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with it varied inhabitants, its produce, and its
work needed to maintain it: in a complete programme
of decoration, the earthy creation on
the floor would complement the heavenly sphere
of the apse and vaults, while the walls illustrate
God’s covenant with man’.
Though the formal iconography is sometimes
age-old, new forms are crafted and other patterns
are altered. Many of the traditional elements are
preserved, while change is apparent in the compositions,
especially in the diverse artistic creations.
Old traditions merge with new conceptions displaying
the changing spirit of the period.
Artists perceived and applied suppleness in the
relation of image and concept. The iconography
of many of the images was not revered, and the
attitudes, postures, and other features of the illustrations
were conventional but not determined or
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shaped by a systematic canon. No major centre
of authority seems to have existed, controlling
or directing the iconographic repertory. Usually
there was no single accepted manner for the portrayal
of the images, but there was an inclination
to limit the iconographic assortment and to
repeat traditional schemes, patterns, and formulae.
The variety of representational types such as
actions, postures, costumes, and attributes could
be changed, and might vary from a simple hint
to a detailed description, not always conveying
the same concept.
Influences on the formation of the visual imagery
came from literary conventions, tradition,
and ritual customs, as well as contemporary art;
religious, philosophic, social and historic manifestations
are expressed through the illustrative
construction of the mosaics.