All
 
|
 
 


On the Origin of the Early Christian Paintings in Chersonesos Tombs
 
PIIS032103910015612-6-1
DOI10.31857/S032103910015612-6
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Irina Zavadskaya 
Affiliation: V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University
Address: Russian Federation, Simferopol
Journal nameVestnik drevnei istorii
EditionVolume 81 Issue 2
Pages698-719
Abstract

The decorative programs of eleven painted tombs of Chersonesos (south-west Crimea), which include mainly floral-plant motifs, images of birds, imitation marble facings and in several tombs also a Christogram and a human figure, correspond to the iconography of early Christian funerary paintings of the Late Roman Empire. They date back to the last quarter of fourth century or the beginning of the fifth century AD. The article revises the traditional concept of the Syro-Palestinian origins of Chersonesos paintings. Based on their style, the specifics of the artistic repertoire, compositional features and the decorative system as a whole, the author concludes that the closest parallels to the Chersonesos monuments can be found in the eastern Balkan provinces of Thrace and Dacia and in the Western Asia Minor. Some features inherent in the Chersonesos paintings allow us to consider them as a local Chersonesos variant of the provincial East Balkan and West Asia Minor Late Antique funerary painting.

Abstract (other)

Декоративные программы 11 расписных склепов Херсонеса (Юго-Западный Крым), включающие в себя в основном цветочно-растительные мотивы, изображения птиц, имитацию мраморной облицовки, а в нескольких склепах также христограмму и человеческую фигуру, соответствуют иконографии раннехристианской погребальной живописи в Поздней Римской империи и датируются последней четвертью IV – началом V в. В статье пересмотрена традиционная концепция о сиро-палестинских истоках херсонесских росписей. На основании их стиля, специфики художественного репертуара, особенностей компози-ции и декоративной системы в целом сделан вывод о том, что наиболее близкие параллели херсонесским памятникам находятся в восточно-балканских провинциях Фракии и Дакии и в западной части Малой Азии. Некоторые особенности, присущие только херсонесским росписям, позволяют рассматривать их как местный херсонесский вариант провинциальной восточно-балканской и западно-малоазийской позднеантичной погребальной живописи.

KeywordsChersonesos, painted tombs, early Christian funerary paintings, Thrace, Asia Minor
Keywords list (other)Херсонес, расписные склепы, раннехристианская погребальная живопись, Фракия, Малая Азия
AcknowledgmentThe work is implemented within the framework of the state assignment of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation No. FZEG-2020-0029 on "The influence of the Byzantine Empire on historical processes in medieval Crimea." This article is a translation of: Завадская И.А. О происхождении раннехристианских росписей в склепах Херсонеса // Journal of Ancient History [Vestnik drevney istorii] 81/2 (2021), 439–462. DOI: 10.31857/S032103910010623-8
Received28.06.2021
Publication date28.06.2021
Number of characters49319
Cite     Download pdf

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 501

Readers community rating: votes 0 

1. Aibabin, A.I. 2010: [Early Byzantine Chersonesos/Cherson]. In: Vizantiya v kontekste mirovoy kultury. Materialy konferentsii, posvyashchennoy pamyati A.V. Bank [Byzantium within the Context of World Culture. Proceedings of the conference dedicated to the memory of A.V. Bank]. Saint Petersburg, 353–379.
2. Bianchi Bandinelli, R. 1970: Rome. La fin de l’art antique. L’art de l’Empire romain de Septime Sévère à Théodose Ier. Paris.
3. Bolgov, N.N. 2004: [Syrian cultural influences in the Late Antique Northern Black Sea Region]. In: Prichernomor’e, Krym, Rus’ v istorii i kulture: materialy II Sudakskoy mezhdunarodnoy nauchnoy konferentsii (12–16 sentyabrya 2004 g.). Ch. I [Black Sea, Crimea, Russia in History and Culture: Materials of the II Sudak International Scientific Conference (September 12–16.09.2004). Pt. I]. Kiev–Sudak, 17–19.
4. Buchwald, H., Zavadskaya, I. 2013: Early Christian basilicas in Crimea and their numeric proportions. Materialy po Arkheologii i Istorii Antichnogo i Srednevekovogo Kryma [Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea] XVIII, 14–48.
5. Buyskikh, A.V. 2008: Prostranstvennoe razvitie Khersonesa Tavricheskogo v antichnuyu epokhu [Spatial planning development of Tauric Chersonesos in ancient epoch]. Simferopol.
6. Diatroptov, P.D. 1986: [Extension of Christianity in Tauric Chersonesos in the 4th–6th centuries]. In: Antichnaya grazhdanskaya obshchina [Antique Civil Community]. Moscow, 127–151.
7. Diatroptov, P.D. 2002: [Once again to the question of the dating of mural painting of Chersonesos Christian tombs]. In: Tserkovnaya arkheologiya Yuzhnoy Rusi: sbornik materialov mezhdunarodnoy konferentsii “Tserkovnaya arkheologiya: problemy, poiski, otrkytiya” [Church Archeology of South Russia: Collection of Materials of the International Conference “Church Archeology: Problems, Searches, Discoveries”]. Simferopol, 34–37.
8. Elsner, J. 2002: The birth of late antiquity: Riegl and Strzygowski in 1901. Art History 25/3, 358–379.
9. Ferrua, A. 1991: The Unknown Catacomb. A Unique Discovery of Early Christian Art. Transl. by I. Inglis. New Lanark.
10. Filippov, A.E. 2009: [Painting of the early Christian tombs of Tauric Chersonesos in the context of artistic tradition: synthesis with architecture, symbolism, liturgical basis]. In: S.A. Belyaev (ed.), Ocherki po istorii khristianskogo Khersonesa. T. I, 1. Khersones khristianskiy [Essays on the History of Christian Chersonesos. Vol. I, 1. Chersonesos Christian]. Saint Petersburg, 193–318.
11. Fomin, M.V. 2014: [On the problem of the formation of an Early Christian artistic tradition in Chersonesos of the 4th–5th centuries]. Vіsnyk Harkіvs’kogo nacіonal’nogo unіversytetu іm. V.N. Karazіna. Serіja «Іstorіja» [The Journal of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series: History] 1117/48, 38–46.
12. Grabar, A. 1946: Martyrium. Recherches sur le culte des reliques et l’art chrétien antique. Vol. II: Iconographie. Paris.
13. Grabar, A. 1972: Le tiers monde de l’Antiquité à l’école de l’art classique et son rôle dans la formation de l’art du Moyen Age. Revue de l’art 18, 8–25.
14. Kadeev, V.I., Sorochan, S.B. 1989: Ekonomicheskie svyazi antichnykh gorodov Severnogo Prichernomor’ya v I v. do n.e. – V v. n.e. (na materi-alakh Khersonesa) [Economic Contacts of the Ancient Cities of the Northern Black Sea Region in the 1st Cent. BC – 5th Cent. AD. (Based on the Materials from Chersonesos)]. Khar’kov.
15. Khrushkova, L.G. 2005: [On the beginning of the Christian Tauric Chersonesos: a cross-shaped church in the main cemetery]. In: Sugdeyskiy sbornik. Vyp. II [Sugdaia collection papers. Issue II]. Kiev–Sudak, 393–420.
16. Khrushkova, L.G. 2008: [On the paintings in Early Christian tombs in the Crimea: one hundred years after Mikhail Rostovtzeff]. In: Vizantiya v kontekste mirovoy kultury. Materialy konferentsii, posvyashchennoy pa-myati A.V. Bank [Byzantium Within the Context of World Culture. Trans-actions of the State Hermitage Museum] Saint Petersburg, 121–132.
17. Kitzinger, E. 1977: Byzantine Art in the Making. Main Lines of Stylistic De-velopment in Mediterranean Art. 3rd–7th Cent. London.
18. Kuvatova, V. 2017: Early Christian funerary painting in Thessaloniki. Macedonian and Roman traditions. In: N.A. Nalimova, T.P. Kishbali, A.V. Zacharova (eds.), Makedoniya – Rim – Vizantiya: iskusstvo Severnoy Gretsii ot antichnosti do srednikh vekov: materialy nauchnoy konferentsii [Macedonia – Rome – Byzantium: the Art of Northern Greece from Antiquity to the Middle Ages: Proceedings of the Scientific Conference]. Moscow, 128–141.
19. Maayan-Fanar, E. 2010: An early Christian tomb at Lohamei HaGetaot: formation of christological symbolism. Eastern Christian Art 7, 71–89.
20. Marki, E. 2006: E nekropole tes Tkhessalonikes stous usteroromaikus kai palyaiokhristianikus khronus (mesa tu 3u eos mesa tu 8u aj. m.kh.) [The Necropolis of Thessaloniki in the Late Roman and Early Christian Periods (from the Middle of the 3rd Century to the Middle of the 8th Century AD)].
21. Μαρκή, Ε. Η νεκρόπολη της Θεσσαλονίκης στους υστερορωμαϊκούς και παλαιοχριστιανικούς χρόνους (μέσα του 3ου έως μέσα του 8ου αι. μ.Χ.). Αθήνα.
22. McKenzie, J. 2007: The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt c. 300 BC to AD 700. London.
23. Meshcheryakov, V.F. 1978: [About the time of the Appearance of Christianity in the Tauric Chersonesos]. In: Aktualnye problemy izucheniya istorii religii i ateizma [Actual Problems of Studying of History of Religion and Atheism]. Leningrad, 121–134.
24. Michaeli, T. 1998: The pictorial program of the tomb near Kibbutz Or-ha-Ner in Israel. Assaph Studies in Art History 3, 37–76.
25. Michaeli, T. 2001: The iconographic and symbolism of the tomb of the Nymphs at Ashkelon. In: A. Barbet (ed.), La peinture funéraire antique : IVe siècle av. J.-C. – IVe siècle ap. J.-C.: actes du VIIe Colloque de l’Association Internationale pour la peinture mural antique (6–10 Octobre 1998, Saint-Romain-en-Gal – Vienne). Paris, 163–170.
26. Miyatev, K. 1925: Dekorativnata zhivopis na Sofiyskiya nekropol [Decorative Painting of the Sofia Necropolis]. Sofia.
27. Mirković, L. 1956: La nécropole paléochrétienne de Niš. Archeologia Jugoslavica II, 85–100.
28. Pergola, A. 2010: La discussa scena delle donne al sepolcro nel battistero di Dura Europos. Alle origini dell’iconografia della resurrezione di Cristo. Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana 86, 315–352.
29. Patrich, J. 2016: The early Christianization of the Holy Land – the archaeological evidence. In: Acta XVI Congressus Internationalis Archaeologiae Christianae. Romae (22–28.9.2013). Costantino e i Costantinidi: l’innovazione costantiniana, le sue radici e i suoi sviluppo. Pars I. Vati-cano, 265–293.
30. Pillinger, R., Popova, V., Zimmermann, B. (Hrsg.) 1999: Corpus der spätantiken und frühchristlichen Wandmalereien Bulgariens. (Schriften der Balkankommission, Antiquarische Abteilung, 21). Wien.
31. Rishnjak, O., Sadova, O., Turovs’kij, E., Filippenko, A. 2012: Nekropol’ Hersonesa Tavrіjs’kogo. Novі storіnky v іstorіi’ doslіdzhen’ [Necropolis of Chersonesos Tauric. New pages in the History of Research]. Lviv.
32. Rostovtzeff, M.I. 1913: Antichnaya dekorativnaya zhivopis’ na yuge Rossii. Atlas [Antique Decorative Painting in the South of Russia. An Atlas]. Saint Petersburg.
33. Rostovtzeff, M.I. 1914: Antichnaya dekorativnaya zhivopis’ na yuge Rossii. T. I. Opisanie i issledovanie pamyatnikov [Antique Decorative Painting in the South of Russia. Text. Vol. I. Description and Researches of the Monuments]. Saint Petersburg.
34. Rousseau, V. 2019: Reflection, ritual, and memory in the Late Roman painted Hypogea at Sardis. Arts 8/103, 1–36. URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/8/3/103/htm;  data obrascheniya: 23.04.2021.
35. Strocka, V.M. 2002: Die Fresken von Hanghaus 2 – ein Vierteljahrhundert später. Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes in Wien 71, 285–298.
36. Strzygowski, J. 1901: Orient oder Rom: Beitrag zur Geschichte der spätantiken und frühchristlichen Kunst. Leipzig.
37. Stupko, M.V., Turovskiy, E.Ya., Filippenko, A.A. 2007: [On the fate of the painted tombs of the first Christians of Chersonesos]. In: Sacrum et Profanum. Vyp. III. Nebesnye patrony i zemnye sluzhiteli kulta [Sacrum et Profanum. Issue III. Heavenly Patrons and Terrestrial Ministers of Cult]. Sevastopol, 189–192.
38. Turovskiy, E.Ya., Filippenko, A.A. 2008: [Chronology of the tombs of the Early Christians of the Chersonesos necropolis (in the light of excava-tions of 2006)]. Materialy po arkheologii i istorii antichnogo i srednevekovogo Kryma [Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea] I, 45–48.
39. Valeva, J. 1979–1980: Sur certaines particularités des hypogées paléochrétiens des terres et leurs analogues en Asie Mineure. Anatolica VII, 117–150.
40. Valeva, J. 1998: Les tombeaux ornés de croix et chrismes peints. In: Acta XIII Congressus internatinalis archaeologiae christianae (Split-Porec, 25.9.–1.10.1994) III. Vaticano, 761–786.
41. Valeva, J. 2001: La peinture funéraire dans les provinces orientales de l’Empire Romain dans l’Antiquité tardive. Hortus Artium Medievalium 7, 167–208.
42. Zavadskaya, I.A. 2003: [Conversation to Christianity in early Byzantine Chersonesos (the 4th–6th centuries)]. Materialy po arkheologii, istorii i etnografii Tavrii [Materials in Archaeology, History and Ethnography of Tauria] X, 402–426.
43. Zavadskaya, I.A. 2005: [Decorative–symbolic system of painting in Chersonesos Christian tombs: aspects of chronology and genesis]. Materialy po arkheologii, istorii i etnografii Tavrii [Materials in Archaeology, His-tory and Ethnography of Tauria] XI, 258–288.
44. Zavadskaya, I.A. 2009: [Christian painted tombs of Crimea in the context of funeral painting development in early Byzantine period]. Materialy po arkheologii, istorii i etnografii Tavrii [Materials in Archaeology, History and Ethnography of Tauria] XV, 89–131.
45. Zavadskaya, I.A. 2013: Early Christian painted tombs in Crimea. Mitteilungen zur Christlichen Archäologie 19, 41–67.
46. Zavadskaya, I.A. 2019: [Numeric proportions of the early Byzantine basilicas of Chersonesos]. Materialy po arkheologii, istorii i etnografii Tavrii [Materials in Archaeology, History and Ethnography of Tauria] XXIV, 135–159.
47. Zimmermann, N. 2011: Das Sieben-Schläfer-Zömeterium in Ephesos. Neue Forschungen zu Baugeschichte und Ausstattung eines ungewöhnlichen Bestattungskomplexes. Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes in Wien 80, 365–407.
48. Zubar’, V.M. 1982: Nekropol Khersonesa Tavricheskogo I–IV vv. n.e. [Necropolis of Tauric Chersonesos of the 1th–4th centuries AD]. Kiev.
49. Zubar’, V.M. 1994: Khersones Tavricheskiy i Rimskaya imperiya. Ocherki voenno-politicheskoy istorii [Tauric Chersonesos and Roman Empire. Es-says on Military Political History]. Kiev.
50. Zubar’, V.M., Khvorostyanyy, A.I. 2000: Ot yazychestva k khristianstvu. Nachal’nyy etap proniknoveniya i utverzhdeniya khristianstva na yuge Urkainy (vtoraya polovina III – pervaya polovina VI v.) [From Paganism to Christianity. The initial Stage of Penetration and Confirmation of Christianity in the south of Ukraine (the Second Half of the 3rd – the First Half of the 6th c.]. Kiev.
51. Zuckerman, C. 1994: [Bishops and a garrison of Cherson in the 4th century]. Materialy po arkheologii i istorii antichnogo i srednevekovogo Kryma [Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Crimea] IV, 545–561.

Система Orphus

Loading...
Up