Abstract
Abstract This article examines literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence for the Christian reidentification of statuary and reliefs as biblical scenes and protagonists, saints and angels. It argues that Christian identifications were promulgated, amongst others by local bishops, to make sense of imagery of which the original identity had been lost and/or was no longer meaningful. Three conditions for a new identification are discussed: the absence of an epigraphic label, geographical and/or chronological distance separating the statue from its original context of display, and the presence of a specific attribute or characteristic that could become the prompt for reidentification. In their manipulation and modernization of older statuary, Christians showed a much greater appreciation of the statuary medium than generally assumed.
Highlights
This article examines literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence for the Christian reidentification of statuary and reliefs as biblical scenes and protagonists, saints and angels. It argues that Christian identifications were promulgated, amongst others by local bishops, to make sense of imagery of which the original identity had been lost and/or was no longer meaningful
Three conditions for a new identification are discussed: the absence of an epigraphic label, geographical and/or chronological distance separating the statue from its original context of display, and the presence of a specific attribute or characteristic that could become the prompt for reidentification
Rather than remaining puzzled over continuity of classical iconography, from time to time even integrated into church contexts, and rather than constructing complicated narratives of religious triumphalism, I have argued that we need to consider Christian reidentification as an additional explanation for the continued preservation of statuary
Summary
Christians apparently were not taken by the medium of statuary. Protests first pertained to idols, but later extended to other pagan-mythological and honorific statues. Christian suspicion towards and the resulting reluctance to con-. In view of the apparent scarcity of material evidence, it is somewhat surprising to find the matter of Christian statuary explicitly addressed in letters by highly placed men of the church who take a unexpectedly positive stance towards the medium. Ues being moved around for what have been called ‘beautification reasons’,43 and ‘antiquarianism’,44 used as political talismans and means of propaganda, or as signifiers of specific honourable qualities and pleasant aspects of late antique life.46 Both Christians and pagans appear to have enthusiastically participated in such reinterpretations, especially in the fourth and early fifth century.. Such as Miletus, Aphrodisias, and Sagalassos would suggest that the role of statuary was not played out after all. Statuary relocations at these sites have been (re)dated with certainty to the sixth century, due to better and more careful excavations and reinvestigations of older research, with meticulous recording of find contexts. the further forward in time we push the active role of statues, the more pressing it becomes to explain why some survived until the end of antiquity and even beyond
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