Keywords
city, iconography, mosaic, aniconic art, Basilica of the Nativity, Ecumenical Council, Local Council, Jordan, Bethlehem, Holy Land, pilgrimage, iconoclasm,
How to Cite
Etinhof O. E. The image of a city in the mosaics of the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem // The Art of Eurasia, 2020. № 1(16). P. 50–65. URL: https://doi.org/10.25712/ASTU.2518-7767.2020.01.004.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Current Issue
Information
Make a Submission
Abstract
Aniconic iconography of Church Councils in the form of architectural and urban motifs, which is represented in the mosaics of the northern wall of the central nave of the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 1169, is relatively rare. Several examples of such type are known in Byzantine and West European monuments of the 9th – 10th centuries. A combination of architectural compositions and anthropomorphic images of church fathers, emperors, participants of Councils could be found in manuscripts of 9th – 12th centuries. The aniconic motifs in Bethlehem corresponded not only to the appeal to the early mosaic program of the basilica during the restoration of the 12th century or to the ideology and politics of the crusaders, but also to the tradition of non-figurative art of the Byzantine world, which existed until the 12th century. The Eastern Christian Monophysite tradition and Islamic monuments could also have an influence on the aniconic motifs in the mosaics of the Bethlehem basilica.
References
- Biblioteka literatury Drevnei Rusi: v 20 t. [Library of literature of Old Russia]. St. Peterburg, Nauka, 1997. Vol. 4. 688 p.
- Lazarev V.N. Istoriya vizantijskoi zhivopisi [History of Byzantine Painting]. Moscow, 1986. Volume 1–2. Volume 1: text, 322 p. T. 2: tables, 597 tables.
- Bacci M. Old?restorations and?new discoveries in the Nativity Church, Bethlehem – Convivium, 2015, vol. 2, issue 2, pp. 36–59.
- Byzantinischen Mosaiken aus Jordanien. Katalog der Ausstellung. P.M. Piccirillo Hrsg., H. Bushhausen Hrsg. Wien, 1986. 251 S.
- Chatzidakis M., Drandakis N., Zias N., Acheimastou-Potamianou M., Vasilaki-Karakatsani A. Byzantine Art in Greece. Mosaics – Wall Paintings. Naxos. Athens: Melissa Publishing House, 1989. 194 p.
- Cormack R. The Arts during the Age of Iconoclasm. – In: Iconoclasm. Papers given at the Ninth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies. University of Birmingham. March 1975. A. Bryer and J. Herrin eds. Center for Byzantine Studies University of Birmingham, 1977, pp. 35–44.
- Eckersley T.E. Putting Christians on the map: topographic mosaics from late antique Jordan as representations of authority and status. Ph.D. Diss. in Art History. University of Louisville. Louisville, 2016. 476 p.
- Grabar A. L'iconoclasme byzantin. Dossier arch?ologique. Paris, Coll?ge de France, 1957. 277 p., 163 ill.
- Grabar A., Manussacas M. L’illustration du manuscript de Scylitzes de la Biblioth?que Nationale de Madrid. Venise, 1979. – In: Biblioth?que de Institut helle?nique d'e?tudes byzantines et post-byzantines de Venise. N 10, 210 p., 40 pl., 272 fig.
- Hunt L.-A. Art and Colonialism: The Mosaics of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (1169) and the Problem of “Crusader” Art. – In: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 1991, vol. 45, pp. 69–86.
- K?hnel B. and G. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem: The Crusader Lining of an Early Christian Basilica. With a new edition of the mosaic inscriptions in appendix by Erich Lamberz. Regensburg: Schnell and Steiner, 2019. 174 p.
- Mundell M. Monophisite Church Decoration. – In: Iconoclasm. Papers given at the Ninth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies. University of Birmingham. March 1975. A. Bryer and J. Herrin eds. Center for Byzantine Studies University of Birmingham, 1977, pp. 59–74.
- Pallas D. Eine anikonische lineare Wanddecoration auf der Insel Ikaria, zur Tradition der bilderlosen Kirchenausstattung. – In: Jarhbuch des ?sterreichischen Byzantinistik, 1974, Bd 23, SS. 271–314.
- Pallas D. Les d?corations aniconiques des ?glises dans les ?les de l’Archipel. – In: Studien zur sp?tantiken und byzantinischen Kunst, Fr. W. Deichmann gewidmet. Bonn: R. Habelt, 1986, Bd 10, part 2, pp. 171–179.
- Piccirillo M. Il Complesso Di Santo Stefano a Umm Al-Rasas – Kastron Mefaa in Giordania (1986–1991). – In: Liber Annuus, 1991, vol. XLI, pp. 327–364.
- Stern H. Encore les mosaics de l’?glise de la Nativite a Bethl?em. – In: Cahiers arch?ologique, 1957, vol. 9, pp. 141–145.
- Walter Ch. L'Iconographie des Conciles dans la tradition byzantine. Paris, 1970. – In: Archives de l’Orient Chr?tien, Vol. 13, 299 p.
- Wharton-Epstein A. The ‘Iconoclast’ Churches of Cappadocia – In: Iconoclasm. Papers given at the Ninth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies. University of Birmingham. March 1975. A. Bryer and J. Herrin eds. Center for Byzantine Studies University of Birmingham, 1977, pp. 103–112.
- Wilkinson J. Jerusalem Pilgrims before the Crusaders. Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1977, viii, 225 p., ill.
