DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0426
CHAPTER TWO. THE ICONOGRAPHIC PROGRAMME | 423
Byzantine imperial court156 157 158 159. Following the «Annunciation to Zacha-
riah» and in full accordance with the sequence of the story is shown
the «Nativity of John the Baptist». The final third scene of the south
slope has preserved small depictions of two warriors pursuing a wom-
an hiding in the cliff. This represents the miraculous salvation of John
the Baptist during the Massacre of the Innocents: his mother managed
to hide him from their pursuers in the cliff which opened to conceal
them. As a rule, «Elisabeth with the infant John hiding in the cliff was
shown next in hagiographic cycles after the nativity scene.
The compositions on the northern slope should also be read from
left to right. The first may be recognized as «John the Baptist before
Herod». We can still see the naked legs and hair shirt of the frontal
standing figure of St John as far as the knees and a foot in a red boot on
a decorated pedestal is all that remains of Herod seated on his throne.
The most fully preserved of the north slope scenes is that in the
centre which shows «Herod’s Feast». To the extreme left is shown the
dancing Salome, a disproportionately large figure standing out against
a dark blue background. The laden table is depicted against a light
background. Closest of all to Salome sits Herod on his throne and he is
a head taller than the other four figures shown here. The second figure
from Herod is a woman turning to the tetrarch and evidently repre-
senting Herodias. These pictorial means are used to emphasise the role
of the three main characters involved in the events leading directly to
the execution of John the Baptist.
The next scene shows the beheading itself. We can clearly see a man
in chains kneeling down and behind and slightly above him is another
figure that once represented the executioner holding a raised sword.
However, a number of interesting additional elements have been add-
ed to the composition. In front of St John there is a large and wide
vessel in which may be seen the outline of a nimbus. Behind the vessel
156 See The History of Armenia by Moses Xorenaci. Moscow, 1893, pp. 132-133.
157 Short descriptions of the scenes portrayed are preserved in L.A. Durnovo’s archive. See
Manuscript Department of the Armenian Art Gallery, f. 211, No. 15838. Regrettably, not all
subjects are precisely denominated. Recent restoration allowed us to identify some compositions
more correctly.
158 For an iconographic analysis of the scene, see Mathew’s Gospel, pp. 201-203.
159 On the source of this iconographic motif, see Babic G. Sur I’iconographie de la composition
«Nativite de la Vierge» dans la peinture byzantine // Зборник радова Византолошког института,
7 (1961), pp. 172-175.
Byzantine imperial court156 157 158 159. Following the «Annunciation to Zacha-
riah» and in full accordance with the sequence of the story is shown
the «Nativity of John the Baptist». The final third scene of the south
slope has preserved small depictions of two warriors pursuing a wom-
an hiding in the cliff. This represents the miraculous salvation of John
the Baptist during the Massacre of the Innocents: his mother managed
to hide him from their pursuers in the cliff which opened to conceal
them. As a rule, «Elisabeth with the infant John hiding in the cliff was
shown next in hagiographic cycles after the nativity scene.
The compositions on the northern slope should also be read from
left to right. The first may be recognized as «John the Baptist before
Herod». We can still see the naked legs and hair shirt of the frontal
standing figure of St John as far as the knees and a foot in a red boot on
a decorated pedestal is all that remains of Herod seated on his throne.
The most fully preserved of the north slope scenes is that in the
centre which shows «Herod’s Feast». To the extreme left is shown the
dancing Salome, a disproportionately large figure standing out against
a dark blue background. The laden table is depicted against a light
background. Closest of all to Salome sits Herod on his throne and he is
a head taller than the other four figures shown here. The second figure
from Herod is a woman turning to the tetrarch and evidently repre-
senting Herodias. These pictorial means are used to emphasise the role
of the three main characters involved in the events leading directly to
the execution of John the Baptist.
The next scene shows the beheading itself. We can clearly see a man
in chains kneeling down and behind and slightly above him is another
figure that once represented the executioner holding a raised sword.
However, a number of interesting additional elements have been add-
ed to the composition. In front of St John there is a large and wide
vessel in which may be seen the outline of a nimbus. Behind the vessel
156 See The History of Armenia by Moses Xorenaci. Moscow, 1893, pp. 132-133.
157 Short descriptions of the scenes portrayed are preserved in L.A. Durnovo’s archive. See
Manuscript Department of the Armenian Art Gallery, f. 211, No. 15838. Regrettably, not all
subjects are precisely denominated. Recent restoration allowed us to identify some compositions
more correctly.
158 For an iconographic analysis of the scene, see Mathew’s Gospel, pp. 201-203.
159 On the source of this iconographic motif, see Babic G. Sur I’iconographie de la composition
«Nativite de la Vierge» dans la peinture byzantine // Зборник радова Византолошког института,
7 (1961), pp. 172-175.