Volltext Seite (XML)
Chap. II. GATES OF SANTA SABINA. 57 beneath him. The figure of Elisha is slender and elegant, and contrasts with others which are short and thickset, as for instance in the composition in which Moses performs the miracle of the serpents. In a third relief representing the Hebrews landing from the Red sea, and welcomed by an angel, whilst Pharaoh appears in a biga in the midst of the waves, it is impossible not to remember the colossal figures of the Monte Cavallo at Rome, imitated by an ar tist of a later time. In the adoration of the Magi, where the Virgin in a Roman chair holds the infant and receives the offerings of the three kings who are dressed in Phry gian costume, it is difficult to forget the same forms of composition in the earliest catacomb pictures. Again the Saviour may be seen on the road to Calvary, by the side of Simon of Cyrene who carries the cross. The figure of the Redeemer, the head, bearded and inclosed by long hair recal the old types of the Christian time, whilst the com position itself is reminiscent of the mosaics of S. Apollinare Nuovo at Ravenna. The Saviour in an attitude of command in one of the medallions, with his simple nimbus, and fine drapery, is very different in type from the Redeemer even of the ninth century, whilst in a similar medallion, Christ giving the benediction and sitting in glory, is short in stature and wears the antique costume, the leggings of the same figure in the funeral monuments of Ravenna. But for the fact that short and slender figures are found in close proximity, one might suppose that these sculptures are of a date as early as some of the mosaics of Ravenna. They have indeed much of the character which distinguished the sculptures of the close of the Exarchate. The symbols and monograms are the same as those of the sarcophagi. It may be reasonable there fore to give these bas-reliefs a date anterior to the tenth and even to the ninth century. Nor is a certain amount of historical evidence wanting to confirm this view. The gates of Santa Sabina are referred to in “Annales ordinis prcdicatorium” by Thomas Maria Mamachio 1 as of “seculo etiam VII 0 fortasse vetustiores.” That Rome, during the tenth and eleventh centuries, yielded no examples of mosaic or painting is neither strange I . Rome 1756. Vol. I, c. XVII, p. 569.
