The Murals on Entrance Porch of the Faras Cathedral

The aim of the article is to discuss a dating of two murals painted in a tempera technique on the walls of the southern entrance porch of Faras cathedral, namely the representations of an archangel and St Mercurius on horseback. Both were originally dated to the late tenth or the early eleventh century, but some scholars suggested that these works of arts could have been painted as late as in the late twelfth century or even later. That is at the time when area of the porch together with adjoining staircase had certainly been covered with a roof. Such a dating however, seems largely inadequate in view of the stylistic evidence and the artist’s workshop characteristics, so an effort to restore the original dating has been undertaken in the present article, in the belief that the porch must have been covered earlier in a something way. There follows a suggestion concerning construction of the original roofing. The latter part of the article concerns a possible identification of the archangel’s figure as Gabriel (and not Michael)

Authoritative and Protective Insignia, Regalia and Symbols in Nubian Afro-Byzantine Rulers’ Iconography

The article is partly based on my doctoral research and results of my University of Pretoria (UP) project on Afro-Byzantine art.This article discusses the “authority and protection” insignia, regalia and symbols which are used in the Nubian Afro-Byzantine iconography of kings, eparchoi and other royals. They are discussed and analysed—through the study of the most important frescos in Nubian medieval churches—in terms of their position, function and meaning within the Byzantine and Afro-Byzantine context. The article reaches a number of conclusions referring to the religious, artistic, symbolic, political and institutional use and value of these representations of authority, protection and their connotations.http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rech202019-05-25hj2019Humanities Educatio