Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

church and art in the fifth century 895
wooden-roofed basilica, which has over the succeeding centuries been considerably
altered and enhanced. The insertion of transepts in the Baroque
period and alterations to the entrance end of the nave mean that only
twenty-seven out of the original forty-two panels over the entablature of
the colonnade survive; and at the apse end, the extension of the sanctuary
in the Middle Ages means that the fifth-century apse decoration is lost; only
the (partially restored) mosaics of the triumphal arch have survived here.
Nevertheless, the decoration is enormously informative. High on the walls
the viewer saw Old Testament scenes, which offered a narrative of the past
which, as already suggested, was full of typological hints and evocations.
Indeed, the incipient fourth-century interest in typological connections
between the Old and New Testaments has clearly become a dominant
interest of fifth-century programme planners. 25 Because of the height of
the mosaics above the spectator, the scenes (sometimes one, sometimes
two in the panel) were hard to read from the floor and this is only partially
solved by the use of the gold around key figures. As suggested already, the
latter is a technical device to highlight them; but it is also a symbolic
enhancement – the figures are framed with divine light. Unlike the art of
the catacombs and other examples of earlier Christian art, the scenes offer
a denser and fuller narrative, and aim to convey far more than repetitive
cases of God’s power of salvation. The left wall portrays events from the
story of Abraham and Jacob, and the right wall, events from the life of
Moses and Joshua. The complexity of the symbolism is best seen by
looking further at the panel which completes the sequence on the left wall
and abuts the triumphal arch. It shows in sequence the meeting of
Abraham with the three angels, his hospitality, and their prophecy that
Sarah (despite her age) would bear a son (Genesis 22.1–19). However much
narrative may seem a key element of the panel – the figures are dramatically
portrayed in an atmospheric landscape, the dwelling-place of
Abraham is fully delineated, as is the table at which the angels sit, and the
oak tree at Mamre where the event took place is prominently included – yet
through the narrative imagery the fifth-century viewer, particularly if educated
by sermons, would hardly fail to detect several levels of symbolic
associations. The three angels would suggest the Trinity; their announcement
of the future pregnancy of Sarah would be recognized as a
prefiguration of the birth of Jesus to Mary; and the offering of bread and
wine would instantly evoke the eucharist.
Similarly, the registers on the triumphal arch show something more than
a narrative of the infancy of Christ. It has been often noted that the stylistic
treatment of the triumphal arch is far less atmospheric than the nave cycles,
and is conventionally described as more abstract (and so more obviously
25 Malbon (1990).
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