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Funerary Art of Ptolemaic Alexandria as a Model for an Early Christian Iconographic Cliché
 
PIIS086919080023811-9-1
DOI10.31857/S086919080023811-9
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Valeria Kuvatova 
Occupation: research fellow
Affiliation: Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation,
Journal nameVostok. Afro-Aziatskie obshchestva: istoriia i sovremennost
EditionIssue 1
Pages6-12
Abstract

The subject of the study – the phenomenon of cultural appropriation of Ancient pagan iconography by Early Christian art – is approached through the funerary art of Ptolemaic Egypt. The study aims at tracing back the origin of an important Early Christian scene – Jonah under the Gourd Vine – by methods of semiotic analysis and historical contextualization. In the 3rd–4th centuries AD it used to be the most popular Biblical subject throughout the Roman Empire. Some scholars argue that a mythological scene of Endimion’s dream, often carved on Late Antique sarcophagi, served as a model for visualization of the story of the prophet. However, this hypothesis does not explain the origin of the gourd vine motif, which is yet another iconographic sine qua non detail of the Jonah resting scene. Before the ‘birth’ of Early Christian art the motif had appeared just once – in Wardian necropolis of Alexandria. The gourd was first mentioned in Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible made by Alexandrian Jews in the 3rd century BC. It substituted another plant originally mentioned in the Hebrew text. Both the Bible translators and Alexandrian painters had been well familiar with the gourd that was seemingly largely cultivated in Alexandrian suburbs. At some point of the city history Alexandrian painters adopted the pagan visual cliché for visualization of the Old Testament episode, and the new iconographic cliché was lately imported by Roman and provincial Christian milieu.

KeywordsEarly Christian art, Graeco-Roman funerary art, Alexandrian tomb painting, Wardian tomb, Early Christian iconography, Jonah under the Gourd Vine, cultural appropriation
Received13.02.2023
Publication date26.02.2023
Number of characters18834
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1 The famous Old Testament episode of Jonah resting under the Gourd Vine used to be by far the most popular Biblical subject matter of the Early Christian art [Dresken-Weiland, 2010, p. 18-21]. The popularity of the rebellious prophet was not accidental, for his story simultaneously alluded to theological fundamentals of the new religion – the baptism, resurrection and salvation of the believers. Moreover, the story of Jonah was one of the most sound Early Christian allusions to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the 3rd and 4th centuries AD the scene also served as a symbolic representation of happy afterlife in Paradise.
2 The iconography of the scene is believed to have originated from the Late Antique depictions of Endimion’s dream [Grabar, 1980, p. 130; Mathews, 1995, p. 30-31]. The latter was a popular visual metaphor of eternal afterlife dream. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD it often made part of pictorial programs of carved Roman sarcophagi. Despite the visual omnipresence of Jonah under the Gourd Vine throughout the late Roman Empire, its iconography seems very strict, almost canonical and easily recognizable. No matter where the particular artefact was made and how skillful its author was, the basic iconographic conventions of the episode always remained the same. (Fig. 1) It looks like the visual pattern had been all of a sudden established in its definitive form. No evidence of the scene’s iconographic evolution can be traced through the extant monuments of Early Christian art. Basically, the development of Early Christian iconography followed two major paths. The artists either designed the scenes in accordance with written descriptions offered be Early Christian texts, or appropriated suitable iconographic patterns from pagan pictorial heritage. The amazing iconographic stability of Jonah under the Gourd Vine allows to assume that some pagan visual model had been adopted by the Early Christian artists.
3 The prophet’s pose does not give a hint at what might have served as such a model. In fact, Endimion was not the only ancient character to be rendered as a reclined nude male figure with an arm placed under his head. Ancient Greco-Roman art had chosen the pose as a visual symbol of serene sleep. In the meantime, the origin of yet another sine qua non motif of the episode – the gourd vine with elongated fruits – remains rather obscure. Neither Greek no Roman pagan monuments contained depictions of the gourd. Opposed to symbolically charged ivy, grapes and other famous plants of the Mediterranean flora, Ancient art stayed indifferent to profane and simple vegetables like marrow-pumpkins or gourds. The rustic landscapes did not attract attention of either Greek or Roman artists, for neither Greek nor Republican nor Early Imperial Roman elite associated themselves with agriculture. The only exception were the scenes of grape harvesting that symbolically visualized the Dionysian cult. The rustic landscapes gradually entered Alexandrian funerary painting under the influence of Egyptian funerary art. Later on, the new Alexandrian fashion is likely to have been adopted by Roman funerary painting.
4 The suddenly omnipresent motif of the gourd vine seems to have originated from a very influential cultural center. The only pagan depiction of a male figure reclining under a pergola entwined with the gourd vine was found in one of the tombs of the Wardian necropolis in Alexandria (tomb III, or the Saqiya Tomb) (Fig. 2). The walls of the tomb were decorated with frescoes of stunning quality. Their dating has caused a vivid scholar discussion. The suggested dating is surprisingly loose, basically staying within the time span from the 2nd century BC to the 4th century AD. [Riad, 1967, p. 89-96; Weitzmann-Fiedler, 1979, p. 273-274; Barbet, 1980, p. 99; Venit, 1988, p. 89; Rodzievicz, 1993, p. 14-15; Seif El-Din, Guimier-Sorbets, 1997, p. 406; Venit, 2002, p. 116; Dresken-Weiland, 2010, p. 116]. Such vagueness seems to be caused by the presence of a poorly preserved scene which seems to be almost identical to Early Christian depictions of Jonah resting under the gourd vine. It was painted on the far wall of the burial chamber (Fig. 4). Strong visual associations with Early Christian art prompted some scholars to ignore both stylistic and iconographic features pointing at much earlier date. Yet another episode alludes to Early Christian iconographic conventions – a depiction of a man carrying a sheep on his shoulders.
5 Three more of five extant figured scenes also represent exquisite rustic landscapes (Fig. 3), while the last one offers an intriguing combination of Egyptianizing and Hellenistic sacral symbols, both connected to the funerary cults. According to H. Riad, the landscape paintings decorated the tomb court and occupied a South part of its East wall, including the square pylon at the court entrance [Riad, 1967, plan 3] (Fig. 4). The largest scene depicts a couple of oxen turning a water wheel (saqiya) under the supervision of a boy. The left part of the mural is largely destroyed, and yet the composition gives an impression of integrity. The agricultural works take place in a plantation, under the sprouts of some vining plants that entwine wooden trellis visually framing the scene. The foreground of the pictorial space is allocated for a depiction pond with some water birds picking at the flowers. At right angles to the saqiya scene there is a painting of a herm standing atop the square stone slab and serving as a vertical support for the fence grill. In the background behind the fence a groove is painted in greenish and blueish colors. The third figured scene is located at right angles to the herm picture. A shepherd carrying an animal on his shoulders (unfortunately, the upper part of the mural is poorly preserved) is depicted in the upper part of the composition, while below the ground line on which he stands there are two sheep foraging for grass.

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Fragment of Early Christian sarcophagus, 3rd c. AD, Italy, now in the Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, Berlin. Inv. 2704 (the Author’s photo). (https://disk.yandex.ru/i/OEGBLpb4AQZ3dQ) [Download]

East wall of the burial chamber, Tomb III Wardian, Alexandria (Photo courtesy of Marjorie S. Venit) (https://disk.yandex.ru/i/0PIn_Y2WTFiuIg) [Download]

Landscape paintings, south-east wall, Tomb III Wardian (photo purchased for editorial use at www.alammy.com) (https://disk.yandex.ru/i/MWQKAnRSnUon3w) [Download]

Tomb III Wardian, the Saqiya Tomb layout (after: Riad, 1967, plan 3) (https://disk.yandex.ru/i/SenzCx4CXmGE3w) [Download]

Villa Poppea, Room 8, east wall, oplontis, in situ (photo courtesy of Jebulon. Use is subject to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License v.4 International). (https://disk.yandex.ru/i/kLtSegbfawCoEg) [Download]

Fragment of murals, tommb on Nestoras street, Thessaloniki, 3rd century AD. Now in Byzantine Museum of Thessaloniki (photo by V. Z. Kuvatova) (https://disk.yandex.ru/i/mPtwZrG4tvoUGg) [Download]

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