Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 9553
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Eastmond , Antony.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Narratives of the Fall: Structure and Meaning in the Genesis Frieze at Hagia Sophia, Trebizond [The author analyzes an unusual sculptured narrative frieze, finding in part that there is a decidedly misogynist cast to the frieze with the creation of woman as the start of the problem of evil and a clear link between Eve and death].
  • Source URL: Dumbarton Oaks Papers (Full Text via JSTOR) 53 (1999): 219-236. Link Info target = '_blank'>Dumbarton Oaks Papers (Full Text via JSTOR) 53 (1999): 219-236. Link Info
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Art History- Sculpture Byzantium Eve (Biblical Figure) in Art Fall of Humankind in Art Trebizond (Empire)- Church of Hagia Sophia- Genesis Frieze Women in Art
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: Eastern Mediterranean
  • Century: 13
  • Primary Evidence: Sculpture; Trebizond, Hagia Sophia, South Porch, Genesis Frieze. The church is dated to the reign of Manuel I Grand Komnenos (1238-1263). Two inscriptions are carved above ("Adam sat before Paradise and, lamenting his nakedness, he wept." "And the Lord God planted a
  • Illustrations: Thirty-three figures. Figure One Hagia Sophia, Trebizond, from the southwest. Figure Two Hagia Sophia, south porch. Figure Three Hagia Sophia, south porch, detail of the left section of the Genesis frieze. Figure Four Hagia Sophia, south porch, detail of the right section of the Genesis frieze. Figure Five Hagia Sophia, schema of the left section of the Genesis frieze. Figure Six, Hagia Sophia, schema of the right section of the Genesis frieze. Figure Seven San Marco, Venice, atrium showing Genesis mosaics from the conception of Cain to the brothers' sacrifices to God. Figure Eight San Marco, atrium showing Cain's murder of Abel. Figure Nine Lid of casket with Adam and Eve, 11th-12th century, ivory over wood core (Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924.747). Figure Ten Front of casket with Adam and Eve (The Cleveland Museum of Art). Figure Eleven End of casket with Adam and Eve (The Cleveland Museum of Art). Figure Twelve Ivory plaque with Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel , 11th century, Byzantium or Italy (Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon). Figure Thirteen John Klimakos, Heavenly Ladder, temptation and expulsion, 11th century, Byzantium (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 394, fol. 77r). Figure Fourteen Homilies of James of Kokkinobaphos, Adam and Eve outside Paradise, Cain and Abel, 12th century, Byzantium (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1162, fol. 35v). Figure Fifteen Homilies of James of Kokkinobaphos, Paradise, 12th century, Byzantium (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1162, fol. 37r). Figure Sixteen Octateuch, naming of the animals, creation of Eve, 11th century, Byzantium (Istanbul, Topkapi gr. 8, fol. 42v). Figure Seventeen Ibn Bakhtishu, Manafi-i hayavan, man and woman, 1297 or 1299, Maragha, Iran (New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, M500, fol. 4v). Figure Eighteen Al-Bîrûnî, al-Athar al-baqiya, Misha and Mishyana tempted by Ahriman, 1307-1308, Iran (Edinburgh, University Library, Or. Ms. 161, fol. 48v). Figure Nineteen Gospel Lectionary, entry to Jerusalem, 1216-1220, Northern Mesopotamia (London, British Library, Add. 7170, fol. 115r). Figure Twenty Tokali Kilise, Old Church, Cappadocia, scene of the Annunciation, 10th century. Figure Twenty-one Halbat Gospels, Entry to Jerusalem, 1211, Northern Armenia (Erevan, Matenadaran, 6288, fol. 16v). Figure Twenty-two Gospel Lectionary, Annunciation, 1216-1220, Northern Mesopotamia (London, British Library, Add. 7170, fol. 15r). Figure Twenty-three Homilies of Gregory Nazianzos, martyrdom of the Maccabees, 14th century, Byzantium (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Cod. gr. 543, fol. 74v). Figure Twenty-four Homilies of Gregory Nazianzos, nativity and expulsion, 14th century, Byzantium (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Cod. gr. 543, fol. 116v). Figure Twenty-five Citadel, Trebizond, east wall, showing the expulsion, 13th century. Figure Twenty-six Icon of the Mother of God of Kykkos with prophets, monastery of St. Catherine, Mt. Sinai , 11th century, Byzantium. Figure Twenty-seven Hagia Sophia, north wall of the north porch, showing Jacob's ladder, Jacob's struggle with an angel, and Moses and the burning bush. Figure Twenty-eight Church of the Holy Cross, Alt'amar, Lake Van, north façade, detailing the temptation of Eve, 915-921. Figure Twenty-nine Church of the Holy Cross, north façade, detailing Eve offering the forbidden fruit to Adam, 915-921. Figure Thirty Ganjasar, west face of the dome, detailing Adam and Eve, circa 1230. Figure Thirty-one "Georgian church," Ani, general view of the interior of the north wall, before 1218. Figure Thirty-two "Georgian church," Ani, scene of the Annunciation. Figure Thirty-three "Georgian church," Ani, Visitation.
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  • Author's Affiliation: University of Warwick
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1999.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 00707546
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