And Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus. But Jesus said to Peter: Sheath the sword; Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?
Gospel of John 18: 10-11
We have a good saying in Russia: an egg is expensive for Easter. Since, since we have Easter today, let's not only congratulate each other on this holiday, but also use it to get acquainted with the beautiful medieval miniatures and the warriors in armor depicted on them. That is, we will again turn to the source base of our knowledge about the Middle Ages
How many people, so many … and descriptions
All four of its authors tell about the arrest of Christ and the kiss of Judas in the New Testament, although John only describes the scene of the arrest. The Gospel of Matthew says: “… here is Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a multitude of people with swords and stakes, from the chief priests and elders of the people. But the one who betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying: Whom I kiss, He is, take Him. And immediately going up to Jesus, he said: Hail, Rabbi! And he kissed Him. " (Matt. 26: 47-49) Mark's description is shorter: “But the one who betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying: Whom I kiss, He is, take Him and lead carefully. And having come, he immediately approached Him and said: Rabbi! Rabbi! and kissed Him. " (Mark 14: 44-45) Luke writes about it this way: “… in front of him walked one of the twelve, called Judas, and he came up to Jesus to kiss Him. For he gave them such a sign: Whom I kiss, He is. Jesus said to him: Judas! do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? " (Luke 22: 47-48)
"Kiss of Judas", a bas-relief from the wall of the Bremen Cathedral.
The Betrayed Kiss - Biblical Tradition
Moreover, the researchers of the New Testament also note the fact that the kiss, which Judas chose as a conventional sign for the soldiers who came to arrest Christ, at that time was a traditional greeting among the Jews and did not really mean anything. Well, the kiss itself before betrayal was known from the Old Testament, when the commander of King David Joab, before killing Amasa, “took… with his right hand Amesai by the beard to kiss him. But Amasa did not beware of the sword that was in the hand of Joab, and he struck him in the stomach with it”(2 Samuel 20: 9-10).
"Arrest of Christ". Fresco approx. 1290 Church of San Francesco in Assisi, Basilica of St. Francis in the Sacro Convento monastery. It depicts warriors in a very interesting way. Obviously not in the tradition of the Middle Ages, although some of the helmets clearly correspond to the time of the creation of the fresco. But not all … Most likely its author was in Rome and saw with his own eyes Trajan's column or some other monuments of ancient Roman history.
That is, everything depended on the source of information and … the intellect of the illustrator himself, who tried to accurately show the era of the event based on what he saw. Because when that was not the case, such warriors as, for example, the works of Fra Angelico (1395-1455) appeared on the same frescoes. The fresco dates back to 1437-1446. and is located in the San Marco Museum in Florence.
Conan Doyle on the arrest of Christ
Naturally, such a culmination of the earthly life of Christ could not but find its reflection in all types of art of the Middle Ages, be it sculpture, fresco painting or book miniature. And here is how Arthur Conan Doyle described the scene of the arrest of Christ in his historical novel The White Detachment. He also mentions the high priest's servant Malcha, whom the Apostle Peter cut off his right ear with a sword because he struck Christ on the cheek: “By the way, as far as the murder of the Savior is concerned, it was a very nasty story. The good padre in France read to us from the record the whole truth about her. The soldiers overtook him in the garden. Perhaps the apostles of Christ were holy people, but as soldiers they are worthless. True, one, Sir Peter, acted like a real man; but - unless he was slandered, he only cut off the servant's ear, and the knight would not boast of such a feat. I swear by ten fingers! If I were there with Black Simon of Norwich and a few select people from the Squad, we would show them! And if we could not do anything, we would have pounded this false knight, Sir Judas, with English arrows so that he would have cursed the day when he took on such a dastardly mission."
The "arrest of Christ" as a historical source
However, we are most interested in how the scene of the arrest of Christ and the Judas kiss was reflected in medieval painting - frescoes and book miniatures. And again, not even the image of Christ himself, which is quite traditional for all artists, but the people around him. Because here painters and illustrators no longer followed the biblical canons, but painted what they knew well - that is, the life around them.
For example, a 15th century fresco. in the Constance Cathedral of the Virgin Mary (former episcopal church in the city of Constance on Lake Constance, Germany). It clearly shows a real knight in "faceted", typically Germanic armor and a salade helmet. According to the results of Fomenko and Nosovsky, Jesus Christ lived in 1152-1185. But … then it still does not fit, because the armor depicted on the fresco is in no way the XII, but the XV century.
This pentaptych, made around 1390, is painted in tempera and gold on wood. Height: 123 cm; Width: 93 cm. (National Museum in Warsaw) Excellent image quality makes it possible to make an excellent reconstruction of a warrior of this time, focusing on, say, the extreme figure on the right.
A lot of beautiful miniatures are found in the "Books of Hours". Here is one of them from the "Book of Hours" of 1390-1399. from Bruges, Belgium. (British Library, London). As you can see, the countries are different, the books are different, the artists and their painting style are also different, but the figures of the warriors look like twins. And it is clear why: yes, the fashion at that time was such that somewhere in Poland, that in the city of Bruges …
Well, this is how St. George is presented in the same "Book of Hours" slaying the dragon. Here, attention is drawn to his curved shield, just in the fashion of that time, and the bascinet helmet with a convex visor in the breathing holes.
A fresco from the Church of San Abbodino in Como, Italy, circa 1330 -1350 caused such a strong interest from the English historian David Nicolas that he devoted two whole pages to the analysis of it in his encyclopedic work "Arms and Armor of the Crusading Era, 1050 - 1350". There are several plots related to the last days of Christ's life: "Betrayal", "The Way to Golgotha", "Crucifixion", "The Accusation of Peter", in a word, there is something to see, and the artist had the opportunity to decorate the church with colorful multi-figured compositions. At the same time, it is interesting that the soldiers depicted in these frescoes represent typical infantry of Italian cities, and in particular, the militia of Milan, under whose rule the city of Como was also at that time.
And this is what David Nicole says about it …
Most of the men in the frescoes wear bascinets, some with chain mail aventails. Some of the latter wear rigid collars over their chain mail, collars that are high enough and reach the edge of the helmet. Moreover, the long hair of the man on the left indicates that the helmet and collar are not connected to each other. Some wear an "iron hat" helmet, but their brim is narrow, which was again typical of Italy.
Miniature depicting warriors wearing chapel-de-fer helmets from the Bible Moralis 1350 from Naples. (National Library of France, Paris)
All the soldiers are dressed in chain mail, and one of them, which stands behind Christ, is even wearing armor, from under which leather pretigues are visible in a purely Roman tradition. It is interesting that absolutely all warriors have long quilted gambesons with vertically executed quilting visible from under their chain mail, and they go down below the knees. Gambesons of this length are practically not found on knightly effigies, but in the images of the Italian "militia" they can be seen quite often.
In this fresco, none of the warriors have plate shoes. But from under the "quilts" one can see plate greaves, that is, before us, the warriors are clearly not poor, since they are wearing so many things. In fact, they differ from knights only in simpler helmets and the absence of plate shoes.
The shields are varied and interesting, ranging from the usual "serpentine" type with a flat top to a larger shield with a round top with a noticeable spike at its base. The latter could be used so that the shield could be thrust into the ground to create a wall of shields behind which the infantry could sit. The third form of shield is the small buckler (the warrior on the left). Various weapons include daggers, ranging from small to full-size basilards, one of which is armed with a warrior standing behind Christ. The swords are practically invisible, but the warriors have them, and in the background various spearheads and the warhead of the six-opera are shown.
"Book of Hours" as sources
Interestingly, we see similar armor on a miniature from the famous "The Magnificent Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry" (otherwise "The Luxurious Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry"), 1405-1408, created by order of the Duke Jean of Berry by the Limburg brothers. This manuscript is now kept in the medieval collection of the Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and is one of the most valuable historical monuments of the Middle Ages. In the inventory of 1413, the curator of the Duke's library, Robinet d'Etamp, described this manuscript as: “… a wonderful book of hours, very well and richly illustrated. It begins with an elegantly written and illustrated calendar; adjacent to it are scenes of the life and martyrdom of Saint Catherine; followed by the four Gospels and two prayers to our beloved Virgin; the hours of the Virgin Mary and various other hours and prayers begin with them …"
Miniature from the "Book of Hours" of the Duke of Berry. Here we see rather curious figures of warriors and, most likely, we are already dealing with the works of the Renaissance masters who are familiar with examples of Roman art, but syncretically connect it with the realities of their time.
And, of course, we cannot pass over in silence the miniature scenes from the "Bedford Book of Hours" from the collection of the British Library. Work on the manuscript could have begun as early as 1410-1415 and continued until the early 1420s. The most significant additions were made between 1423 and 1430, when the manuscript was in the possession of John, Duke of Bedford. They include a cycle of full-page miniatures from the Book of Genesis, portraits of the Duke of Bedford and his wife Anne of Burgundy with prayers to their patron saints.
A page from the Bedford Book of Hours. The miniatures we are interested in are on the pages in the medallions on the right. That is, these are real miniatures that demanded great skill from illustrators …
Scene with a kiss and "ear of Malchus"
Interrogation by the high priest.
Carrying the cross. As you can see, the artists did not particularly fantasize, but dressed all the characters with the exception of Christ in the clothes of their time.
The tomb of the risen Christ and … two knights reporting this miracle.
Well, and the last illustration with the carrying of the cross to Golgotha, 1452-1460. and executed on parchment. Dimensions: height 16.5 cm, width 12 cm.(Museum Condé, located in the Chantilly castle in the commune of Chantilly (department of Oise), 40 kilometers north of Paris) On it we see typical knightly armor of northern Europe, and some warriors, clearly poorer, wear brigandines. The content of the miniature is interesting. Crucifixion nails are hammered in the foreground. Christ is clothed in regal purple. Behind, a strangled Judas hangs on a tree, and the devil's spirit leaves his mortal body.
Thus, the study of thematic miniatures in illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages provides us with valuable information about the military equipment of this era, which is also confirmed by effigy sculptures and preserved samples of armor and weapons.
And in conclusion, everyone who reads this material, I want to congratulate you on Easter! Christ is risen! Truly resurrected!
