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Lamp Depicting Two Spies Carrying a Grape Bunch
Circa 4th-5th Century AD
Description: Very important early Christian lamp the concave discus depicting the two spies returning from their exploratory mission into the land of Canaan carrying a long branch over their shoulders (Numbers 13:17-33). From the branch hangs a large triangular bunch of grapes, reaching down past their feet. An encircled christogram appears above the scene and an unidentified box-like symbol underneath. (The symbols appearing above and below indicate the awareness of the eucharistic significance of the scene, according to Annewies van den Hoek and John J. Herrmann in Light from the Age of Augustine.) The channel around the discus is decorated with concentric circles and diamond patterns.
Length: 5.75 in. (14.4 cm)
Condition: The body of the lamp completely intact including thumb spur. Strong impression but partially obscured by light encrustation which extends to portions of the shoulder and body.
Provenance: Formerly a German property.
Background: Grape imagery appears frequently throughout the Bible. Isaiah likens God to the owner of a vineyard and Israel to the vineyard (Isaiah 5); a similar metaphor is employed by Jeremiah (2:21). Jesus is quoted as comparing himself to the vine: "I am the true vine and my Father the vine dresser' (John 15:1). In his Ennarationes in Psalmos, St. Augustine provides a eucharistic interpretation of the image, explaining that the grapes can be understood as the word of God. He refers to the image as an existing tradition: "For also the Lord has been called a cluster of grapes, whom those who were sent ahead by the people of Israel carried from the promised land as if fastened on a pole."
Reference: For examples in the Bardo Museum, Carthage, see Enabli, #46-52. See also p. 32-33, #20-21, Light from the Age of Augustine; and also p. 76-77, #43-45, Images of Inspiration: The Old Testament in Early Christian Art.
WebLinks:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Figures_The_spies_showing_the_fertility_of_Canaan.jpg
http://www.biblical-art.com/biblicalsubject.asp?id_biblicalsubject=111&pagenum=1
http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0413.htm
Price: SOLD
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