Day 120 - Byzantine bird
January 23, 2019
As often as I've walked through Gallery 300, a long hallway that leads to additional Medieval galleries - and that must be hundreds of times over the years - I never stopped to note that the gallery is devoted to the art of the Byzantine Empire.
Today's object reminds me that while, as promised in my last entry, I may be more familiar with Medieval art than with Asian art, I still have a very great deal to learn. That object is s a bird-- perhaps six inches long, suspended by wires, and finely wrought in silver -- that constituted part of a treasure of sacred objects made for a church in Attarouthi, Syria between 550 and 650 C.E.
My first thought was, "What's that bird doing there?" Not until I read the caption did I learn that the bird is a dove, and of course, the answer is that it represents the Holy Spirit. A cross would have been suspended from the loop in the bird's beak. Apparently, such doves were hung over altars over much of the Christian world, from Constantinople to France, although I don't think I've ever seen once before.
Furthermore, despite my travels in Syria, and the silly anti-semitic video we watched on our bus about Saint Paul in Damascus, I wasn't thinking of Syria as a part of the Byzantine Empire. It was such a part, and a very prosperous part at that.
Another piece that impresses me is a stone (marble?) sarcophagus side from 3rd century Rome that shows a Last Judgment. It depicts a youthful Christ sitting between two groups of animals. On his right eight sheep are lined up and gaze at him adoringly. He looks down on them and pats the lead sheep on the head in blessing. At the same time, he holds up his left hand to ward off five goats that look positively evil, with flared nostrils and angry eyes; these sinner goats will be barred from the kingdom of heaven. A verse from Matthew describes God as separating people just as a shepherd separates sheep from goats -- the origins of the expression, I guess.
One display case holds beautiful medallions of gold worked in cloisonné to represent birds, leaves, and religious imagery. They come from Rus, the present-day Kiev. Rus. I read, was founded by the Vikings in 988 and was influenced by Byzantine art while remaining independent of Byzantium's political domination. When I was in Scandinavia last summer, I learned that the Vikings made it to the Black Sea; here is visual evidence of their artistic skill. Women wore such medallions in pairs suspended from their headdresses; they must have looked magnificent! J. Pierpont Morgan donated the objects in this case to the Met. He had good taste!
My first thought was, "What's that bird doing there?" Not until I read the caption did I learn that the bird is a dove, and of course, the answer is that it represents the Holy Spirit. A cross would have been suspended from the loop in the bird's beak. Apparently, such doves were hung over altars over much of the Christian world, from Constantinople to France, although I don't think I've ever seen once before.
Furthermore, despite my travels in Syria, and the silly anti-semitic video we watched on our bus about Saint Paul in Damascus, I wasn't thinking of Syria as a part of the Byzantine Empire. It was such a part, and a very prosperous part at that.
Another piece that impresses me is a stone (marble?) sarcophagus side from 3rd century Rome that shows a Last Judgment. It depicts a youthful Christ sitting between two groups of animals. On his right eight sheep are lined up and gaze at him adoringly. He looks down on them and pats the lead sheep on the head in blessing. At the same time, he holds up his left hand to ward off five goats that look positively evil, with flared nostrils and angry eyes; these sinner goats will be barred from the kingdom of heaven. A verse from Matthew describes God as separating people just as a shepherd separates sheep from goats -- the origins of the expression, I guess.
One display case holds beautiful medallions of gold worked in cloisonné to represent birds, leaves, and religious imagery. They come from Rus, the present-day Kiev. Rus. I read, was founded by the Vikings in 988 and was influenced by Byzantine art while remaining independent of Byzantium's political domination. When I was in Scandinavia last summer, I learned that the Vikings made it to the Black Sea; here is visual evidence of their artistic skill. Women wore such medallions in pairs suspended from their headdresses; they must have looked magnificent! J. Pierpont Morgan donated the objects in this case to the Met. He had good taste!
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