Lilit Mikayelyan
Yerevan State University, Armenia
There are a number of themes in the Late Antique and Early Christian art, that are also known in the art of Sasanian Iran. Among them is the scene of “grape harvest”. The study and comparative analysis of this theme in the context of the three above mentioned cultural traditions have not been paid necessary attention by the researchers and need a special investigation. Such a study can be very useful in the interpretation of symbolic and iconographic features of the composition.
Scenes of “grape harvest” first appeared in ancient art and were connected with the cult of Dionysus. In the Late Antique and Early Christian periods similar scenes were often depicted on the pavement and wall mosaics of Rome and East Roman provinces, as well as on the marble sarcophagi. In the Christian tradition the scenes of “grape harvest” were reinterpreted according to the Christian symbolic traditions, where wine became the symbol of the Atonoment and the sacrament of the Eucharist.
In the Early Medieval Armenian art the theme of “grape harvest” is known in the 6th–7th century relief from Dvin, where crop collecting women with baskets on their back are represented in the bushes of vineyard. In the context of Christian art such a composition expressed the idea of Salvation through Christ and eternal life in Paradise. The theme of “vineyard” is developed on the facade of the temple of Zvartnots (7th century), and later on the facade of the church of St. Cross in Akhtamar (10th century).
In the art of Sasanian Iran the scene of “grape harvest” is widely known on the silver vessels and dishes of the 6th–7th centuries. Here the “gatherers” of grapes are youths and girls and various animals — rabbits, foxes, bears, birds and others. In these scenes, as well as in Early Christian mosaics, the brunches of grapes have huge sizes, they are often the half height of human and animal figures. This iconographic detail, common both for Sasanian Iran and for Christian artworks, underlines the allegorical character of scenes, which was based on the symbolic image of the Heavenly Paradise.