Henry Maguire, Nectar and Illusion: Nature in Byzantine Art and
Literature (Oxford, 2016)
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Nature and Idolatry
Nature in Early Byzantine Church Art
In a recent book, lngvild Gilhus refers to the transition from paganism to
Christianity as a “change from a sacrificial cult, where the animal body had
been a key symbol, to the Christian cult, where the human body became the
new key symbol.” She goes on to characterize this shift as “one of the dramatic
changes in the history of religions.” 1 In churches, the change from an art that
was embedded in nature to one that was anthropocentric was certainly dramatic, but it did not take place overnight; it was a slow and sometimes violent
process that took several centuries.
The engagement of the art of Christian churches with nature begins with
one of the earliest surviving decorations from a Christian church, namely, the
early fourth-century floor mosaics of the double basilica at Aquileia. These
pavements present a few explicitly Christian subjects, such as the story of
Jonah, surrounded by a rich variety of motifs derived from the world of nature,
including sea creatures of various kinds in their watery environment, together
with birds, beasts, fruits, and plants (figure 1-1 ). There are also personifications,
such as the season of summer. 2
After this initial flourishing of nature in the pavements of Aquileia, church
floors of the mid- and later fourth century, a period of increasing tensions
between Christianity and paganism, exhibit a general reluctance to admit
plants, animals, and personifications, although a few such images did appear
1
1. S. Gilhus, Animals, Gods and Humans: Changing At tit11des to Animals in Greek, Roman, and Early
Christian Ideas, London , 2006, 2.
2G. Brusin and P. Zovatto, Mo11111ne111i Paleocristia11i di Aquilera e di Grado, Udine, 1957, 20-125; J.-P.
Caillet, L”Evergetisme monumental c/1retie11 e1, llalie et
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