Composition and Iconography in the Liturgical Area of the Churches of the Holy Land

Year 2025, Issue: 18, 169 - 195, 11.11.2025

Lihi Habas

https://doi.org/10.26658/jmr.1813975

Abstract

A study of the churches of the Holy Land has revealed that the liturgical areas are decorated with an iconographic and compositional variety of mosaics. It became clear that in some churches neutral geometric and vegetal arrays were preferred, while in others, figurative arrays were preferred.
Vegetal motifs including trees, and populated vine scrolls. Some mosaics depict sheep, rams and peacocks facing the altar table, placed in front of it or under the altar. These animals represent the believers taking part in the Eucharist and attaining salvation. The same holds for the antithetical pairs of animals flanking an amphora, tree, or cross, or drinking from a spring. Some trees identified as the cross on the Hill of Golgotha.
In a few sites, there is a tendency towards a mixture of styles: a neutral geometric and vegetal carpet and a vegetal carpet with figurative motifs, symbolic in character. Less frequently are depictions of an architectural façade, donors, and everyday life episodes, which are common in the carpets of the nave.
The repetition of iconographic schemes in contemporary churches in the same area hints at the activity of a specialized regional school of mosaic craftsmen, and/or local preference.

Keywords

Liturgical space , vegetal and geometric arrays , vine scrolls , trees , figurative motifs.

Kutsal Topraklar’daki Kiliselerin Litürjik Alanlarında Kompozisyon ve İkonografi

Abstract

Kutsal Topraklar’daki kiliselerin incelenmesi, litürjik alanların zengin bir ikonografik ve kompozisyonel çeşitlilik sergileyen mozaiklerle bezendiğini ortaya koymuştur. Bazı kiliselerde nötr geometrik ve bitkisel düzenlemeler tercih edilirken, diğerlerinde figüratif düzenlemelerin ağırlık kazandığı anlaşılmıştır.
Bitkisel motifler; ağaçlar ve çeşitli canlı betimlemeleri içeren sarmaşık (asmanın kıvrımları) gibi süslemeleri kapsamaktadır. Bazı mozaiklerde, altar masasının önünde veya altında, altara yönelmiş koyunlar, koçlar ve tavus kuşları betimlemektedir. Bu hayvanlar, Efkaristiya’ya katılan ve kurtuluşa erişen inananları simgeler. Aynı şekilde, bir amphora, ağaç veya haçın iki yanına yerleştirilmiş karşıt hayvan çiftleri ya da bir kaynaktan su içen hayvan sahneleri de aynı anlamda kullanılmıştır. Bazı ağaçlar ise Golgota Tepesi’ndeki Haç ile özdeşleştirilmektedir.
Bazı alanlarda ise stillerin birleşimine yönelik bir eğilim gözlenmektedir: nötr bir geometrik-bitkisel “döşeme” düzenlemesinin yanı sıra sembolik karakterde figüratif motifler içeren bitkisel “döşeme” kompozisyonları da bulunmaktadır. Daha seyrek olarak, mimari cephe tasvirleri, bağışçı figürleri ve günlük yaşam sahneleri gibi öğeler, genellikle naos bölümündeki mozaik “döşemelerde” görülmektedir.
Aynı bölgede çağdaş kiliselerde ikonografik şemaların tekrarlanması, muhtemelen uzmanlaşmış bir bölgesel mozaikçi atölyesinin faaliyetini ve/veya yerel bir beğeni ve geleneği işaret etmektedir.

Keywords

Litürjik mekân , bitkisel ve geometrik düzenlemeler , sarmaşık (asma) kıvrımları , ağaçlar , figüratif motifler.

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