Call for Papers: ‘Rituals of Gender Staging and Performance in the Middle Ages’ NetMAR International Conference, University of Bamberg, 03-04 May 2023
November 18, 2022
NetMAR Coordinator Stavroula Constantinou presents on the Sixth International Byzantine Seminar Lecture Series (2022) “Realism in Hagiography”
December 12, 2022The Perpetual Cycle between Birth and Death in Medieval Art
By Savvas Mavromatidis, University of Cyprus (PhD student in the Interdepartmental Programme in Byzantine Studies and the Latin East)
Fig. 1: Emanuel de Witte, ‘Interior of the Oude Amsterdam’, c. 1660, Washington DC, National Gallery of Art.
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.130808.html
In seventeenth-century Netherlandish art, paintings of church interiors depicting scenes from everyday life flourished. An important feature of medieval art is represented in these paintings: the slabs that were an integral part of the ecclesiastical floor or the opening of tombs within churches to accommodate burials. In several of these paintings, there are women holding an infant in their arms sitting on such slabs or standing at a distance from them. In others, women hold the child with one hand and with the other they point to the floor where a grave is opened. The ‘Interior of the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam’ by Emanuel de Witte (1617-1692) stands out as far as this iconography is concerned. At the east end of the nave some men enter the church to attend a funeral, while in the foreground two men are discussing about the tomb from which the slab has been lifted. De Witte’s intention was not simply to emphasise the spiritual function of the church and the rituals taking place within it. Via dramatic light diffused throughout the composition, the painter invites the viewer to focus on the mother nursing her child across the grave, revealing that his work has a deeper meaning. In these Netherlandish paintings birth and death are bound up with the continuum of human existence under the aegis of the Christian Church. They may carry the notion of memento mori, with which people in Baroque times were familiar, but – except for the tombs – they lack evidence of human decay or even the passage of time. However, such meanings linking life and death and the traditional practices that people follow in these moments already existed in the sacred scenes of medieval Christological and Mariological cycles.
Art has always functioned as a means for the transmission of messages with commissioners and/or artisans/artists constituting the agents of shaping the way in which these messages are communicated to the public. The motifs used to create sacred and profane scenes facilitated the depiction of easily comprehensible scenes. Different gestures or other figurative elements appear in more than one scene or interact with each other, producing different meanings and tying together life/birth and death/funerary rituals. Among these motifs, five stand out, which we find in funerary sculpture/painting and in the Nativity, the Annunciation, and the Dormition. These are: (a) the gesture of crossed arms on the chest/abdomen; (b) the swaddled infant and/or adult figures; (c) the surrounding of the bed where an honoured person is placed; (d) the dominant presence of women; and (e) the existence of objects with symbolic use in the accompanying rituals.
In representations of lying-in rooms, the Nativity, and the Dormition we distinguish two similar features: the existence of swaddled infants and an honoured (dead) person surrounded by people. Through pregnancy and motherhood, a woman passes from the status of wife to that of mother, undertaking a respected role in medieval societies. This transition is well represented in the lying-in rooms where midwives and other women went to assist the pregnant woman. In these ‘private’ spaces, expectant mothers gave birth and stayed until the purification rituals. Canonical and civil legislation sought to bring under male control the procedures that took place in lying-in rooms and to regulate matters relating to pregnancy and birth. Thus, in these spaces, the interior and the exterior, the individual and the social, the feminine and the masculine, the physical and the emotional were intertwined.
 Fig. 2: Master of Charles of Durazzo, ‘A Lying-in room in Florence’, c. 1410, Cambridge, MA, Harvard Art Museum. |
 Figure 3: Giotto, ‘Birth of the Virgin’, 1303-1305, Padua, Scroveni Chapel. |
The lying-in rooms draw parallels with the Nativity. In Western representations of the Birth of Christ, such as those of Giotto or of the Flemish masters, the event takes place within an architectural ‘interior’, open and permeable to the surrounding space and to the viewer’s gaze. Similarly, according to the Byzantine iconographic canon, the setting in which the narrative of the Birth of the Virgin takes place is the interior of a house. The exterior of that house is also pictured in the background of the scene. Thus, the space where birth takes place is presented as open and closed, revealing to the viewer both the inside and the outside – of the birth chamber and of the processes taking place inside the pregnant woman’s body. Observing Nativity’s scenes, the viewer sees a narrative cycle through which men’s interest in what is happening in the lying-in room is revealed. The fresco of the Nativity of the Virgin in Hagia Sophia (Mystras, third quarter of the 14th c.) is indicative of this narrative cycle: (a) the birth takes place in an ‘interior’ space (resembling an open square); (b) a woman comes out of the building to the right of the recumbent Saint Anne, holding a baby in her arms; while (c) Joachim, isolated, holds Mary (Rarmeggiani 2019: 292–293, fig. 11.2, 11.3). Although Joachim is usually omitted in Byzantine icons of the Nativity, there are examples (e.g. Studenica, Kariye Djami, Pietro Lorenzetti, Andrea di Bartolo) where he is discretely placed in the foreground as the caretaker of his baby or as an onlooker. In these cases, paternal role is emphasised. The continuity of the relationship between parents and children is also evident in tombstones of children of parenting adults.
In Nativity images, we see the recumbent female figure surrounded by other women taking care of either herself (e.g. Giovanni da Milano, Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Benozzo Gozzoli), or the newborn, who is swathed in cloth as part of an established practice to ensure that its limbs will grow without deforming. The newborn is depicted at various stages of its early life: (a) naked or semi-naked, in the arms of a midwife preparing to bathe it (e.g. Dafni, Nerezi, Kariye Djami, Studenica, Sopoçani); (b) being swaddled and sleeping in a cradle; or (c) being placed in the arms of its mother. Minors who are shown in a cradle can also be found on brasses, carved effigial or painted stone monuments.
 Fig. 4: ‘Dormition of the Virgin Mary’, c. 1265, Sopoćani Monastery, Serbia. |
 Figure 5: Giotto, ‘Nativity’, 1303-1305, Padua, Scrovegni Chapel. |
Similar motifs with Nativity are also observed in the Dormition of the Virgin: the reclining Virgin Mary with her arms crossed over her chest/abdomen is usually surrounded by male mourners, while Christ, in Glory, holds her soul, which has the form of a swaddled infant. In funerary monuments in Europe, we find the dead being surrounded by mourners, while from the fourteenth century onwards swaddled infant effigies emerge in others. Through the latter monuments, proprietors honoured the souls of their prematurely dead, but baptised, children. In correlation with the soul of the Virgin in the Dormition, we see the soul of female royalty in funerary monuments and frescoes to be represented as a swaddled infant in a mandorla. The depiction of the Virgin’s soul as a shrouded child figure functions pedagogically for the believers, symbolising the rebirth of humanity and announcing its redemption. The chrisom/baptismal cloth around the body of the infant effigies, on the other hand, suggests their innocence that manifests their salvation.
Concerning the surrounding figures, the Dormition is associated with funerary monuments and lying-in rooms, as a crowd gathers around the honoured person (i.e. mother, the diseased). In the lying-in rooms, this crowd is depicted in action, while in the Dormition and funerary monuments, the surrounding figures are mourning. The ritual of mourning includes a function of de-dramatising death and aiding the grieving process. Mourning for the dead is structurally embedded in Christianity through the depiction of mothers’ mourning in the Massacre of the Innocents, the angels and the fainting Virgin Mary in the Deposition and Crucifixion, or Mary Magdalene pulling her hair, while from the twelfth century onwards we have the depiction of processions with figures of mourners on sarcophagi, who may include members of the family of the deceased and/or senior clergymen (Iberian kingdoms, France). Just like medieval epic poetry, funerary art can be understood as a drama of remembrance through which the commemoration of people’s actions continues via: (a) the deceased persons who acted during their lifetime and (b) their descendants who through prayers and the monuments recall the deeds of their predecessors. Women have traditionally been in charge of the post-mortem procedures. However, if among the mourners in funerary monuments we see women and men of the house of the dead, in the Dormition the Virgin’s body is usually surrounded by male figures.
In the Dormition and Assumption, Mary was taken to heaven with both body and soul, following the logic of the Immaculate Conception (which brings us to the Annunciation): since Mary is free from every stain of original sin, she is also free from the corruption of death. Christ frees Mary from the limitations of human time by calling her from the tomb. Likewise, he will free the believers’ souls from their own mortality. The lamentation expressed by the figures around the Virgin is contrasted with the Assumption, which denotes her glorious passage to heaven and not her funeral, or the Greek koimesis (i.e. Mary’s transition to the afterlife in terms of dormition). This concept of ‘sleep’ is also found in inscriptions on funerary monuments, portraits, and epigrams in the Byzantine world (‘ἐκοιμήθη’). Through the Dormition and Assumption, the concepts of humility, supernatural pregnancy and motherhood embodied by the Virgin are emphasised, rendering this sacred figure a moral example for all believers to emulate. The supernatural covers the highlights of Christian teaching: the conception, the soul’s transition to heaven, and the Resurrection.
Additionally, the element of surprise can be found in scenes related to death. However, it is associated with something positive: the Resurrection. This is supported by scenes like the Three Marys at the Tomb, and the Raising of Lazarus, where, between the (shrouded) raised Lazarus and Christ, we discern Martha and Mary expressing both gratitude and wonder at the event that has taken place. Through these depictions, themes of rebirth and redemption are communicated. The surprise element unites these scenes with the Annunciation, where we focus on two of the gestures in which Mary is depicted: the first is with her right hand placed on her chest and the other holding a book, while in the second she crosses her arms on her chest. In the first gesture, Mary reacts to Gabriel’s announcement, demonstrating that she is surprised, but accepts the Archangel’s message, intending also to protect herself (she pulls her garment). Through this gesture, the Annunciation is linked to the Resurrection, as surprise is expressed in the two main moments of the Christian religion: the Immaculate Conception and the Resurrection. This gesture is also found in English brasses, where spouses are represented: the woman makes the same gesture with one hand and with the other touches her husband’s arm in a gesture of affection, prudence, and protection (Portfolio of Brasses | Monumental Brass Society, page 9 (mbs-brasses.co.uk)). The funerary monuments confirm the deeds of people in earthly life and the values they are called to serve according to the Christian ethos. Other such monuments emphasise the fear of the lineage’s disruption or the premature loss of a childless woman. Virgin’s association with books and her acceptance of the Archangel’s message serve as examples to be emulated. The presence of books on female funerary monuments reveals the higher status of these women, their culture and their alignment with the Virgin’s life.
 Figure 6: Carlo Crivelli, ‘Annunciation, with Saint Emidius’, 1486, London, National Gallery. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Annunciation,_with_Saint_Emidius_-_Carlo_Crivelli_-_National_Gallery.jpg |
 Figure 7: Cypriot funerary slab with Greek inscriptions, second half of the 14th – early 15th c., Limassol, Cyprus Medieval Museum. © Savvas Mavromatidis, 2021 |
The second Virgin’s gesture in the Annunciation correlates with the Byzantine type of representation of a dead figure. However, this gesture is also found on clerical monuments in medieval Western funerary art. In Cyprus (where Greeks and Latins interacted), even in burial slabs with Greek inscriptions, the effigies are sometimes found with their arms crossed and sometimes in a prayer posture in the Western manner, confirming that the gestures transcend ethnic and cultural boundaries. In a fresco of the Sopoćani monastery, Anna Dandolo (Queen of Serbia) is also portrayed with her arms crossed. She is depicted on her deathbed surrounded by clergy and her family, while her soul is carried as a swaddled infant by the Archangel. However, the motif of crossed hands has wider connotations beyond its association with death. In the Annunciation, Mary’s (and sometimes the Archangel’s) crossed hands over the belly is a metaphor for the future birth of Jesus, while the crossed hands to the chest stands for Mary’s heart, as an expression of her feelings. It represents the embrace of the womb space and the protection of God’s gift. Another of its functions in the Byzantine world can be found in the Chronicle of John Scylitzes (11th c.), where the gesture is (perhaps) the way in which courtiers approached the emperor, having (and this is a difference from the posture of the dead) their hands not only crossed but also covered by their clothes. The crossed hands of the deceased express their humility and modesty before God and Christ while awaiting the Last Judgement. So, this gesture may indicate the acceptance of situations (greeting, incarnation) or the approach of the earthly representative of God or it may function as a request for the reunion of the dead with their Creator in the celestial realm.
In the Middle Ages, prayers and religious imagery served didactic and devotional purposes. The rituals interacting with these prayers and images had sensory and ‘performative’ dimensions, aiding the memory of the faithful. The Visitation altarpiece by Domenico Ghirlandaio (ca. 1489-1490) in the Tornabuoni chapel (Santa Maria Novella, Florence) shows how a scene from the life of the Virgin Mary was instrumentalised so that the young mother, who died while pregnant and was buried in the chapel, could be visually resurrected. This connection could be read privately by members of the Tornabuoni family as a reminder of the commemorated woman and the child she was carrying when she died.
Seeing these works, we also receive information about objects of symbolic value that the faithful brought at moments of birth and death and through which these two moments are connected. Incense and herbs, censers and candles play an important role in the rituals surrounding these moments. We encounter such features in many tombstones throughout Europe, but also in frescoes of the Dormition (e.g. church of Saints Peter and Paul, Veliko Tarnovo), reminding the faithful of the practices followed within the home and during memorial ceremonies in order to assist the soul’s passage to the celestial realm. In the lying-in rooms, we find scattered aromatic herbs to help the pregnant woman and the newborn. Among the auxiliary means when believers wanted to pray in search of a miracle for healing, childbirth or other physical, social or spiritual needs was the lighting of candles. Candles were used at baptisms, funerals, and various litanies, but women were more closely associated with them (Candlemas/Presentation at the Temple). Wills provided for the donation of candles to churches or chapels. Two candle-bearing women are depicted in Saint Nicolas at Mottola. Their presence has been interpreted either as an offering of candles by wives or their husbands (after a successful recovery from childbirth), or as a commemoration of two women who died in childbirth.
Through all images discussed here, we realise how cultural and social phenomena and practices of medieval people are connected, such as conception, birth, death, customs around the treatment of newborns and the dead, and the dominant role of women at crucial phases of human life. Women are the givers and guardians of life. It is through women that families are created. They give birth and actively participate in death rituals. Scenes of sacred themes, but also scenes with profane content constitute privileged settings for the realisation of ideas about the creation of a perpetual cycle between birth and death. Thus, artists depict in their works established cultural practices, which they communicate to their public through patterns they adopt, helping to normalise these practices and to educate the faithful around the traditions associated with birth and death. These are methods used by the commissioners and artisans/artists through which they achieve the bonding of members of a house and/or community or the strengthening of ties, particularly between women.
References:
Portfolio of Brasses | Monumental Brass Society, 9 (mbs-brasses.co.uk)
Rarmeggiani, Antonella, ‘Mystras’ Byzantine Frescoes: The Political Message in the Iconography of the Birth of Mary’, Pregnancy and Childbirth in the Premodern World, ed. by Costanza Gislon Dopfel, Alessandra Foscati and Charles Burnett (Turnhout: Brepols, 2019), 285–307.
