DOI issue:
Nr. 1-2
DOI article:Grotowski, Piotr Ł.: On the margins of meaning: some remarks on gesture as depicted in the Orthodox frescoes of Roman Catholic churches in Poland
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.35032#0174
168
PtOTR Ł. GROTOWSKt
d. Novgorod, (7?M/rA of/Ae
7)*oo.s;//go/Y///'o^ ó? Ä^ow/evo,
Lamentation, ^or/A wo// of /Ae
noo^, co. 73^0
derived from ancient representations of phdosophers. In the West, the continuity of the
ancient tradition was interrupted, so that the iconography of prophets in the late Middle
Ages differs horn that familiar in the East."
In other cases, especially during the Romanesque period, identical gestures, going back to
a common root in antiquity, could be found in both cultures. An example is the standing
posture with the right hand lifted to the chest and the palm turned inward while the fingers
are stretched upwards. In mediaeval art, it generally expresses surprise or anxiety.
In Orthodox paintings, it was used regularly in the representations of the Annunciation,
signalling the astonishment of Mary at the appearance of Gabriel.' - Polish frescoes with this
composition are those in the upper tier on the north wall in the collegiate church of Wiślica
(ill. 3) and on the south wall of the collegiate church of Sandomierz; while in Lublin (ill.
4), and on the south side of the upper tier on the east wall of chapel of the Holy Cross in
Wawel, the Virgin has been depicted sitting on the throne.
During the 1 Oth through to the 12th centuries, a standing pose with a raised hand was
also familiar to Western artists, who applied it not only in the depiction of Mary in the
Annunciation,'^ but also in images of other female saints, such as Mary Magdalene. Her
' ' The earhest surviving representations of prophets of the type of ancient philosophers, are to be found in the miniatures
of the codices Vnop/enyA and Ao-Mmm/MA, Ursula NILGEN, Marcell RESTLE, "C. Ikonographie der biblischen Pro-
pheten", [in:] EexAro?? Aas VA/e/a/mrs, vol. VII, München 1995, pp. 257-9. It is known from the DascnfAo?? of Am
CVmcA of V of Caza by Chorikios that images of this category existed also in 6th-century monumental pain-
tings (in the drum of the dome); see: CHORICIUS, AaaAaAo A/arc/arA, I 76 (e.g. CAon'cA Coze/ C/mra, rec. Richard
FOERSTER, ed. Eberhard R1CHTSTE1G („Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana"), Lipsiae
1929, p. 21, and also: translation by Cyril MANGO, 77m A/7 of Am ßyza/Aäm D/a^/re 3/2 - 7453, Soarcas a//A Doca-
am/zA, Toronto-Buffalo-London 1997, p. 68).
Gabriel MILLET, Rec/mrc/mj .sz/r /'zco/zoyra/Az/A Ac / 'ArongAe aav X/W, XW e/XV/e .smcVs; A'après Vs /zzozzzzzzze/zA
Ao MA/ra, Ae /a MaceAoz/m e/ Aa Moa/-AAzos, Paris 1916, pp. 67-92, esp. 70, ills. 22-8, 30-32, 34.
" See, e.g.: miniatures in the Gospel of the emperor Otto II (or Otto III) in the Treasury of the Aachen Cathedral,
Pericope of bishop Egbert of Trier, painted by the monks Kerald and Heribert in Reichenau Monastery ca. 980, in the
Gospel from Hardhausen (ca. 1180, now in the Landesbibliothek in Kassel), on the fol. 10 v. of the 12th-century Gospel
preserved in Wolfenbüttel Library, coA. /ZeA/zV 65; Wolfgang BRAUNFELS, Dm UrAä/zA/gzz/zg, Düsseldorf 1949, pp. X-
XII, ills. 1,3,5; Kurt WE1TZMANN, „Eine Spätkomnenische Verkündigungsikone des Sinai und die Zweite byzantinische
Welle des 12. Jahrhunderts", [in:] /msAc/zrz// w/z Dz'/zeaz, s. I. 1965, pp. 299-312, esp. 308, pl. 71, ill. 4.
PtOTR Ł. GROTOWSKt
d. Novgorod, (7?M/rA of/Ae
7)*oo.s;//go/Y///'o^ ó? Ä^ow/evo,
Lamentation, ^or/A wo// of /Ae
noo^, co. 73^0
derived from ancient representations of phdosophers. In the West, the continuity of the
ancient tradition was interrupted, so that the iconography of prophets in the late Middle
Ages differs horn that familiar in the East."
In other cases, especially during the Romanesque period, identical gestures, going back to
a common root in antiquity, could be found in both cultures. An example is the standing
posture with the right hand lifted to the chest and the palm turned inward while the fingers
are stretched upwards. In mediaeval art, it generally expresses surprise or anxiety.
In Orthodox paintings, it was used regularly in the representations of the Annunciation,
signalling the astonishment of Mary at the appearance of Gabriel.' - Polish frescoes with this
composition are those in the upper tier on the north wall in the collegiate church of Wiślica
(ill. 3) and on the south wall of the collegiate church of Sandomierz; while in Lublin (ill.
4), and on the south side of the upper tier on the east wall of chapel of the Holy Cross in
Wawel, the Virgin has been depicted sitting on the throne.
During the 1 Oth through to the 12th centuries, a standing pose with a raised hand was
also familiar to Western artists, who applied it not only in the depiction of Mary in the
Annunciation,'^ but also in images of other female saints, such as Mary Magdalene. Her
' ' The earhest surviving representations of prophets of the type of ancient philosophers, are to be found in the miniatures
of the codices Vnop/enyA and Ao-Mmm/MA, Ursula NILGEN, Marcell RESTLE, "C. Ikonographie der biblischen Pro-
pheten", [in:] EexAro?? Aas VA/e/a/mrs, vol. VII, München 1995, pp. 257-9. It is known from the DascnfAo?? of Am
CVmcA of V of Caza by Chorikios that images of this category existed also in 6th-century monumental pain-
tings (in the drum of the dome); see: CHORICIUS, AaaAaAo A/arc/arA, I 76 (e.g. CAon'cA Coze/ C/mra, rec. Richard
FOERSTER, ed. Eberhard R1CHTSTE1G („Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana"), Lipsiae
1929, p. 21, and also: translation by Cyril MANGO, 77m A/7 of Am ßyza/Aäm D/a^/re 3/2 - 7453, Soarcas a//A Doca-
am/zA, Toronto-Buffalo-London 1997, p. 68).
Gabriel MILLET, Rec/mrc/mj .sz/r /'zco/zoyra/Az/A Ac / 'ArongAe aav X/W, XW e/XV/e .smcVs; A'après Vs /zzozzzzzzze/zA
Ao MA/ra, Ae /a MaceAoz/m e/ Aa Moa/-AAzos, Paris 1916, pp. 67-92, esp. 70, ills. 22-8, 30-32, 34.
" See, e.g.: miniatures in the Gospel of the emperor Otto II (or Otto III) in the Treasury of the Aachen Cathedral,
Pericope of bishop Egbert of Trier, painted by the monks Kerald and Heribert in Reichenau Monastery ca. 980, in the
Gospel from Hardhausen (ca. 1180, now in the Landesbibliothek in Kassel), on the fol. 10 v. of the 12th-century Gospel
preserved in Wolfenbüttel Library, coA. /ZeA/zV 65; Wolfgang BRAUNFELS, Dm UrAä/zA/gzz/zg, Düsseldorf 1949, pp. X-
XII, ills. 1,3,5; Kurt WE1TZMANN, „Eine Spätkomnenische Verkündigungsikone des Sinai und die Zweite byzantinische
Welle des 12. Jahrhunderts", [in:] /msAc/zrz// w/z Dz'/zeaz, s. I. 1965, pp. 299-312, esp. 308, pl. 71, ill. 4.