#coptic art

[rthwrms]

thinking about coptic mummy paintings and weeping

like. i know these people

[lionofchaeronea]

Coptic textile from Egypt, 4th or 5th century AD/CE, depicting a female dancer. Now in the Louvre.

[sacredheart-stigmata]

Christian Coptic (and Coptic-style) Tattoo Designs, taken from John Carswell's book of tattoos

Names of designs from left to right, top to bottom:

Full page of assorted symbols related to monstrances

Full page of assorted symbols related to the Crucifixion and Our Lady of Sorrows

Collection of monstrances

Madonna holding the Infant Christ

The disciples and Virgin Mary during Pentecost

The Holy Family's flight to Egypt

The Archangel Gabriel

The Archangel Michael fighting the Devil

The Crucifixion surrounded by angels and the Holy Spirit

The Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene

Two tabernacles

The Annunciation of the birth of Christ to Mary

A representation of the Resurrection of Christ, including the Holy Spirit crowning the new Church

[twintailedsiren]

Coptic & Byzantine water nymphs & Venus

This post is for anyone wondering: hey, are there Coptic and Byzantine depictions of mermaids, naiads, nereids?  I mean, there’s lots of fish-tailed beings in ancient art, Triton was hella popular, and there’s lots of medieval mermaids… but what about all those centuries in between? What happened there, were people making art? The answer is yes. Let's take a look:

Birth of Venus, with nereids in attendance. Herakleopolis Magna, Egypt. Limestone relief. 395 - 641 CE. Byzantine. Louvre.

From Farag 1976.

Limestone segment of an arch; foliate decoration on the underside. The face depicts a nereid on the back of a dolphin with her scarf billowing above her head. Coptic. Production date 4th — 5th centuries CE. British Museum.

Nereid riding a dolphin or sea monster. 6th 7th century CE. Saqqara, Memphis, Egypt. British Museum.

Coptic. Top of an Arch with a Nymph Riding a Sea Monster, 5th–6th century C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 18 1/8 x 31 1/8 x 14 3/8 in. (46 x 79 x 36.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 41.1226. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Mermaids or sirens, limestone relief, Recklinghausen. Note the crosses around their necks. Info from Farag 1976.

Monneret de Villard 1923.

Nereid riding a water monster. Monneret de Villard 1923.

Aphrodite Anadyomene, tapestry. 395 - 641 CE, Byzantine period. Findspot: Antinoé (?) Louvre.

Fabric with the image of a nereid riding a sea monster, Coptic fabric, VIII-IX centuries. Egypt. Material: wool, flax. State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.

Tapestry fragment with Nereids riding sea monsters. 5th-6th century CE, Egypt.  Note the Nereid on the right is looking at her reflection in a mirror. This gesture was done by Aphrodite and Venus in antiquity, and later by mermaids in medieval art. Dumbarton Oaks.

Fresco unearthed at Bawit. The winged half-serpent is "daughter of Alabasandria". Coptic. Image via Wikipedia.

Pair of Kolti with Sirens, Byzantine Period, ca 843-1204 CE. Found in Kyiv. Dumbarton Oaks collection. These sirens have the traditional bird bodies from antiquity.

I normally do more research & analysis, but I didn't this time.

Sources

Farag, F. Rofail. “Is There Any Justification for the Existence of Coptic Art? Two Recent Critical Opinions.” Kunst Des Orients, vol. 11, no. 1-2, 1976, pp. 22–42.

Monneret de Villard, Ugo. La Scultura Ad Ahnâs : Note Sull’origine Dell’arte Copta. Tipografia della Reale accad. nazionale dei Lincei in Roma, 1923.

[pierrotsoup]

starting a movement of me and my homies rejecting the "medieval art' of the late 19th century and embracing medieval art from the middle ages cause it's incredibly beautiful 🙏🙏🙏

[bijoumikhawal]

Some Coptic Shawls

This shawl is from the 9th or 10th century, and contains tapestry woven bands of Coptic script and kufic tiraz that can't actually be read.

I'm actually unsure about the details of this shawl as it's images are mixed up with the former shawl. It has a line of kufic tiraz and a tapestry woven strip with birds and an abstract medallion.

This shawl is from the 8th or 9th century. It has several stripes. It has stripes of floral and foliate designs, alongside two inscriptions in Arabic and Coptic. I'm not sure what the center stripe is, but I think it might be Acanthus leaves? They sometimes show up in Coptic textiles as a sort of curved w shape, as do some other leaf patterns. Acanthus leaves are associated with immortality, rebirth, and resurrection, but in Coptic art I've seen them associated with peace and heavenly gardens.

This shawl is from the 8th or 9th century. The center stripe has birds and a little lizardy looking creature I cant identify, as well as some more geometric/abstract designs. The Coptic cross appears in simplified form at the start of a Coptic inscription.

A similar shawl from the Louvre, with no detail images and frustratingly unspecified dating.

This shawl is from around 640-660. The MET has identified it as a wall hanging, but the composition of images in bands and segments resembles clothes I've seen more than a wall hanging. Each of the 5 medallions depicts Amazon women. Typically Amazons in this era of Coptic textile are on horseback, trampling a beast as they draw their bows. These have baskets of fruit under their horses instead and no bows, but retain the pose as though they were drawing. The bands show the bust of a man (possibly a personification of the Earth, Ge), riders holding wreaths, figures carrying food, birds, fish, and geometric patterns. Many of these motifs were found around the Mediterranean at the time, and would've been rather secular. The particular usage here is inviling the idea of abundance. This item would've been very expensive. The MET identifies it as Islamic, but I am not convinced as there are no explicitly Islamic motifs, and this was the very beginning of Muslim presence in Egypt. Further, personifying the Earth as a male is in line with Coptic culture, and it's recontextualizing of pagan figures and imagery to suit a Christian philosophy at this time. We don't know much about Pre-Islamic gods, but I don't know of an earth diety, male or female, and to reference such a figure in an Islamic art piece seems rather strange to me?

This is another "hanging" I think may be a shawl, from the 4th or 5th century. It depicts putti picking grapes. The symbolism of grapes in Christianity is fairly well known, and those associations hold true here- Jesus, Mary, and Communion. It's a very pious design, and because if the activity of harvest, it may have also been chosen for an association with abundance.

A third shawl/hanging. This is from the Fatimid era and I have no further information other than the Louvre saying its Coptic, nor a better photo.

The shawl of Sabine, 4th or 5th century. This is one of many pieces taken from Antinoë/Antinopolis by Gayet, who I consider to be a prolific grave robber. Unlike many garments he likely took, we know that this shawl belonged to a woman named Sabine. She was buried with it wrapped around her shoulders. The center medallion depicts Bellerophon and Perseus trampling the Chimera, bordered with a Nilotic scene of boys, fish, and lotuses. The bands are a continuation of this motif, with the addition of crocodiles and boats. The right medallion is of Apollo and Daphne. Daphne holds out a cross shaped flower to Apollo. The left is of an female archer who has killed a lion- perhaps Artemis, who interestingly, does not show up often in Late Antique Coptic art. The scattered design elements are winged figures, more lotuses. The boys and winged figures sometimes carry large shells and wreaths. It is proposed that the shawl originally was a wall hanging.

A possible shawl fragment with a striped design of grapes and flowers. These flowers may be roses, or they may be a generic "flower" shape. Some flowers identified as roses in Coptic textile I actually believe are lotuses, but I don't believe that is the case here.

A shawl from somewhere between the 7th and 9th century, made of embroidered linen. The pattern is of stylized leaves, buds, flowers, and abstract medallions.

This shawl is from the 3rd or 4th century. It has some pinstripes and what I think may be a grape leaf, though typically Coptic textiles from this period depict grape leaves more realistically, with five lobes.

In this image shows how shawls may have commonly been worn in Late Antique Egypt. It is possible there were further variations in wearing, as ultimately here all three figures are wearing the shawl draped over their shoulder, behind them, under the opposite arm, and over the first shoulder or arm, with women lifting it up to cover the head too.

This shawl may not be Coptic specifically. Some records indicate tulle bi telli shawls used to be made such that humanoid figures only appeared on shawls made by Copts, whereas Muslim Egyptians would use geometric designs, but this does not seem to be the case today. These shawls were often traditionally made by girls for their weddings, and all the patterns reflect the wishes and hopes of the girl for her marriage and wedding night. The technique of using metal strip embroidery comes from Turkey, where it is known as tel kirma, or from India, where it is known as mukaish or muqayyash, which is said to have been invented by Noor Jahan. I actually know a Copt whose family traditionally made a living through producing textiles such as tulle bi telli. Despite the secular importance of tulle bi telli, these shawls are sometimes called Coptic shawls. According to the British Museum, these shawls were originally a Coptic speciality, so this may be the origin of the confusing name.

This style of shawl is modern, and typically worn by monks. I believe this style came from Ethiopia, because thats what I've been told by another Copt, and I've at least seen Ethiopian clergy wear it. Fun fact: Egyptian and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians were part of the same church until VERY recently. This isn't especially obvious in all the customs of both groups, but it does mean Copts and Ethiopian Christians celebrate the same New Year, which also makes sense because of the agricultural roots of the date involving the Inundation of the Nile.

[mothmiso]

Coptic Cairo (2) (3) by Panegyrics of Granovetter

[egyptianrenaissance]

Egyptian Gods names in bohairic coptic

Ra : ⲣⲏ (Rē)

Horus: ϩⲱⲣ (hōr)

Osiris: ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲓ (ousīri)

Bastet: ⲟⲩⲃⲁⲥϯ (oubasti)

Amun: ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ (amoun)

Thoth: ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ (Tʰōwt)

Sobek: ⲥⲟⲩⲕ (souk)

Sekhmet: ⲥⲁϧⲙⲓ (Sakhmi)

Khepri: ϣⲱⲡⲓ (shōpi)

Anubis: ⲁⲛⲟⲩⲡ (anoup)

Isis: ⲏⲥⲉ (ēse)

Ptah: ⲡⲧⲁϩ (ptah)

Hathor: ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ (hatʰōr)

Atum: ⲁⲧⲟⲩⲙ (atoum)

Nut: ⲛⲉ (ne)

Maat: ⲙⲉⲓ (mei)

Taweret: ⲑⲟⲩⲏⲣⲓ (Tʰwēri)

Ah: ⲓⲟϩ (yoh)

Aten: ⲓⲱⲓⲧ (yōit)

Geb: ⲕⲏⲃ (kēb)

Khonsu: ϣⲟⲛⲥ (shons)