DOI article:
Łaptaś, Magdalena: A sphere, an orb or a disc?: the object held by the archangels in the Faras Cathedral wall paintings
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18946#0038
further emphasised by their hairstyles and dress: each is clothed in a loros, that
is, m attire which was worn by Byzantine emperors and high state officials.
There is no doubt, therefore, that the artist was concerned with rendering the
archangels in ceremonial robes and that the objects they are holding were
meant to compliment this likeness.
The painting that was located on the south wall of the staircase, now located
in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. no. 234044 MNW; field inv. no. a84),
is also of an angel wearing a loros [Fig. 7]. The painting is in good condition,
though a large piece - running through the figure’s face, right shoulder and
wing - is missing. The paint is badly damaged and worn. A thin painted frame
surrounds the figure, only two sides of which survive: the bottom horizontal
and the vertical left side adjacent to the right wing. Adjoining the lower side
of the frame is a wide painted strip on which the figure is standing. The angel
is rendered frontally and is standing with his feet parted. In his lowered right
hand he is clutching a long staff-like object, which is probably a sceptre; in his
left hand there is a large spherical object which he is holding from the bottom
in such a way that his fingertips are showing from below. The object is divided
into four parts by two sets of perpendicular lines. In the centre, where the lines
intersect, there is a large solid circle. The upper sections of the circle probably
contained the monogram of Christ; the letters IC which survived in the
left-hand side section are still visible. It appears that the artist managed to
render the figure three-dimensionally. This is supported by the semi-circular
folds of the tunic and the hems of the loros. And yet the lines on the object
being held are straight. It seems to me that this is so because the artist was
attempting to render a flat object, not a spherical one, and in which case
a more appropriate term for the object would be disc. In comparison to the
previously-discussed paintings, this object is enriched by the addition of letters,
lines and the circle at the junction of the two lines. This enrichment is not
limited to the disc alone, but to the entire iconography of the painting. This
is the earliest instance of an archangel portrayed with a halo; the figure’s head
is wreathed by an ornate gem-studded crown. A delicate ornament adorns the
loros and fringes are sewn to one of its borders. Such fringes were not present
on the earlier Faras wall paintings, though they can frequently be found as an
element of the loros in Byzantine art, as for example in one of the Hagia Sophia
mosaics, showing the Emperor Alexander, which dates from the 10rh century.22 23
The archangels’ style of dress, the crown and the sceptre undoubtedly refer
to caesarian iconography. Colette Lamy-Lasalle termed this type of wall
painting “l’ange en basileus”.2j The monogram, refers to Christ, similar to the
22 Cf. P Underwood, E. J. Hawkins, “Thé Mosaics of Haghia Sophia at Istanbul. A Report on
Work Done in 1959 and 1960. The Portrait of the Emperor Alexander”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers,
XV, 1961, pp. 189-217.
23 Cf. C. Lamy-Lasalle, op. cit., p. 189.
36
is, m attire which was worn by Byzantine emperors and high state officials.
There is no doubt, therefore, that the artist was concerned with rendering the
archangels in ceremonial robes and that the objects they are holding were
meant to compliment this likeness.
The painting that was located on the south wall of the staircase, now located
in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. no. 234044 MNW; field inv. no. a84),
is also of an angel wearing a loros [Fig. 7]. The painting is in good condition,
though a large piece - running through the figure’s face, right shoulder and
wing - is missing. The paint is badly damaged and worn. A thin painted frame
surrounds the figure, only two sides of which survive: the bottom horizontal
and the vertical left side adjacent to the right wing. Adjoining the lower side
of the frame is a wide painted strip on which the figure is standing. The angel
is rendered frontally and is standing with his feet parted. In his lowered right
hand he is clutching a long staff-like object, which is probably a sceptre; in his
left hand there is a large spherical object which he is holding from the bottom
in such a way that his fingertips are showing from below. The object is divided
into four parts by two sets of perpendicular lines. In the centre, where the lines
intersect, there is a large solid circle. The upper sections of the circle probably
contained the monogram of Christ; the letters IC which survived in the
left-hand side section are still visible. It appears that the artist managed to
render the figure three-dimensionally. This is supported by the semi-circular
folds of the tunic and the hems of the loros. And yet the lines on the object
being held are straight. It seems to me that this is so because the artist was
attempting to render a flat object, not a spherical one, and in which case
a more appropriate term for the object would be disc. In comparison to the
previously-discussed paintings, this object is enriched by the addition of letters,
lines and the circle at the junction of the two lines. This enrichment is not
limited to the disc alone, but to the entire iconography of the painting. This
is the earliest instance of an archangel portrayed with a halo; the figure’s head
is wreathed by an ornate gem-studded crown. A delicate ornament adorns the
loros and fringes are sewn to one of its borders. Such fringes were not present
on the earlier Faras wall paintings, though they can frequently be found as an
element of the loros in Byzantine art, as for example in one of the Hagia Sophia
mosaics, showing the Emperor Alexander, which dates from the 10rh century.22 23
The archangels’ style of dress, the crown and the sceptre undoubtedly refer
to caesarian iconography. Colette Lamy-Lasalle termed this type of wall
painting “l’ange en basileus”.2j The monogram, refers to Christ, similar to the
22 Cf. P Underwood, E. J. Hawkins, “Thé Mosaics of Haghia Sophia at Istanbul. A Report on
Work Done in 1959 and 1960. The Portrait of the Emperor Alexander”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers,
XV, 1961, pp. 189-217.
23 Cf. C. Lamy-Lasalle, op. cit., p. 189.
36