Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 23 August 2023
dayr anba maqar, the painted hermitage of
Mary Kupelian Keywords: Abu Mina, Bawit; Coptic Architecture; Coptic Art; Coptic Church; Coptic Monasteries; Dayr al-Suryan; Dayr Anba Bishoi; Dayr Anba Maqar; Dayr Apa Jeremiah; Galaktotrophousa; Hermitage; Iconography; Maria lactans, Menas the Miracle Maker, Saint; Monasteries; Nursing Virgin; Wadi al-Natrun (Egypt).
Introduction Cells and hermitages in Lower and Upper Egypt both feature representations of classical architecture and art, or architecture and art that are similar to the classical styles. dayr anba maqar (St. Macarius) in Wadi al-Natrun is one of Egypt’s most important monasteries. From the fourth century to the present day, it has been continuously inhabited by monks. This monastery is very important for the study of Coptic monastic art, and its wall paintings are almost completely published except for the paintings in a single hermitage (manshubiya): the only hermitage in the monastery that is decorated with colorful mural paintings.
Because Egypt’s dry and favorable desert climate helped the paintings to survive, they have only slightly deteriorated over time. The hermitage is in a rock-hewn cave complex not far from the main church of Dayr Anba Maqar (Figs. 1–2). Its iconography was obviously adapted to the personality of the person who commissioned the work. It is executed in simple red, brown, ochre, black, and white colors. Unfortunately, the greater part of the scene of Christ in Glory with the Four Living Creatures has been destroyed. Next to it is the Virgin Galaktotrophousa (Fig. 3) (Bolman, forthcoming). This double composition parallels that of the prayer niches in several cells in bawit and Saqqara. However, the low ceiling level obliged the artist to split the composition into two separate scenes, with the Virgin to the left of Christ. A scene of saint menas at prayer, with two camels, in the company of Christ is enclosed within a frame surmounted by crosses and a text. Texts also appear on the left side of this scene. The figures of Christ and St. Menas are represented in a framework of two arches separated by a column (Kupelian 2018). There are also some crosses in various styles decorating the walls. Some pottery vessels for daily life usage were discovered in the cave.
© Claremont Graduate University 1 M. Kupelian, Dayr Anba Maqar, The Painted Hermitage of 23 August 2023 Fig. 1. Floor plan of the painted hermitage of Dayr Anba Maqar. Courtesy of Ashraf W. Hanna. Fig. 2. The door of the hermitage. Photo by the author.
© Claremont Graduate University 2 M. Kupelian, Dayr Anba Maqar, The Painted Hermitage of 23 August 2023 The inscriptions in the cave are instructive. They show that its wall paintings date to AM 660 (943/44 CE). A dipinti in the lower left corner of the scene of the Virgin states that Father Mena Panau ordered and paid for the construction and the decoration of the cave. Prof. Jacques van der Vliet has pointed out that it is highly probable that Mena “Panau” is the same person mentioned as the spiritual father of a Deacon Gabriel who appears as the scribe of a Vatican manuscript dating to 978–979 CE. Thus, the cave must have been the prayer cell of Mena Panau (Immerzeel 2017: 46).
Fig. 3. The paintings of the hermitage, photographed by Karel C. Innemée in 1992, soon after the discovery.
1. The Mural Paintings of the Hermitage 1.1 The Scene of the Nursing Virgin The iconographic type of the Virgin nursing the Christ-child (Galaktotrophousa or Maria lactans) is thought to have its origins in Coptic Egypt. The only Gospel with an explicit reference to the breastfeeding of the Christ-child is the Proto-Gospel of St. James (19:1–2), which states: “A short time afterwards that light withdrew until the baby appeared, and it came and took the breast of its mother Mary.”
The most ancient examples of the Nursing Virgin iconography that have survived until today are three mural paintings found in dayr apa jeremiah (Saqqara), dating from the sixth © Claremont Graduate University 3 M. Kupelian, Dayr Anba Maqar, The Painted Hermitage of 23 August 2023 century. Further examples were found in the semi-dome of dayr anba bishoi (Suhaj) (Bolman 2016: 162), in two Fayum bas-reliefs dating from the sixth to the eighth centuries, and the Nursing Virgin that was discovered by Karel Innemée and depicted on the eastern wall of the khurus of the Church of al-Adra in dayr al-suryan, directly in front of the sanctuary (Innemée 1998).
The Virgin, larger in scale than the other figures, is enthroned frontally at the center of the scene in the hermitage. She is seated on a large, high-backed, jeweled throne with a footstool. Her eyes are wide and almond-shaped. Her head is surrounded with a golden halo. The Christ-child appears as a miniature adult. He is represented as the Son of God, Wisdom incarnate. He is depicted with short hair and a cross halo surrounds his head. The enthroned Virgin and Christ-child are surrounded by two archangels, probably Michael and Gabriel, each haloed and wearing a chlamys. In this iconic representation, the Virgin wears a purple maphorion covering her haloed head, and her draped robes are decorated with Christian attributes such as crosses. The graceful pose of the Virgin, the rhythmic folds of her drapery, and the delicate treatment of her face are very well defined (Bolman 2005). The Virgin’s left arm encircles the Christ-child, whose two hands are reaching outward like the hands of the two angels. Her right hand holds her breast, a gesture that depicts motherhood and emphasizes the relationship between mother and child. The style of the eyes of all four figures is the same—wide open with large pupils and irises—and all the depicted figures have the same stocky proportions. The distinctive shadow below the eyes is characteristic of Coptic art dated to the tenth century (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4. Nursing Virgin with Christ-child flanked by two archangels.
Photo courtesy of Karel C. Innemée.
© Claremont Graduate University 4 M. Kupelian, Dayr Anba Maqar, The Painted Hermitage of 23 August 2023 Notice that the hairstyles of the Christ-child and the two archangels are identical. They resemble depictions of the virtues (Doris 1998) which were more frequently depicted inside the monks’ oratory or surrounding the apse in monastic churches (see the famous niche discovered in Dayr Apa Jeremiah (Saqqara) Cell 1725, now on display as one of the masterpieces in the Coptic Museum, Inv. No. 7987). The virtues are represented as human figures accompanied by their names. They symbolize love, peace, patience, joy, and other virtues and date to the sixth–seventh centuries CE. The angels are shown in a flying frontal position, with one of the wings of each angel elegantly stretched over the Virgin.
1.2 The Martyrdom of St. Menas Coptic Christianity has been built upon a substructure of martyrdom. The veneration of St. Menas symbolizes the fundamental values of the Coptic Church and establishes precedents essential to the institution of martyrdom. Veneration of St. Menas, among other saints, by the Copts is one of the most important factors in the survival of the Coptic Church (Farag 2014: 137). The details of St. Menas’ life are found in three literary sources: the synaxarion, the Encomium, and the miracle collections. All three versions result in St. Menas becoming a martyr, but their stories are contradictory and demonstrate distinctions in his representations. This is important in characterizing the iconography of St. Menas, which can be altered to accommodate these distinctions. St. Menas is internationally known, and therefore his life has been written frequently (o’leary 1937: 194–196). His story of sacrifice, combined with stories of his healing miracles, spread through hagiography and liturgy, and were illustrated in his pilgrimage site at abu mina, Maryut, near Alexandria. Elizabeth Bolman argues that “the paintings of monastic saints, like St. Menas, were vehicles through which these holy figures performed miracles” (Bolman 2002: 40). 1.2.1. The Description of the Painting of Christ with St. Menas The mural painting depicting St. Menas with Christ is one of the unique representations found in the hermitage cave. In this rendering St.
Menas is highly venerated by being depicted next to Christ (Fig. 5). The saint is shown haloed, with two hands in an orans position, and with his two camels depicted below him. This is a popular representation of St. Menas, and it illustrates the story of his martyrdom as a soldier who sacrificed his life for his faith.
Fig. 5. St. Menas orans and Christ blessing with the right hand and holding the Gospel with the left.
Photo courtesy of Karel C. Innemée.
© Claremont Graduate University 5 M. Kupelian, Dayr Anba Maqar, The Painted Hermitage of 23 August 2023 Fig. 6. Close-up of the inscriptions next to St. Menas’s figure (Fig.5).
Photo courtesy of Karel C. Innemée.
Next to St. Menas, Christ is shown in his traditional iconography of a cross halo. His right hand is raised in a blessing gesture and his left holds a book. Both figures have their names inscribed next to their image. Opposite them is the image of the Virgin nursing the Christ-child. The placement of St. Menas with Christ offers insight into Menas’ importance.
© Claremont Graduate University 6 M. Kupelian, Dayr Anba Maqar, The Painted Hermitage of 23 August 2023 2. Translation of the important Inscriptions of the Hermitage (Figs. 4 and 7) Professor Jacques van der Vliet translated all the Coptic and Greek texts, and the graffiti that accompany the paintings in the cave (Kupelian 2018). The date that occurs on one of them is AM
660 (943/44 CE).
Translation:
Fig. 4 (text on the vertical line to the right of the image of the Virgin): [O?] holy (?) [fathers?] remember me in your prayers, agreeable to the Lord Christ [...] Amen, so be it. [Era?] of the Martyrs 660 (943/44 CE).
Fig. 7: O Lord, Jesus Christ, bless Father (lit.: my father) Mêna Panau, ascetic, for he provided for these two monuments, to wit this cave and this painting. Amen, so be it, so be it! Fig. 7. Close-up of the left inscription next to the throne of the Nursing Virgin in Figs. 3 and 4. Photo courtesy of Karel C. Innemée © Claremont Graduate University 7 M. Kupelian, Dayr Anba Maqar, The Painted Hermitage of 23 August 2023 3. The Dating of the Paintings The significant wall paintings of this unique hermitage can be accurately dated to the mid-tenth century, a time period that provides little surviving Coptic art and archaeology. The beautiful mural of the Virgin Mary nursing the Christ-child, or Galaktotrophousa, may represent the latest-dated appearance of this theological topic in Coptic monastic art. The scene of St. Menas with Christ reflects the great veneration of the monks of Wadi al-Natrun for that saint. The location of the remaining part of the scene—Christ in Majesty—beside the scene of the Virgin rather than above it, as it would normally appear, was justified by the low height of the hewn hermitage.