Ars: časopis Ústavu Dejín Umenia Slovenskej Akadémie Vied (44.2011)

ments are compressée! into a single image, and the
specihcity of the Haemorrhoissa approacMng 'Trom
behind" and Christ who walks away from her seems
to lose force. Thus the fresco in the catacomb of
Peter and Marcellinus seems to suggest the end of the
encounter in Chrisťs gesture of blessing, while the
posture of Ms body shows Him in the act of turrnng,
so that the healing must only just hâve taken place.
At the same time, we still see the Haemorrhoissa,
overcome with despair, reacMng out to Chrisťs cloak.
Variations are numerous. Sometimes the woman
turns her head up towards Christ; sometimes she
lies prostrate at Ms feet. Christ sometimes looks at
her, sometimes not; just as He sometimes does, and
sometimes does not, place Ms hand upon her head.
Sometimes He lays Ms hand upon her head but makes
no eye contact, which seems to suggest the moment
that He is still seeking her A Thus the moments of
the touch, the awareness, of Chrisťs seeking who has
touched Him, and his blessing, are ail run together.
And where a calmly kneeling Haemorrhoissa receiv-
ing Chrisťs blessing suggests the end of the épisode,
even here it is not unusual for the woman still to be
clutching the hem of Chrisťs garment.
Ginzburg describes the Haemorrhoissa iconog-
raphy as an iconography of the
4AAA''A Various moments from the text are trans-
lated into the image and merged; creeping, touching,
feeling, turning, seeking, recogMsing, blessing... At
the crossroads of these movements, the moment of
the image emerges.
Within this caťs cradle, however, Baert discerns
three main éléments in the iconography, as three

2° BAERT 2011 (see in note 11).
2' GINZBURG, C.: H jwr /<?ywA A zw
AvAn?. Paris 1998, p. 101.
22 BAERT 2011 (see in note 11).
2' For that matter, the prominence of the blessing Jesus is
entirely in line with the typical early Christian représenta-
tion and confirmation of Christ as a magician and a healer.
— KÜSTERS 2011 (see in note 11), note 21 ; KNIPP, D.:
At /SwAhAt A ArA^AAA'A^ Ao%ogfipAAA
Ar Jyw/ÁrAGtnV Ai zAVet? Leiden
1998; MATHEWS, T. F.: The Clash of Gods. A Reinterpre-
tation of Early Christian Art. Princeton — New Jersey 1993,
pp. 54-65.

distinct Haemorrhoissas with whom subtle changes
in the text are rehected in nuances of body language.
A hrst nuance shows the woman creeping towards
Christ and touching the hem of his garment: tMs is
the Haemorrhoissa longing for healing. The second
Haemorrhoissa is that of the yřH/VproAAf, she who
trembling with fear makes herseif known and falls at
Chrisťs feet. A tMrd nuance is to be seen in the kneel-
ing woman, often in eye contact with Christ; this is
the woman who, in the conclusion of the account,
is recogmsed for her faith and effectively healedA
In the most prévalent visual language however, the
various moments would appear to be conhatedA
A second difhculty confronting the Haemor-
rhoissa iconography is the représentation of the
nature of her complaint and its healing. Both with
regard to her sickness as her healing, the Haemor-
rhoissa iconography cornes up against the limitations
of visualising the invisible. Where the paralytic is
carried on a bed or, after his healing, takes it up on
Ms shoulders and carries it, the crippled woman leans
on a stick and Christ touches the eyes of the blind,
there is nothing that can show the vaginal bleed-
ing of the Haemorrhoissa. Only one iconographie
development seems to hâve formed around the
suggestion of Huidity, and that is typologicalA A
second fresco in the catacomb of Peter and Marcel-
linus typologically links the Haemorrhoissa to the
scene in which Moses strikes the rocks to bring forth
water [Fig. 4] A The ligures of Moses and of Christ
are linked in posture and gesture, both incarnating
a ftow of divine energy. The touch of the one starts
a Uow of water, the touch of the other stops a how
24 On this issue and the typological patataxis as a visual "solu-
tion'J see also KÜSTERS 2011 (see in note 11) and BAERT,
B. - KÜSTERS, L. - SIDGWICK, E.: An Issue of Blood.
The Healing of the Woman with the Haemorrhage (Mark
5.24b-34; Luke 8.42b-48; Matthew 9.19-22) in Early Medi-
eval Visual Culture. In: B/Ap Gw/ Thzn'. TA CHypyg
GwpA g/ PyyvbPgy phw? vHApAf Aň? TAyJ AíoAtw TVnpř
(=Intersections. Interdisciplinary Studies in Early Modem
Culture, 21). Leiden 2012.
2^ The catacomb of Peter and Alarcellinus contains a total
of hve murais with représentations of the Haemorrhoissa,
including this one in room 64. The others can be found in
rooms 17, 28, 65 (see hg. 1) and 71. On the numbering and
on these murais, see DECKERS, J .G. — SEELIGER, H. R.
— MIETKE G.: TA TA^CčwA Vvf ATzrfřAA ř PiVm Ry^r-

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