Open AccessPhoenix and Delphinus Salvator: The History of the Forgotten Images of Early Christian Iconography
Author(s) -
Józef Cezary Kałużny
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
perspektywy kultury
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2719-8014
pISSN - 2081-1446
DOI - 10.35765/pk.2020.3003.03
Subject(s) - iconography , phoenix , representation (politics) , early christianity , period (music) , art , middle ages , history , literature , art history , ancient history , classics , archaeology , aesthetics , law , metropolitan area , politics , political science
Art in the 3rd and 4th centuries underwent transformations and adapted certain representations which were typical of ancient iconography to the new needs and tasks of Christian art. Among the abundant examples of this process, many continue to be popular and recognizable, such as the representation of Hermes Kriophoros, which evolved to become Christ the Good Shepherd, or the sleeping Endymion, which became part of the “Jonah cycle.” The adaptation of patterns from antiquity for the purposes of Christian iconography was both popular and quite common, but only a fraction of the representations developed in that period survive today. This paper discusses the representations that have been forgotten. Relying on the examples of the phoenix and the dolphin-rescuer, the paper analyzes factors that affected the partial (phoenix) or complete (delphinus salvator) disappearance of images which were typical of early Christian art and which relied on ancient imagery.