De Decoratie van de Altaarruimte in de Oude Kerk van het Antoniusklooster

Abstract

The decoration of the sanctuary in the old church of St. Anthony’s Monastery The problem of Jephthah and his daughter Four Old Testament scenes are depicted in the sanctuary of the old church of St. Anthony’s Monastery near the Red Sea, all figuring as a prefiguration of the Eucharist. On the north wall, from left to right, Isaiah and the Seraph (Is. 6, 1-7) and the meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek (Gen. 14, 17-21) are painted. On the south side follow, from left to right, the Sacrifice by Abraham (Gen. 22, 1-9) and Jephthah, sacrificing his daughter (Judges 11, 30-40). The first three scenes are well known in the sanctuaries of Egyptian churches (cf. the haikal of St. Marc, Deir abu Makar; the haikal of the church of the Virgin, Deir el Baramus), but of the last scene only one parallel is known, situated in the bema of the church of St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai (cf. K. Weitzmann, The Jephthah Panel, in: Dumbarton Oaks Papers 18 (1964) 342-352). The question is why Jephthah was chosen for decorating such an important place in a church, near the altar. Churchfathers like John Chrysostom, Theodoret of Cyr and Anastasius of Sinai could not find words to condemn his deed in a most harsh way. However, some fathers have formed a quite different opinion. They (Origen, Aphraates, Ephraëm the Syrian) see this episode as a prefiguration of Christ’s Sacrifice. A close examination of these comments makes it possible to conclude that all four paintings are prefigurations of the Eucharist. But a problem still to be solved is why Jephthah’s infanticide was chosen for this role while for example the sacrifice by Abel (Gen. 4, 4) would be a more suitable scene. In my opinion, this has something to do with the fact that both paintings are situated in a church in a monastery. Jephthah’s daughter obeyed her fat her and as a virgin she was dedicated to God. In a general sense, you can apply this description to the monk, who has to show obedience to his superior, Jives in celibacy and chastity and as a novice was also dedicated to God. In short, in this case the function of the room (the sanctuary) dictates the choice of the themes of the paintings, but there is a kind of, False-bottom’. The selection was made with a second theme in mind: monastic life.