Fragment with Christ bestowing a blessing

This cup fragment was decorated using the metallic lustre technique. A mixture of copper and silver oxides was deposited on a white opaque glaze. During the firing process in a reducing atmosphere—without the addition of oxygen—the oxides are transformed into metallic particles and thereby create a decorative area with gleaming reflections. The process was probably introduced in Iraq in the ninth century, and was widely used under the  Fātimids, as attested by many fragments found on the Fustāt site. It was then adopted in the Maghrib in the eleventh century, and used in Iran in the twelfth century. In Spain too, productions  began in the twelfth century, and the process continued after the Reconquista, while centres were also established in Italy (Deruta and Gubbio).

The decorations show a bearded, long-haired Christ, recognizable by his halo with cross. Dressed in a tunic with a pattern of scales and a coat, he is holding a book, probably the Gospels, and his right hand is bestowing a blessing. The two joined fingers symbolize the double nature of Christ while the three others, raised, recall the Holy Trinity. Some believe that it is also a way of drawing the alpha and omega, in reference to several passages of the Apocalypse of St John (Ap. 21:6 and 22:13). This gesture, which was frequent in Paleo-Christian representations, was often used in the representations of Christ in Majesty in the Middle Ages. This is also the case on a painting in the Egyptian monastery of  St Antony dating from the thirteenth century. It may be imagined that similarly, the rest of the fragment presented Christ sitting on a throne.

The iconography of a bearded Christ sitting on a throne was probably inspired by classical representations of Jupiter, and it is a recurrent theme in Christian art since late antiquity. Thus represented in church apses since the fifth century[1], Christ is generally surrounded by a scallop  whose flat shape fitted in this setting. Often several people surround him. Around the seventh century, in a niche of the monastery of Baouit (Egypt)[2], it is the ‘four living creatures’, the lion, the ox, the eagle, and the angel, mentioned in a vision of the prophet Ezekiel (Ez. I, 4–5), and which are assimilated with the four Evangelists. This layout was very common in Egypt[3], Ethiopia[4], and even in the Ottonian[5] and Roman[6] worlds. When accompanied by angels, Christ sitting on a throne became that of the Ascension, like in a Macedonian Church[7] or a lintel in Provence[8], both dating from the eleventh century. In Byzantine iconography, he may also be framed by John the Baptist and the Virgin[9] during the Deisis, or simply being paid homage to by an important person[10]. In this case, the very fragmentary nature of the object makes it difficult to precisely identify the iconography, and this is further aggravated by the fact that the same layouts were used in all the Mediterranean Christian communities.

Stylistically, the frontal posture of Christ, with his fixed stare, and his mouth marked by a line, and his single continuous eyebrow are reminiscent of frescoes in Egyptian churches and the painting of contemporary manuscripts, like, for example, the head of Christ on a twelfth-century sheet[11]. The knot motif on the left, may also be a reference to the headings and the crosses of Coptic books from this period. Given this foundation in Coptic culture, this fragment has sometimes been attributed to the potter Sa’d, who signed the only other surviving Fātimid lustre ceramic decorated with Christian iconography[12]. However, while there are similarities with the incisions of the vegetal motifs, there are also important differences.

[2] Painted niche, Egypt, monastery of Baouit, room 6, sixth to seventh centuries, painting, the Coptic Museum, Cairo, 7118. 

[3] Christ in Majesty, Esna desert, Egypt, Convent of the Martyrs, twelfth century, fresco.

[4] Christ in Glory, Ethiopia, Dabra Salam, St Michael Church, twelfth century, fresco. 

[5] Christ in Majesty, Codex Aureus Epternacensis, Eternach, before 1039, illumination on  parchment, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, MS HS 2° 156142, fol. 3 v°.

[6] Western porch of the Cathedral of Saint-Trophime in Arles, France, c.1180–1190, carved stone.

[7] The Ascension, Ohrid (Macedonia), St Sophia Church, the mid eleventh century, wall painting.

[8] Lintel, abbey-church, Saint-Genis des Fontaines, France, 1020, carved stone.

[9] Deisis, Abu Gosh (near Jerusalem), c.1170, wall painting. 

[10] Constantine IX Monomachos and Zoe, Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, the mid eleventh century, mosaics.

[11] Saint Thomas, apocryphal Evangelist, Egypt, Deir al-Abiad, tenth to eleventh century, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Coptic 129 (18), Fol. 101.

[12] Victoria and Albert Museum, London, C 49-1952.