DOI Artikel:
Łaptaś, Magdalena: A sphere, an orb or a disc?: the object held by the archangels in the Faras Cathedral wall paintings
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18946#0041
The fingers of his left hand are pointing downward. Michael is dressed in
a long-sleeved tunic which drops down to his shoes, slightly shorter over-tunic
with elbow length sleeves and a long cloak which is heavily draped at the
bottom and around his shoulders. There is what appears to be a collar around
Michael’s neck. The archangel’s head is wreathed by a crown and surrounded
by a halo. The lifted wings are spread out above the youths’ heads. Single
peacock feathers are woven into the wings.
9. Three Youths in the
Fiery Furnace, painting
from the west wall of the
Faras Cathedral's
narthex, the
National Museum
in Khartoum, (neg.
the archives of the
Mediterranean
Archaeological
Institute of the
Polish Academy
of Sciences)
As mentioned above, this disc resembles the one in the representation on
the south wall of the tomb (field inv. no. 104). A narrow strip decorated with
dots surrounds a large circle at the disc’s centre. Surrounding the circle and
the narrow strip is a wide band decorated, like the disc located in the tomb,
with petals radiating from the centre. The centre of the disc is white, while
the surrounding band is blue. The inscription below the figure identifies him as
Michael, Archistrategos, the merciful. It appears that the archangel’s function,
as that of the object he holds, is analogical, as is the case in the scene from the
Three Youths (inv. no. 234040 MNW).
Undoubtedly the object with the most fully-developed form is the one in
the left arm of the archangel in the mural that was on the eastern wall of
the narthex (field inv. no. 89) [Fig. 10].2S This painting has not survived
unfortunately. The bottom and top of the figure were already damaged when
39
a long-sleeved tunic which drops down to his shoes, slightly shorter over-tunic
with elbow length sleeves and a long cloak which is heavily draped at the
bottom and around his shoulders. There is what appears to be a collar around
Michael’s neck. The archangel’s head is wreathed by a crown and surrounded
by a halo. The lifted wings are spread out above the youths’ heads. Single
peacock feathers are woven into the wings.
9. Three Youths in the
Fiery Furnace, painting
from the west wall of the
Faras Cathedral's
narthex, the
National Museum
in Khartoum, (neg.
the archives of the
Mediterranean
Archaeological
Institute of the
Polish Academy
of Sciences)
As mentioned above, this disc resembles the one in the representation on
the south wall of the tomb (field inv. no. 104). A narrow strip decorated with
dots surrounds a large circle at the disc’s centre. Surrounding the circle and
the narrow strip is a wide band decorated, like the disc located in the tomb,
with petals radiating from the centre. The centre of the disc is white, while
the surrounding band is blue. The inscription below the figure identifies him as
Michael, Archistrategos, the merciful. It appears that the archangel’s function,
as that of the object he holds, is analogical, as is the case in the scene from the
Three Youths (inv. no. 234040 MNW).
Undoubtedly the object with the most fully-developed form is the one in
the left arm of the archangel in the mural that was on the eastern wall of
the narthex (field inv. no. 89) [Fig. 10].2S This painting has not survived
unfortunately. The bottom and top of the figure were already damaged when
39