jewish understanding, the angel was not able to fly as he needed a ladder in order to ascend or a horse in order to travel. Thus, the angel seems to have been thought of by the Jews in rather material terms, and it was only later that his incorruptible nature was specified. However, the winged Greco-Roman deities (such as Nike, Eros etc) and the very ancient images of angels in Zoroastrianism, also winged, apparently influenced Jewish and Christian iconography. So, it was as early as the 5th century that Christian iconography gradually adopted the angel’s appearance as a personage with human features (with the exception of Cherubim and Seraphim) supplied with wings, and this form of representation was applied to all ranks of angelic powers, regardless of style development. Thus, under the influence of ancient Greco-Roman ideas, the angel is depicted as a winged, flying creature. He has been adopted in this form universally by Christian doctrine, regardless of the lack of sufficient official texts. It is only in certain apocryphal texts that occasionally winged angels are specifically mentioned. This Christian as well as Jewish practice – at least during the early centuries of the Christian Era, adopted the type of the winged angel, and wings have become an invariable attribute of angels even when it is a matter of interpreting texts in which the angel as a God’s herald is not mentioned as a winged creature at all.

Phoenix and Delphinus Salvator: The History of the Forgotten Images of Early Christian Iconography

Art in the 3rd and 4th centuries underwent transformations and adapted cer­tain representations which were typical of ancient iconography to the new needs and tasks of Christian art. Among the abundant examples of this pro­cess, many continue to be popular and recognizable, such as the representation of Hermes Kriophoros, which evolved to become Christ the Good Shepherd, or the sleeping Endymion, which became part of the “Jonah cycle.” The adaptation of patterns from antiquity for the purposes of Christian iconography was both popular and quite common, but only a fraction of the representations developed in that period survive today. This paper discusses the representa­tions that have been forgotten. Relying on the examples of the phoenix and the dolphin-rescuer, the paper analyzes factors that affected the partial (phoenix) or complete (delphinus salvator) disappearance of images which were typical of early Christian art and which relied on ancient imagery.

Un paisaje sacralizado por grabados rupestres protohistóricos e históricos en las hoces del río Mesa (Calmarza, Zaragoza) = A Sacralized Landscape by Protohistoric and Historical Rock Engravings in the Gorges of the River Mesa (Calmarza, Zaragoza)

Los estudios sobre grabados rupestres al aire libre de cronología postpaleolítica, adolecen de importantes carencias que, en el valle medio del Ebro, se han visto superadas con la llegada del tercer milenio. Con la presentación de este trabajo se pretende dar a conocer un nuevo núcleo de grabados rupestres, localizado en el extremo suroeste de la provincia de Zaragoza, en las gargantas calcáreas del río Mesa. Entre los nuevos enclaves rupestres, destacan los abrigos con grabados protohistóricos, pero muy especialmente los de cronología medieval andalusí y los de iconografía cristiana entre los siglos XIV y XVIII, con perduraciones hasta mediados del siglo XIX y algunas escenas relacionadas con la primera Guerra Carlista en Aragón. La distribución de los hallazgos, su tipología e iconografía y los restos arqueológicos asociados, permiten documentar una importante ocupación del territorio desde la Iª Edad del Hierro y la sacralización del paisaje a través del arte rupestre, con pervivencias que se perpetúan a lo largo de la Edad Media y Moderna, destacando como novedad la presencia de un importante conjunto de inscripciones epigráficas islámicas que deben situarse entre los siglos XI y XII. AbstractThe studies on open-air rock engravings in post-Paleolithic chronology suffer from important deficiencies, which in the middle valley of the Ebro, have been overcome with the arrival of the third millennium.With the presentation of this work, the aim is to make known a new nucleus of rock engravings, located in the extreme southwest of the province of Zaragoza, in the limestone gorges of the River Mesa. Among the new rock engravings, the shelters with protohistoric engravings stand out, but especially those with a medieval Andalusian chronology and those with Christian iconography between the 14th and 18th centuries, which lasted until the middle of the 19th century and some scenes related to the first Carlist War in Aragon. The distribution of the findings, their typology and iconography and the associated archaeological remains, allow us to document an important occupation of the territory since the First Iron Age and the sacralization of the landscape through rock art, with survivals that are perpetuated throughout the Middle and Modern Ages, highlighting as a novelty the presence of an important set of Islamic epigraphic inscriptions that must be located between the 11th and 12th centuries.