painters copied the illustrations as well as the text of a classical manu-
script. One page, however, cannot be a copy—the dedication page (FIG.
12-16) featuring a portrait of Anicia Juliana in an eight-pointed star
and circle frame. This earliest known illustrated dedication page
shows Anicia Juliana enthroned between personifications of Magna-
nimity and Prudence, with a kneeling figure labeled Gratitude of the
Arts at her feet. The shading and modeling of the figures, the heads
posed at oblique angles, the perspectival rendering of the throne’s
footstool, and the use of personifications establish that the painter
still worked in the classical tradition that most other Byzantine artists
by then had rejected.RABBULA GOSPELS One of the essential Christian beliefs is
that following his Crucifixion and entombment, Christ rose from
the dead after three days and, on the 40th day, ascended from the
Mount of Olives to Heaven. The Ascensionis the subject of a full-
page painting (FIG. 12-17) in a manuscript known as the Rabbula
Gospels.Written in Syriac by the monk Rabbula at the monastery of
Saint John the Evangelist at Zagba, Syria, it dates to the year 586. The
composition shows Christ, bearded and surrounded by a mandorla,
as in the Mount Sinai Transfiguration(FIG. 12-13), but the mandorla
is here borne aloft by angels. Below, Mary, other angels, and various
apostles look on. The artist set the figures into a mosaic-like frame(compare FIGS. 12-10and 12-11), and many art historians think the
model for the manuscript page was a mural painting or mosaic in a
Byzantine church somewhere in the Eastern Empire.
The account of Christ’s Ascension is not part of the accompany-
ing text of the Rabbula Gospels but is borrowed from the biblical
book of Acts. And even Acts omits mention of the Virgin’s presence
at the miraculous event. Here, however, the Theotokos occupies a
very prominent position, central and directly beneath Christ. It is an
early example of the important role the Mother of God played in
later medieval art, in both the East and the West. Frontal, with a
nimbus, and posed as an orant, Mary stands apart from the commo-
tion all about her and looks out at the viewer. Other details also de-
part from the Gospel texts. Christ, for example, does not rise in a
cloud. Rather, as in the vision of Ezekiel in the book of Revelation,
he ascends in a mandorla above a fiery winged chariot. The chariot
carries the symbols of the Four Evangelists—the man, lion, ox, and
eagle (see “The Four Evangelists,” Chapter 16, page 412). This page
therefore does not illustrate the Gospels but presents one of the cen-
tral tenets of Christian faith. Similar compositions appear on pil-
grims’ flasks from Palestine that were souvenir items reproducing
important monuments visited. They reinforce the theory that the
Ascensionpage of the Rabbula Gospels was based on a lost painting
or mosaic in a major church.Early Byzantine Art 32512-16Anicia Juliana between Magnanimity and Prudence, folio 6
verso of the Vienna Dioskorides,from Honoratai, near Constantinople
(Istanbul), Turkey, ca. 512. Tempera on parchment, 1 3 1 11 .
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna.
In gratitude for her generosity, the people of Honoratai presented
Anicia Juliana, a great art patron, with a book in which she appears
enthroned with personifications of Magnanimity and Prudence.12-17Ascension of Christ,folio 13 verso of the Rabbula Gospels,
from Zagba, Syria, 586. Tempera on parchment, 1 1 101 – 2 .
Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence.
The Gospels do not mention the Virgin Mary as a witness of Christ’s
Ascension. Her prominent position in the Rabbula Gospelsis an early
example of the important role Mary played in later medieval art.1 in.1 in.
12-17A
Crucifixion and
Resurrection,
Rabbula
Gospels,586.