habitat rupestre.pdf - Società Friulana di Archeologia

THE ART IN RUPESTRIAN CULTURECRHIMA-CINP projectto, a late ingenuous but expressive unicum is the Virgin on abackground of stars, with visions from the Apocalypse.Paintings were the reflection of popular devotion: this is whythe images of the Virgin were very common (more as Odegitria¸Galattotrofusa and Glicofusa, but there are also rareimages of the Virgin conducting by hand the Holy Child witha basket full of eggs, as in the church of Candelora, Massafra).Chirst was represented in many apses as the Judge of the FinalJudgement, in the Déisis, with the Virgin and Saint Joan theBaptist. Often, the figure of the Baptist was substituted withthe patron Saint of the committer. The most painted Saint isthe Saint Bishop Nicholas of Mira, who was worshipped inPuglia before the relics arrived in the Region. There are alsovery rare representations of his life: in Mottola, there is thepainting of the episode in which the Saint redeems three girlswhom their poor father wanted to prostitute. There are alsoAuxiliary and Knight Saints, as George, Eustachio, Theodore,and military Saints, other Virgins (as Parasceve/Venerdì, Lucyand Catherine of Alexandria), the Fathers from Cappadocia(especially Basilio, sometime flanked by Benedetto, the patriarchof western Monks) the great Anchorites and Hermits (asOnofrio, Paolo and Antonio Abate) the Apostles (especiallyPaul, after the 9th century when the Normans and the Schismmade necessary to declare the support to the Church of Rome,in fear of future repressions).The image of Michael the Archangel is very common, whosecult and iconography derives from the Apocalypse. He is oftenrepresented with wings, armour, sword or lancet, defeatingthe Demon/Drake. Sometimes he holds a scale to weighsouls (psychostasis), as in the Islamic tradition and with nolink with the Christian tradition. The book of the Apocalypsewas the source for later books, which were dedicated to thefigure of the Archangel: these books defined him as a majesticbeing with the power of examinating souls before the FinalJudgement. The Byzantine iconography is more common inrupestrian churches, so the Archangel is more represented asa Court dignitary (with the loron) with the title of Archistratigos(a Commander in chief) than the western figures of a warriorfighting against the Demon, or while weighing souls. Theimage of Gabriel the Archangel is rarer, though he is presentin some Annunciation.The studies on rupestrian iconography are still very few. Criticalcontributions on rupestrian paintings have been focusedon the analysis of formal factors, in order to set the chronologyand to identify the artists within the wider Byzantine wallpainting. Rupestrian painting is a small aspect of the wholeByzantine wall painting, as it is a private commission for privateuse. The risk is to skip from an old wrong pan-monasticidea to an equally wrong pan-funerary conception. In the lastthree decades, the rising archaeological research is goingmuch further than the old historical and artistic vision.3. GraffitiThe study of graffiti in churches or in natural caves (whichwere sanctuaries of healing gods and were later turned intoChristianized churches, often with the dedication to Saint Michael)is fundamental to understand life in rupestrian villages.Devotional inscriptions and symbolic images were often engravedin rupestrian sites and churches.Many symbols are painted or engraved in the rupestrian sites,especially in the churches. Here is a list of the main ones, excludingthe omnipresent Cross.4. Symbols, between religion and magicThe symbol is an element of communication, the signifier ofan ideal meaning. Symbols are different from signals, as theselast have a simple information and not evoking value. More,symbols have a strong intersubjective character, as they areshared among a social group or a cultural, political or religiouscommunity. René Alleau affirms that a society withoutsymbols is an infrahuman society, as the symbolic functioncreates a relation among sensible and supersensible. But theinterpretation of symbols and their use is a debated topic. Thisis because man often tries to find meanings to a symbol, evenif it has no meaning. It can evoke, focalize, gather and concentratemany senses that can not be reduced to a single meaning.Multiple symbolic evocations that are not reciprocally excludingeach other can be found within the same symbol. Theseevocations are according indeed: they express the applicationof the same principle to different orders, so they complete andstrengthen each other, getting integrated in a total synthesis.This makes symbolism a less limited language than commonlanguage: a more suitable language for the expression and thecommunication of some truth, an initiation language par excellence,and indispensable tool for every traditional teaching.During the Neo-Platonist and the Christian eras, symbol had arelevant importance in the mystic theology. In the doctrine ofEmanation by Plotinus, every step is the symbolic representa-Fig. 2 Yungang caves, near Datong, China.volumeRicerca_OK_2012-11-15.indd 58 16/11/2012 15:01:13