DEER ON EARLY CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS AND MEDIEVAL ART

U tekstu se daje sažeti prikaz omiljenog ranokršćanskog motiva -prizora s jelenima (košutama) koji piju iz kantarosa, izvedenog u mozaičkoj tehnici, a s posebnim osvrtom na uništeni salonitanski mozaik.Deer (doe) were a frequent and popular motif in antique and early Christian times though not so frequent in the Middle Ages. Numerous written sources such as Herodotus, Plinius, Aelius, Homer, Pausanias, Vergil, Martial and many others mention this motif. Scenes showing deer hunts appear on vases, wall paintings, coins, gems, mosaics, etc. and can be found in almost all Roman provinces. The oldest, to date, known motif with deer was found in Pele in Greece. It was made from pebbles (4th century B.C.) and the name of the craftsman was on it. Mention must be made of famous mosaics with deer in the Piazza Armerina (Sm;tll Hunt), Avenches, Yvonnand, Orbe, Pafos, Rudston, Patras, campo de Villavidela, etc. In the early Christian era this motif was most widely used. Mosaics with deer (hinds, gazelles, bucks) drinking from cantharos, fountains and similar, that is, from the Source of Life were found on numerous sites. Floors in baptisteries, basilicas, chapels, mausoleums then in nartex, consignatorium, catechumeneon, etc., were decorated with these motifs. From an extremely large number of mosaics with deer symmetrically placed around cantharos the following sites are worth mentioning -Caričin grad, HeracJea, Stobi, Oktisi, Amphipolis" Akrini, Edessa, Constantinopoli, Antioch, Horvat Susiya, Henchir Massaoud, Leptis Minor, Carthago, Kalde, Mariana, Verginia, Tarragona, Iader, Salona. One of the most remarkable figured-epigraphic mosaics from early Christian time is the now missing Salonitan mosaic from the room to the west of the baptistery. The mosaic was polychromatic, executed in opus tessellatum technique. On a small rectangular field in the southern part of the room a figured composition depicted two deer in the landscape, antithetically placed around the cantharos. There was also a line from the 42nd Psalm -Sic/ut cer/vus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad Te Deus. Two deer antithetically placed around the cantharos are shown in the central rectangular field of the mosaic found in Zadar (Iader) in 1973. Especially interesting is the mosaic with a deer motif found in Salona on the "Terme" site in 1986/87 during protective archaeological research on the loop. This is an early Christian polychromatic mosaic which shows a deer licking dew from leaves. On numero us mosaics four Heavenly rivers are shown (they confirm baptismal character and deep spiritual meaning when they are connected with baptism), then deer and other animals drinking from a river or fountain, that is, cantharos accordingly Source of Life. In early Christian art deer which approach running water, cantharos or fountains represent cathecumens who want to wash their sins in baptismal water. Baptism represents new physical birth and life as was said in the Gospel According to John ". "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." Deer (doe) were a frequent and popular motif in antique and early Christian times though not so frequent in the Middle Ages. Numerous written sources such as Herodotus, Plinius, Aelius, Homer, Pausanias, Vergil, Martial and many others mention this motif. Scenes showing deer hunts appear on vases, wall paintings, coins, gems, mosaics, etc. and can be found in almost all Roman provinces. The oldest, to date, known motif with deer was found in Pele in Greece. It was made from pebbles (4th century B.C.) and the name of the craftsman was on it. Mention must be made of famous mosaics with deer in the Piazza Armerina (Sm;tll Hunt), Avenches, Yvonnand, Orbe, Pafos, Rudston, Patras, campo de Villavidela, etc. In the early Christian era this motif was most widely used. Mosaics with deer (hinds, gazelles, bucks) drinking from cantharos, fountains and similar, that is, from the Source of Life were found on numerous sites. Floors in baptisteries, basilicas, chapels, mausoleums then in nartex, consignatorium, catechumeneon, etc., were decorated with these motifs. From an extremely large number of mosaics with deer symmetrically placed around cantharos the following sites are worth mentioning -Caričin grad, HeracJea, Stobi, Oktisi, Amphipolis" Akrini, Edessa, Constantinopoli, Antioch, Horvat Susiya, Henchir Massaoud, Leptis Minor, Carthago, Kalde, Mariana, Verginia, Tarragona, Iader, Salona. One of the most remarkable figured-epigraphic mosaics from early Christian time is the now missing Salonitan mosaic from the room to the west of the baptistery. The mosaic was polychromatic, executed in opus tessellatum technique. On a small rectangular field in the southern part of the room a figured composition depicted two deer in the landscape, antithetically placed around the cantharos. There was also a line from the 42nd Psalm -Sic/ut cer/vus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad Te Deus. Two deer antithetically placed around the cantharos are shown in the central rectangular field of the mosaic found in Zadar (Iader) in 1973. Especially interesting is the mosaic with a deer motif found in Salona on the "Terme" site in 1986/87 during protective archaeological research on the loop. This is an early Christian polychromatic mosaic which shows a deer licking dew from leaves. On numero us mosaics four Heavenly rivers are shown (they confirm baptismal character and deep spiritual meaning when they are connected with baptism), then deer and other animals drinking from a river or fountain, that is, cantharos accordingly Source of Life. In early Christian art deer which approach running water, cantharos or fountains represent cathecumens who want to wash their sins in baptismal water. Baptism represents new physical birth and life as was said in the Gospel According to John ". "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." The question whether the room to the west of the baptistery is a cathesumeneum or consignatorium has been often posed and many scholars have dedicated their works to this problem, Dyggve considered this room (B) (pl. 4) to be cathecumeneum referring to the above mentioned mosiac with a deer motif and semicircular bench with a bishop\u27s seat in the middle from which the bishop taught cathecumens, After a thorough analysis of the Salonitan baptisterial complex Duje Rendić-Miočević concludes in his Salonitana Christiana ... that the relevant room (pl. 5) no. 6 (Oyggve\u27s B) was consignatorium, although it might have occasionally functioned as catechumeneum. Dyggve\u27s statement that room B was cathecumeneum because of the mosaic does not hold since this motif was used to decorate floors in basilicas, chapels, nartex, baptistery, consignatorium (Salona, rader), and accordingly was not only restricted to the room in which neophytes were taught. The deer motif appeared on mosaics in the Middle Ages as well the (Cathedral in Reggio Emilia, the Church of St John the Evangelist in Ravenna, the Church of St Lawrence in Venice). Especially interesting are representations of deer on plutei in Cenede, Aquileia and on the, unfortunately, lost relief with the deer hunt from Novigrad and the deer from Poreč. The appearance of this motif on early Christian figured mosaics is not accidental, since cantharos, that is, the water it holds and deer inevitably appeared in antique painting (mosaics and frescoes) and often had the central position. It was equally important for early Christian and Medieval symbolism which adopted and developed it for their own needs