A Byzantine vision of Paradise — The Harbaville Triptych

(upbeat music)

- [Lady Narrator] We're in the Louve

looking at a small
exquisite Byzantine ivory

that dates from the mid 10th century.

- [Man Narrator] This is
the middle Byzantine period

soon after the iconophiles won

their battle with the iconoclasts.

- [Lady Narrator] From the
700ths through to the mid 800ths

the Byzantine emperor had
instituted a policy of Iconoclasm

that is disallowing images in churches,

disallowing religious imagery.

- [Man Narrator] But
when this was overturned

artwork flourish throughout the Empire.

- [Lady Narrator] And this is
a period that art historians

referred to as the Macedonian revival.

- [Man Narrator] We're
looking at a triptych,

which is to say it is
a three paneled ivory

and you can see that it's
hinged so that the doors

could actually close and
protect the interior scene.

It's carved on both
the front and the back.

- [Lady Narrator] At the top center,

we see a scene that is common
during this middle Byzantine

period called the Deesis.

- [Man Narrator] John the
Baptist and the Virgin Mary,

the bearer of God, come to Christ

and ask for his protection
for his blessing

on behalf of humanity.

- [Lady Narrator] This
triptych then formed a private

devotional object that could be opened

and looking at this top
center panel of the Deesis

one could engage in prayer
and ask John and Mary

for intercession with
Christ on their behalf.

- [Man Narrator] We see Christ seated on

an elaborate throne, his
right hand, his blessing,

his left hand holds the Bible

and we see his feet on
a foot rest that appears

really quite architectural.

- [Lady Narrator] Above
Christ, on either side we see

roundels with figures of angels.

What we noticed throughout
the triptych is that

all the figures have
inscriptions next to them

indicating who they are.

- [Man Narrator] I'm
struck by just how fine

the carving is look, for
instance, on the right side

of Mary's gown, you can
see the fringes clearly

and carefully rendered, as well
as the folds of the drapery.

- [Lady Narrator] And also in the back

of the throne behind Christ.

- [Man Narrator]
Extraordinary craftsmanship.

- [Lady Narrator] Now, there
are five figures below Christ

and they represent five of the apostles,

the center one is St. Peter.

- [Man Narrator] Who we
can see grasping a scroll

with his left hand and
pointing up to Christ

with his right.

- [Lady Narrator] All the figures
stand on little platforms.

- [Man Narrator] The only exception are in

the upper registers of the wings,

where we see warrior saints
who stand on the ground plane

below them are rondels and
then again, standing figures.

Here we see saints and martyrs.

- [Lady Narrator] The
warrior saints seem to have

a classical pose to
them, they seem to stand

in a kind of contrapposto,
although the proportions

of their bodies are a little
bit off, but they do have

that sense of leaning to one
side of having their weight

born on one side of having one knee bent

of their hips a little bit out a sense

of asymmetry to their bodies.

- [Man Narrator] The ease to their stance,

they seem quite relaxed.

In fact, despite the
formality of the Deesis

and of all of the figures,
there's a sense of individuality

to each figure that's being rendered,

which has been achieved only because of

the very fine nature of the carving.

Let's go take a look at the back.

The back is more shallowly carved.

Here we see saints and church fathers.

- [Lady Narrator] We have
a symbolic representation

of the garden of paradise.

- [Man Narrator] It's a
marvelous rendering with lots

of detail and a real sense of the vertical

as if the plants themselves
on the ground plane

are reaching up to heaven.

- [Lady Narrator] Up toward the cross.

- [Man Narrator] Which is long and elegant

and has rosettes not only at the center

but at its four points.

- [Lady Narrator] We have cypress trees,

with vines and circling them and grapes.

- [Man Narrator] Leaning
in as if the cross itself

was almost magnetic.

- [Lady Narrator] A real sense
of the beauty and abundance

of paradise of the promise

of salvation of the
promise of eternal life

and a sense that from
the very cross itself

from Christ's sacrifice, life blooms.

- [Man Narrator] And
look at the orderliness

of the stars in the heavens.

This is a sense of solemnity,

a sense of beauty and a
sense of the spiritual

in the natural world,
which we tend to think of

in more modern terms but here
it is in the 10th century.

(upbeat music)