Art is often offers insight into the cultural contact of civilizations as in the case of some of the African art which was influenced by Christianity brought forth by the Portuguese as previously discussed in an earlier blog post. The image below epitomizes mozarabic style art. Mozarbic art is the result of Islamic influence as in the case of Spain where which Christians as well as Jews were subject to Islamic rule.
The product of Islamic influence on Christian art is as above. The image shows a scribe and illuminator laying out their folios, while a novice trims parchment. The two seated together are the senior scribe and the artist (Emeterius); to the right the monk is cutting parchment. In the tower, three men ring the bells, which functioned as the community’s clock. The walls of the tower resemble Islamic tiles; the interior ladders & horseshoe arches are Visigothic. To the right is the scriptorium. Three monks are shown and each is doing his respective duty.
The portrayal of the Christian scriptorium is Mozarabic in that there is an emphasis on geometric conventions include repeating patterns and the flat two-dimenmsional nature of the piece emphasizes its obvious appreciation for symmetry as seen particularly in the bell tower.
The image above is the Maius, Woman clothed with the sun which depicts the passage from the bible describing the apocalypse. Based on Revelation (12:1-18) in which a seven headed dragon vs woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars. The excerpt from the bible is not uncommon as an allegory for the triumph of the Church and therefore there is some rhetorical purpose for depicting it and romanticizing the revelation through art. The image is very abstract and includes extensive symbolism – halos, scale of figures, etc.