_|_ | C O P | N E T The Origin, Development, and Philosophy of Coptic Art A Book Review and Commentary on Pierre du Bourguet's "Coptic Art" (translated by Caryll Hay-Shaw). London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. 1971. Influence of Pharaonic and Hellenic Art --------------------------------------- In the early pages of his book Pierre du Bourguet mentions that Pharaonic art continued for some time to dominate the artistic scene after the introduction of Christianity into Egypt by Saint Mark the Evangelist. While most Egyptologists and Coptologists agree on this premise, they differ in the extent of this period of transformation from "Pharaonic" to "Christian" Coptic Art. Truly there were borrowings particulary in the very early Christian era; but it was not long before the swan song of Pharaonic art was heard and the dawn of the new era of Coptic art was about to peep. By the last decades of the fourth century A.D., it was clear that Egyptian (Coptic) art was based wholly on pure Christian themes. The sources which (so to speak) used to nourish Pharaonic art gradually dried up and the whole scene was left to the influence of the new religion. One may mention in passing the influence of Neoplatonism and the emphasis laid by Neoplatonic mysticism on the Unknowable and the composite Harmony and Beauty of the outer world. This mystical trend imbued with metaphysical speculation must have infiltrated through the moral philosophy of the Copts and, in consequence, it has exercised some crucial influence on the early trends of Coptic art. A direct result that we gain here is the attribution of meaning and significance to the work of art rather than the reliance upon the outward appearance of the work itself. It becomes then easy to conclude that this trend in Coptic art is noticeable in Alexandria more than any other center in Egypt because of the origination and development of Alexandrine Neoplatonism. Another artistic trend was establishing itself in Alexandria: namely Coptic art with Hellenistic leanings. Hellenized art, as it is commonly known, sought its inspiration in philosophy and this was responsible for beautiful architectural ornamentation and decorative themes. Apart from Alexandria, architectural schemes developed enormously in other important centers all over Egypt. Church Architectures -------------------- The construction of churches was not long delayed particularly in Alexandria and what is known as Old Cairo. Foremost among these is the "crypt" of Abu Sarga (Saint Sergius) with its basilica which is roofed with three flattened vaults, comprising a nave and two side-aisles, separated from each other by two rows of columns. A nook in the north-east angle contains a basin and may well have served as a baptistery in times past. The columns, apart from one in granite, are of marble and one of these is very classical in style. The only other church one could consider as contemporary with the "crypt" of AbuSerga is that known as "Mari Mina" (Saint Menas), the soldier-martyr who is buried in the Maryut desert near Alexandria. We find once again the rectangular basilican plan with three naves, of which the wider central one is separated from the other two rows of square pillars. The east end was taken up with three returning apses, their widths corresponding to those of the naves. These were headed with arched vaults in brick. Mention should be made of the fact that the cures effected by the tomb of Saint Menas in the Maryut desert near Alexandria, and those attributed to the waters of the miraculous springs running close by, established the fame of this site from the late third century onward. The tomb, and probably the semi-dome of the apse, were embellished with mosaics; the limestone walls were covered with marble plaques; the columns bore capitals with a double range of acanthus; and the plan was cruciform, analogous to those of Saint John Ephesus and Gaza. As for the church, it forms part of a complex of buildings designed for the accomodation of pilgrims: a complex which includes baths, a secular basilica of baths with two apsese facing each other, dating from the end of the fifth century, a pilgrims' she;ter and a cemetery. Near the cemetery is a basilica with the center nave prolonged by a returning apse. This detail hardly exists anywhere else, except in certain churches in North Africa or central Syria but, while becoming more elaborate, will continue to be almost invariable in the architecture of Coptic churches, as we can indeed see near Old Cairo and in Mari Mina. As for the buildings of monasteries they are mostly scattered around two or three and sometimes four courts. Churches follow the basilican plan with tripartite sanctuaries. there is also the lofty vaulted hall and a refectory. Inside paintings are in most cases those of Christ in Glory aove the Apostles, the Virgin with the Infant Jesus and the Coptic saints whose names are inscribed in Coptic martyrology. the paintings, for instance, which decorate the apses in the Church of Saint Mary at the Syrian monastery in Wadi el-Natroun consists of an Annunciation, a Nativity and an Assumption. Tapestry-weaving and Textiles ----------------------------- In tapestry-weaving two themes are prominent: the display of beautiful yellow fish with varied bone color, swimming across a uniform green background. The other theme is directly derived from the ancient Egyptian motifs as related to the gods Osiris, Isis, and Horus. The origin of tapestry-weaving in colors remains in dispute. On the one hand, many scholars attribute it to the Hellenistic Orient, possibly reflecting influences from the Orient proper at earlier times. On the other hand, Pharaonic Egypt of the New Kingdom had provided us with few examples of colored tapestry-weaving, notably -- the famous dalmatic of Tutankhamen; and a piece in the tomb of a noble, preserved in Turin. There is some striking similarity between the scenes printed on funerary urns in ancient Greece and ancient Egypt. The flat tints found on Greek vases of the third century B.C. had their counterpart in the modeling achieved in mosaics of the Alexandrian period. The oldest of these are the large "orbicula" reproducing in tapestry those painted on Egypto-Roman burial shrouds and the small "orbiculum" in the Moscow Museum, representing the head and shoulders of the Nile god. The author draws our attention to the fact that in this context we must not omit the so-called "Faiyum portraits", painted on wood, and usually in encaustic. This technique may have been derived from analogous methods used in Roman mural frescoes of the first and second centuries. Egypt, however, appears to have been the only country to have used it in this manner, no doubt because of its funeral rites, which were often adopted in turn by the occupying race. Coptic textiles are well known for the brightness of their colors and their distribution in broad bands on a variety of garments. Certain hangings and rugs in the Berlin Museum -- fragmentary yet reasonably complete -- show arrangements of male or female dancers used for decorative purposes. A vertical line of trilobate leaves divides the figures one from the other. Another tapestry to which the author refers is the one in the Louvre. All that remains from this tapestry is a dancer with a veil covering her arm. The shape of the face, the noticeable schematization of the features, the outline of the eyes, the ear-rings, and the gesture of the arm -- all correspond to those found in the Berlin hanging, despite some differences in the position of the head and the meaning of the gesture. A fragment of a large "shawl" kept in the Louvre depicts a pastoral scene with shepherds dressed in a sort of loin-cloth worn under an ocellated skin as they stand with one leg crossed over the other, in a pose similar to that of Bacchus on the ivory in the pulpit (ambon) of Aix-la-Chapelle, playing the flute or the syrinx. The facial details, although simply sketched in, are clear. Like the details of the clothing or the musical instruments, the dog's collars or the joints of the limbs, they are simply outlined with the flying shuttle. Coptic tapestry, however, reached the height of its glory in the sixth and seventh centuries. In its evolution, the parallelism with that of sculptured relief is not difficult to establish. in a variety of colors, among which only a few predominate, the vivacity of the tints, as fresh now as the day they left the weaver's hand, is a joy to behold. Furthermore, a contrast is established which brings out the tender, roseate figures against the rich ground: that of the nereid is in violent opposition with the uniform ground. Painting -------- Painting in the early Christian period has developed as a papyrus-illumination rather than painting on stucco. It marked an extension of the Pharaonic tradition particularly of ornamenting the Ptolemaic papyri. From the third century onwards, representations of Christ in Majesty have existed, borrowed from Byzantine art: the prototypes for numerous paintings in the period immediately following this, which showed Him in His glorified aspect. The Virgin provides the subject for numerous sculptures and paintings. The theme, however, has been diversified: instead of a "Virgo Lactans", we find the Virgin enthroned, and even scenes such as the Annunciation. The saints, moreover, began to populate the iconographic field. One reason for this is that the influence of the great monastic figures was making itself felt -- aided by time, which now favoured the Christian cause. It is also probable that an element of popular devotion, more disposed to the representation of personages regarded as in the immediate orbit of daily life, contributed to their multiplication in the iconography. Pottery ------- As for pottery a large number of vases or plates are in the Coptic Museum in Cairo and in the Louvre. These are decorated with vines or undulating stems in which the touch of naturalism is not lacking. Fish and birds appear very often on these vases or plates. Commentary ---------- Coptic art, in contrast to many other trends of art, appears to have a distinctive feature of abstraction and of expressing what is beyond the visible forms through an elaborate technique of symbolism. Parts and wholes of designs and of artistic levels seem to merge and interplay. The overall effect is the exuberance of the reality that is symbolically expressed beyond the work of art which transcends the work itself as a visible entity. Here the imagination had to play a functional role in building up inter-relations together with the inherent flights between parts and wholes. This act of transcendence is the landmark of Coptic art shifting the imagination from the tangible to the invisible and from the temporal to the eternal. It is an essential orientation towards the Everlasting beyond the levels and surfaces of designs and artistic creations in general. To that effect the author has given ample evidence. Actually, the copiousness of the auhor, who delved in many valuable areas, is impressive. He went even further to mention the minutest detail and in all his expository and careful analysis he shows remarkable familiarity with the internal conditions of Coptic life. the Little halts on the way helped him recapitulate the thematic threads of this subject particularly in dealing with heartfelt beliefs and periods of artistic exuberance. This book by Pierre du Bourguet is a well-rounded exposition of the origins and development of Coptic art, past and present. The author has gone to the very roots of this art in Pharaonic Egypt and Helllenic Greece and Alexandrine offshoots. He was also careful to point out that all these sources helped Coptic art develop throughout the early stages. but with the development of Coptic Orthodoxy in the Land of the Nile there came the time when this art parted company with early sources whether Hellenistic or Pharaonic and in the fourth and the early decades of the fifth centuries Coptic art exhibited its purely Christian and distinctive traits. ------------------------------------------- * This review appeared in Coptologia Studia Coptica Orthodoxa: A Research Publication in Coptic Orthodox Studies, St Peter's Printing and Publishing Company, 1981 (ISBN-0-86489-000-1) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _|_ This article is one of many more articles about the Coptic Orthodox | Church, the Christian Apostolic Church of Egypt. These articles can be | obtained electronically from Copt-Net Repository, using anonymous FTP COP|NET from pharos.bu.edu:CN. 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