DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55204#0022
16 THE MOSAICS OF THE NARTHEX
The garment is caught in a loop where its horizontal outline across the body
forms a right angle with the vertical outline descending from high up on the
left shoulder. The colour of the himation is light grey, which differs in tone
only, not in hue, from that of the Emperor’s robes.
The right hand (Pl. XVIII) is drawn with relatively long fingers and small
palm. The attitude of blessing is expressed by the raising of the first two fingers
and the bending of the third and the fourth. The third finger lightly touches
the thumb, and the little finger is bent to form the letter sigma in the manner of
the orthodox Eastern benediction. Of the left hand we see only the extremities
which are resting on the book.
The book (Pl. XIX) is represented as open and facing us. Its fastenings consist
of two straps, seemingly of white leather ending in acorn-shaped silver hasps,
which are dangling from the cover to our right hand and, when the book is
closed, are to fit the eyelet-holes, which are barely visible on the other side of
the volume. The inscription is legible. + Eiprivri upiv. ’Eyw dpi to 966$ tou Koopou.
(Peace be with you. I am the Light of the World.} Letters drawn in mosaics
are less firm and exact than those inscribed with a brush or pen, and are there-
fore datable with less certainty; but there is nothing in the form of this writing
to exclude its ascription to the ninth century.
The feet, upon which we are looking down, for the eye of the spectator is
level with the knees of the figure, are resting upon a footstool placed before the
throne, the right foot slightly protruding over its edge, the left less advanced.
At this point the mosaics are still much stained by plaster added by the Fossati,
which it was judged dangerous to remove, and some loss of clearness has en-
sued. In this region of the lunette the mosaics show severe deterioration which
has affected the feet of the middle figure as well as the hands of the Emperor.
The feet of Christ, it will be noticed, are drawn on a smaller scale than his hands.
The upper line of the high broad-backed throne is drawn as a horizontal,
and its lateral terminations project on either side. In the middle of the side-
supports of the throne are set two globes, one in the right and one in the left.
The horizontal cross-bar seems to have been mortised at each of its ends into
the corresponding vertical constituent of the structure, though the artist has
omitted to define this disposition on the left side, as we see it. It appears to
traverse the sides of the throne, and it ends in knobs, as may be seen clearly in
Pl. XX, which shows the (our) right-hand, upper angle of the throne; the
balancing knob on the left-hand side of the throne is no longer visible. The
sides of the throne rise above the horizontal bar and are crowned by ornaments
shaped as pine-cones resting on flat pillows, and these cones are surmounted by
a triple ornament, seemingly of pearls. The back of the throne is upholstered
The garment is caught in a loop where its horizontal outline across the body
forms a right angle with the vertical outline descending from high up on the
left shoulder. The colour of the himation is light grey, which differs in tone
only, not in hue, from that of the Emperor’s robes.
The right hand (Pl. XVIII) is drawn with relatively long fingers and small
palm. The attitude of blessing is expressed by the raising of the first two fingers
and the bending of the third and the fourth. The third finger lightly touches
the thumb, and the little finger is bent to form the letter sigma in the manner of
the orthodox Eastern benediction. Of the left hand we see only the extremities
which are resting on the book.
The book (Pl. XIX) is represented as open and facing us. Its fastenings consist
of two straps, seemingly of white leather ending in acorn-shaped silver hasps,
which are dangling from the cover to our right hand and, when the book is
closed, are to fit the eyelet-holes, which are barely visible on the other side of
the volume. The inscription is legible. + Eiprivri upiv. ’Eyw dpi to 966$ tou Koopou.
(Peace be with you. I am the Light of the World.} Letters drawn in mosaics
are less firm and exact than those inscribed with a brush or pen, and are there-
fore datable with less certainty; but there is nothing in the form of this writing
to exclude its ascription to the ninth century.
The feet, upon which we are looking down, for the eye of the spectator is
level with the knees of the figure, are resting upon a footstool placed before the
throne, the right foot slightly protruding over its edge, the left less advanced.
At this point the mosaics are still much stained by plaster added by the Fossati,
which it was judged dangerous to remove, and some loss of clearness has en-
sued. In this region of the lunette the mosaics show severe deterioration which
has affected the feet of the middle figure as well as the hands of the Emperor.
The feet of Christ, it will be noticed, are drawn on a smaller scale than his hands.
The upper line of the high broad-backed throne is drawn as a horizontal,
and its lateral terminations project on either side. In the middle of the side-
supports of the throne are set two globes, one in the right and one in the left.
The horizontal cross-bar seems to have been mortised at each of its ends into
the corresponding vertical constituent of the structure, though the artist has
omitted to define this disposition on the left side, as we see it. It appears to
traverse the sides of the throne, and it ends in knobs, as may be seen clearly in
Pl. XX, which shows the (our) right-hand, upper angle of the throne; the
balancing knob on the left-hand side of the throne is no longer visible. The
sides of the throne rise above the horizontal bar and are crowned by ornaments
shaped as pine-cones resting on flat pillows, and these cones are surmounted by
a triple ornament, seemingly of pearls. The back of the throne is upholstered