DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0340
3°8
DJEBEL IL-HASS AND DJEBEL SHBET
side contain each the figure of an angel in anearly horizontal position and in face view,
with arms extended above the head, and long crescent-shaped wings falling on either
Sculptured lintel at Khanasir.
side of the body. The heads of these adoring angels are provided with the nimbus;
#
their features are expressed like those of the other figures ; their arms are simply flat,
curved bands with five sharp fingers at the ends; their wings are indicated in raised
outlines ; their bodies are executed in almost straight lines with a perfectly flat surface ;
their feet are not shown. No attempt is made in any of the figures to indicate drapery
or rotundity of form. It would be difficult to imagine a more crude, simple, and
expressionless representation of this common religious picture.
Zebed. A more elaborate and graceful treatment of the same subject, but equally
flat in execution, was found upon the lintel of the main western portal of the East
Church at Zebed. Here the triptych scheme
is abandoned, and the figure of the Virgin occu-
pies a circle in the center, while the angels fill
the spaces on either side of it. The bottom of
the lintel is adorned with a band of grape-vine
ornament. The stone lies face upwarcl and is
badly weathered despite its hardness. In fact,
Fig. ii 7. Lintel of East Church at Zebed.
it seems to have been intentionally disfigured by the nomads, so that portions of the
design are traced only with difficulty. The central group, in this case, is composed of
a seated figure of the Virgin, about .60 m. high ; the infant is barely visible upon her
breast, in an upright position to the right of the center, as in Byzantine mosaics and
paintings. The tall posts of the throne upon which thc Virgin sits appear on either
side of the group, with disks at the bottom, in the middle, and at the top, which curves
slightly outward ; each disk is marked with a cross. Between the sides of the throne
and the curve of the circle which surrounds the group are two small disks, the one
attached to the top of the post, the other to the middle of the post, by a wavy fillet.
The circle about the group is composed of a thin wreath of leaves, the stems of which
DJEBEL IL-HASS AND DJEBEL SHBET
side contain each the figure of an angel in anearly horizontal position and in face view,
with arms extended above the head, and long crescent-shaped wings falling on either
Sculptured lintel at Khanasir.
side of the body. The heads of these adoring angels are provided with the nimbus;
#
their features are expressed like those of the other figures ; their arms are simply flat,
curved bands with five sharp fingers at the ends; their wings are indicated in raised
outlines ; their bodies are executed in almost straight lines with a perfectly flat surface ;
their feet are not shown. No attempt is made in any of the figures to indicate drapery
or rotundity of form. It would be difficult to imagine a more crude, simple, and
expressionless representation of this common religious picture.
Zebed. A more elaborate and graceful treatment of the same subject, but equally
flat in execution, was found upon the lintel of the main western portal of the East
Church at Zebed. Here the triptych scheme
is abandoned, and the figure of the Virgin occu-
pies a circle in the center, while the angels fill
the spaces on either side of it. The bottom of
the lintel is adorned with a band of grape-vine
ornament. The stone lies face upwarcl and is
badly weathered despite its hardness. In fact,
Fig. ii 7. Lintel of East Church at Zebed.
it seems to have been intentionally disfigured by the nomads, so that portions of the
design are traced only with difficulty. The central group, in this case, is composed of
a seated figure of the Virgin, about .60 m. high ; the infant is barely visible upon her
breast, in an upright position to the right of the center, as in Byzantine mosaics and
paintings. The tall posts of the throne upon which thc Virgin sits appear on either
side of the group, with disks at the bottom, in the middle, and at the top, which curves
slightly outward ; each disk is marked with a cross. Between the sides of the throne
and the curve of the circle which surrounds the group are two small disks, the one
attached to the top of the post, the other to the middle of the post, by a wavy fillet.
The circle about the group is composed of a thin wreath of leaves, the stems of which