DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0192
The Pillar of Light
Greek Church1. Dante, when he ascends with Beatrice to the
bliss of the saved. The two are connected by a vertical ladder rising towards a half-length
figure of Christ in the act of benediction, with the sun on his right, the moon on his left.
Below, to the right, is the tree of life with the serpent in it ; and on the north wall
adjoining it were remains of a large demon, now destroyed. Between the tree and the
ladder is a usurer seated in flames and tormented by two demons : he is slung with money-
bags, vomits coins, and holds up a piece of gold. The usurer is flanked by two amatory
couples, perhaps clerk and concubine, priest and nun, each couple with an attendant
spirit prompting to sin. To either side of them two large demons support a bridge of
spikes, on which are seen several culprits marked by the emblems of their trades—a black-
smith condemned to forge a horseshoe without anvil, a mason with his pick, a woman with a
ball of yarn, another woman with some attribute defaced, and a man with a bowl, probably
one who had stolen a tithe of milk and must now carry it over the bridge without
spilling. To the left of the ladder is a caldron full of flames, set over a fire and tended by
two large demons, who are filling it with parricides and fratricides. On the extreme left
the painting is damaged and obscure ; but we can make out several souls of dancers,
whose feet are gnawed by a recumbent wolf. On the opposite side of the caldron is a
figure with pilgrim's staff and purser but a wine-bottle in his hand : he had sold all to buy
strong drink. The figure having her arm bitten by a dog is a warning to ladies against
feeding their pets too well. Another large demon, with the cloven hoofs, tail, and ears of
a Satyr, shoulders a two-pronged fork and is bent on picking off souls from the ladder.
Behind him a woman and a man tumble downwards together : she holds out a gold coin
and clasps a large gold-banded horn carried by him—a symbol of lewdness rather than of
drunkenness. Above, to the right, is 'the Harrowing of Hell.' Christ advances upon the
prostrate form of Satan, whom with cross and banner he thrusts down into the open jaws
of Hell, here conceived as a gaping monster. The victor extends his hand to Adam, and
liberates a troop of souls from the flames of Purgatorv, while an angel, issuing from
Heaven with a scroll, announces the fulfilment of prophecy. Two other angels stand on
either side of the ladder as guards and guides of the blessed, who ascend towards Christ
above them. A couple of souls—Enoch and Elijah—clamber up outside the ladder in an
unusual way. Another exceptional case is that of the soul—presumably the penitent
thief—carried direct to Paradise by a flying angel. To the left is St Michael weighing
souls. Three females—probably the three Marys—pass towards the ladder. A fourth
soul supplicates the archangel. Two others, weighed and found wanting, are flung into
the gulf below. Lastly, to the left of the upper register, a demon, dragging many souls
bound with a rope, tries to depress one scale and so send up the beam. The dedication-
cross is on the lower edge of the painting, which measures 17 ft. 2 ins. in length by
lift. 2ins. in height.
1 The painter's manual by Dionysios Hieromonachos is an important source first
published in a French translation by P. Durand Manuel (Piconographie chretienne
grecque et latine Paris 1845. The Greek text was first printed by A. Konstantinides,
ed. 1 Athens 1853, ed. 2 Athens 1885, and is entitled 'Epp^eia | tQiv \ £uypo.(pwv \ Cos
Trpos tt)v I 'EKK\r]aiacrTiK7]v ^iayparpiav | virb | Aiovvffiov rod "Lepofxovdxov | Kal faypacpov |
ToO €k Qovpva tGiv 'Ayp&cpwv j (avyypacpelaa ev "Adwvi tu> 1458). Further bibliography in
K. Krumbacher Geschichte der byzantinischen Litterahir" Munchen 1897 p. 1117. It is
now held that Dionysios lived early in the eighteenth century, but drew largely upon an
anonymous painter's book of 1566 A.D. : see A. Papadopoulos Kerameus Deuys de
Fouj'na, Manuel d'iconographie chretienne, etc. St Petersburg 1900, id. Aiovva'wv rod €K
$>ovpva "Epp.y)veLa t^s ^'toypacpLKrj's, etc. St Petersburg 1909, O. M. Dalton Byzantine Art
and Archaeology Oxford 1911 p. 649. I append the text of the 'Ep/^j/et'a § 523 p. 242 f.
Konstantinides-: 'H i|/vxoo-wTrjpios Kal ovpav68po[j.os K\ifxa£. TslovaffT-qpiov Kal ej^wOev
rfjs irv\r)s avrov TrXrjdos p.ovax&v Trdffrjs TjAifuas- Trap' avry 5e k\ifJ.a^ (pdavovaa /xe^pts
ovpavov' Kal p.ovaxol dvepxbp.evoi Sia tuov fia6p.L5wv avrrjs' oi jxhv irpbs ras dpxds ttjs
k\L/j.o.kos (WeSj.ot de wpbs rd p.icra, 01 5e irpbs rb rep/xa <rxe^^v' KaL a775X01 ivapa toTs
Greek Church1. Dante, when he ascends with Beatrice to the
bliss of the saved. The two are connected by a vertical ladder rising towards a half-length
figure of Christ in the act of benediction, with the sun on his right, the moon on his left.
Below, to the right, is the tree of life with the serpent in it ; and on the north wall
adjoining it were remains of a large demon, now destroyed. Between the tree and the
ladder is a usurer seated in flames and tormented by two demons : he is slung with money-
bags, vomits coins, and holds up a piece of gold. The usurer is flanked by two amatory
couples, perhaps clerk and concubine, priest and nun, each couple with an attendant
spirit prompting to sin. To either side of them two large demons support a bridge of
spikes, on which are seen several culprits marked by the emblems of their trades—a black-
smith condemned to forge a horseshoe without anvil, a mason with his pick, a woman with a
ball of yarn, another woman with some attribute defaced, and a man with a bowl, probably
one who had stolen a tithe of milk and must now carry it over the bridge without
spilling. To the left of the ladder is a caldron full of flames, set over a fire and tended by
two large demons, who are filling it with parricides and fratricides. On the extreme left
the painting is damaged and obscure ; but we can make out several souls of dancers,
whose feet are gnawed by a recumbent wolf. On the opposite side of the caldron is a
figure with pilgrim's staff and purser but a wine-bottle in his hand : he had sold all to buy
strong drink. The figure having her arm bitten by a dog is a warning to ladies against
feeding their pets too well. Another large demon, with the cloven hoofs, tail, and ears of
a Satyr, shoulders a two-pronged fork and is bent on picking off souls from the ladder.
Behind him a woman and a man tumble downwards together : she holds out a gold coin
and clasps a large gold-banded horn carried by him—a symbol of lewdness rather than of
drunkenness. Above, to the right, is 'the Harrowing of Hell.' Christ advances upon the
prostrate form of Satan, whom with cross and banner he thrusts down into the open jaws
of Hell, here conceived as a gaping monster. The victor extends his hand to Adam, and
liberates a troop of souls from the flames of Purgatorv, while an angel, issuing from
Heaven with a scroll, announces the fulfilment of prophecy. Two other angels stand on
either side of the ladder as guards and guides of the blessed, who ascend towards Christ
above them. A couple of souls—Enoch and Elijah—clamber up outside the ladder in an
unusual way. Another exceptional case is that of the soul—presumably the penitent
thief—carried direct to Paradise by a flying angel. To the left is St Michael weighing
souls. Three females—probably the three Marys—pass towards the ladder. A fourth
soul supplicates the archangel. Two others, weighed and found wanting, are flung into
the gulf below. Lastly, to the left of the upper register, a demon, dragging many souls
bound with a rope, tries to depress one scale and so send up the beam. The dedication-
cross is on the lower edge of the painting, which measures 17 ft. 2 ins. in length by
lift. 2ins. in height.
1 The painter's manual by Dionysios Hieromonachos is an important source first
published in a French translation by P. Durand Manuel (Piconographie chretienne
grecque et latine Paris 1845. The Greek text was first printed by A. Konstantinides,
ed. 1 Athens 1853, ed. 2 Athens 1885, and is entitled 'Epp^eia | tQiv \ £uypo.(pwv \ Cos
Trpos tt)v I 'EKK\r]aiacrTiK7]v ^iayparpiav | virb | Aiovvffiov rod "Lepofxovdxov | Kal faypacpov |
ToO €k Qovpva tGiv 'Ayp&cpwv j (avyypacpelaa ev "Adwvi tu> 1458). Further bibliography in
K. Krumbacher Geschichte der byzantinischen Litterahir" Munchen 1897 p. 1117. It is
now held that Dionysios lived early in the eighteenth century, but drew largely upon an
anonymous painter's book of 1566 A.D. : see A. Papadopoulos Kerameus Deuys de
Fouj'na, Manuel d'iconographie chretienne, etc. St Petersburg 1900, id. Aiovva'wv rod €K
$>ovpva "Epp.y)veLa t^s ^'toypacpLKrj's, etc. St Petersburg 1909, O. M. Dalton Byzantine Art
and Archaeology Oxford 1911 p. 649. I append the text of the 'Ep/^j/et'a § 523 p. 242 f.
Konstantinides-: 'H i|/vxoo-wTrjpios Kal ovpav68po[j.os K\ifxa£. TslovaffT-qpiov Kal ej^wOev
rfjs irv\r)s avrov TrXrjdos p.ovax&v Trdffrjs TjAifuas- Trap' avry 5e k\ifJ.a^ (pdavovaa /xe^pts
ovpavov' Kal p.ovaxol dvepxbp.evoi Sia tuov fia6p.L5wv avrrjs' oi jxhv irpbs ras dpxds ttjs
k\L/j.o.kos (WeSj.ot de wpbs rd p.icra, 01 5e irpbs rb rep/xa <rxe^^v' KaL a775X01 ivapa toTs