The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Bolman, Elizabeth S.

Save Cite Share

Description: The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

BOOKThe Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23714

The Red Monastery church is the most important extant early Christian monument in Egypt’s Nile Valley, and one of the most significant of its period in the Mediterranean region. A decade-long conservation project has revealed some of the best surviving and most remarkable early Byzantine paintings known to date. The church was painted four times during the 5th and 6th centuries, and significant portions of each iconographic program are preserved. Extensive painted ornament also covers the church’s elaborate architectural sculpture, echoing the aesthetics found at San Vitale in Ravenna and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

Distinguished contributors from a wide range of disciplines, including art and architectural history, ancient religion, history, and conservation, discuss the church’s importance. Topics include late antique aesthetics, early monastic concepts of beauty and ascetic identity, and connections between the center and the periphery in the early Byzantine world. Illustrated with more than 300 images, this landmark publication introduces the remarkable history and magnificence of the church and its art to the public for the first time.

The book's introduction includes a fascinating video overview of the Red Monastery Church and related conservation efforts.

Published in association with American Research Center in Egypt, Inc.

*This eBook is available exclusively on the A&AePortal.*

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

PublisherYale University Press

Print publication date June 2016 (out of print)

Print ISBN 9780300212303

EISBN 9780300275674

Illustrations 366

Print Status out of print

Publisher (out of print)

WorldCat

Google Books

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

List of illustrations

Luigi de Cesaris (1961–2011) and Adriano Luzi (1957–2003), Monastery of St. Paul
Architectural polychromy and a saint within a niche
Painted interior, detail of net pattern with confronted faces
Coptic priest praying in the eastern lobe of the triconch, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt, looking east
Icon of Shenouda, Bishay, and Bigol (Shenoute, Pshoi, and Pcol)
Pope Tawadros II and Father Antonious al-Shenoudi in the Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Sanctuary facade wall, looking south, with a view into the triconch
Reconstructed ground plans of the White (left) and the Red (right) Monastery churches, to the same scale
Architectural polychromy, curtain, and deer
Northern lobe reinforced with mud-brick walls
Northern lobe
Map of Egypt showing locations of monasteries and triconch basilicas
Map of Egypt showing the region around the Red and White Monasteries as of 2005
Shenoute, the most famous leader of the White Monastery Federation
White Monastery church from the southwest
Red Monastery church from the northwest
Isometric drawing showing the current condition of the Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Triconch (eastern and southern lobes) and the area in front of its facade wall
Red Monastery church and tower from the southwest
Peacock below a circle pattern with ornament remnants
Bird on an aedicule containing a cross, northern nave wall
Phases and Approximate Dating of Painting in the Red Monastery Church
Nave of the church filled with houses, looking southwest
View of the northern lobe before conservation
View of the three semidomes after the first test cleanings
View of the three semidomes after conservation
Red Monastery team with members of USAID, ARCE and the MoA, at the eastern end of the nave of the church, Sohag, Egypt
Adriano Luzi completing the first test cleanings, northern semidome, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Conservators on scaffolding in the eastern semidome, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
East-west section of the triconch, looking north
Father Maximous El-Antony in the northern lobe of the triconch, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Members of the Red Monastery team, northern lobe of the triconch, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Athanasios, patriarch of Alexandria
Theophilos, patriarch of Alexandria, with architectural polychromy
Northern lobe of the triconch
Spoliate pharaonic lintel with an early Byzantine inscription
Pshoi, the founder of the Red Monastery
Shenoute and Pcol, the founder of the White Monastery, with architectural polychromy
Besa, the successor of Shenoute as leader of the White Monastery Federation
Unidentified donor
Roofless nave of the White Monastery church, looking east
Gold coin hoard from the White Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Reverse half of an early Byzantine unofficial coin die
Burial chamber of the tomb of Shenoute, looking east
Sanctuary facade wall
Sanctuary facade wall
Painted architectural sculpture of monastic figures
Southern lobe of the triconch
Basil, bishop of Caesarea, with architectural polychromy
Triconch sanctuary
Mshatta Palace, Jordan, plan, detail
Western and eastern triconchs, Cemetery of Callixtus, Rome
Triconch Memorial of Moses, Mount Nebo (Siyagha peak), Jordan
Basilica Nova of Paulinus of Nola, Cimitile (Nola), Italy, reconstructed section
Triconch basilica, Knossos, Crete (Greece), plan
Triconch basilica, Betika, Croati, plan
Triconch basilica, Iulia Concordia, Italy, plan
Triconch basilicas in Egypt, reconstructed ground plans to common scale
Pilaster capital under the arch of the south apse, Dayr Anba Bakhum, Egypt
Sanctuary of the church of Dayr Abu Fana, Egypt, looking east
Eastern and Southern lobes of the triconch
Nymphaion
Plan of the Red Monastery church and tower, Sohag, Egypt
Site plan of the Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Temple of Hathor, south exterior wall
Red Monastery church, west exterior wall
Elevations of the Red Monastery church and tower, Sohag, Egypt
Blind window with a pointed hood, south wall
Northern portal
Southern portal, interior view
Isometric drawing and plans of the medieval tower, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Nave, looking west
Nave, looking east
Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt, east-west section looking north
Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt, elevation of the internal western nave wall
Original paving stones, stylobate, and column base at northeastern corner of the nave
Reconstruction of the Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Area in front of sanctuary facade
Area in front of sanctuary facade, looking north
Plan of the sanctuary, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Reconstruction of the possible diachronic sequence of screens in front of the Red Monastery church sanctuary, Sohag, Egypt
Reconstruction of the possible diachronic sequence of screens in front of the Red Monastery church sanctuary, Sohag, Egypt
Reconstruction of the possible diachronic sequence of screens in front of the Red Monastery church sanctuary, Sohag, Egypt
Elevation of the sanctuary facade, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Upper zones of the sanctuary facade, looking east
Doorway of the north side of the sanctuary facade
Northern column of the chancel arch
Reconstruction of the nave, looking east, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Reconstruction of the nave, looking east, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Plans of the first (left) and second (right) levels of the triconch, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Elevation of the eastern lobe, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Flattened elevations of levels I and II, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
View of the column shaft continuing below the collar base
Plans, elevations, and sections, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Schematic plan of the brick construction of the southern semidome, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
North-south section through the sanctuary, looking west, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Northern long room, looking west
Southern long room, looking east
Northern square room, looking southwest, during conservation
Capitals
Capital made specifically for its spoliate column shaft
Elements of the Corinthian capital
Large capital of level I
Large capital of level I
Large capital of level I
Large capital of level I
Large capital of level I
Large capital of level I
Large capital of level I, right face
Large capital of level I, right face
Large capital of level I, right face
Medium capital of level II
Medium capital of level II
Medium capital of level II
Pilaster capital of level I, left
Pilaster capital of level I, left
Pilaster capital of level I, right
Small capital
Small capital
Small capital
Capital of the chancel arch
Capital of the chancel arch
Plaster capital of the façade wall
Plaster capital of the façade wall
Pilaster capital of the facade wall passageways
Pilaster capital of the facade wall passageways
Pilaster capital of the facade wall passageways
Capital west of the sanctuary façade
Capital west of the sanctuary façade
Capital west of the sanctuary façade
Capital west of the sanctuary façade
Capital west of the sanctuary façade
Capital west of the sanctuary façade
Capital west of the sanctuary façade
Capital west of the sanctuary façade
Composite pediment
Composite pediment
Composite pediment
Slit-modillion cornice on the pediment, detail
Fragments of a slit-modillion cornice, presumably from the entablature over the nave colonnade
Niche on the sanctuary facade
Niche on the sanctuary facade
Niche on the sanctuary facade
Southern portal, external facade
Southern portal, detail
Northern portal, external facade
Internal facade of the northern portal, detail
Capital from the basilica at Hermopolis Magna (Ashmunayn)
Capital from the basilica at Hermopolis Magna (Ashmunayn)
Architectural polychromy
Decorative frieze, south wall
Ornament and birds, south wall, east end
Doe with patterns, exposed by plaster loss
Beam-and-plank scaffolding, Red Monastery, Sohag, Egypt
Ornament and three saints, east wall of the clerestory
Architectural polychromy, southeastern corner of the clerestory
Christ in the burning bush
Fruit-bearing trees visible in areas of paint loss
Stephen, the first martyr, with architectural polychromy
Eastern lobe as well as parts of the north and south lobes
Architectural polychromy, showing an additional marbled panel
Eastern lobe
One of two saints covered by marbling in the niche
Southern lobe, showing architectural polychromy with Mark and Iohannes
Theonas, patriarch of Alexandria, with architectural polychromy
Northern lobe, showing architectural polychromy with depictions of leaders of the White Monastery Federation in the niches
Braid patterns and other ornament
Western half of the southern lobe, seen from the eastern lobe, with an unidentified saint, Joannes and Theonas
Southern lobe, showing architectural polychromy with Basil, Mark and Joannes
Vine scrolls and other ornament
Northern lobe, showing architectural polychromy with Anthanasios, Cyril and Theophilos in the niches
Western half of the northern lobe, seen from the eastern lobe, with Athanasios, Besa, and Shenoute
Ornamented panel
Niche head decorated with crow's steps and other ornament
Horn, vine, and cloverleaf pattern with other ornament and a later face
Fan pattern added to the central roundel of an ornamental panel
Ornamental patterns on the outer face and soffit of the southern semidome arch
Black-and-white pattern painted over figural and ornamental subjects
Semidome and level II of the eastern lobe
Architectural polychromy
Eastern lobe, level II, before conservation
Tomb of the Palmettes, detail
Caesar Gallus in a toga picta
Templon column, Hagios Polyeuktos, Constantinople
Orthodox Baptistery
Architectural polychromy on the first two levels of the southern lobe
Dionysiac textile, detail
Architectural polychromy
Virgin Mary with angels in a colonnade, detail
General view of the northern (conserved) and eastern (mostly unconserved) lobes
Southeastern corner of the triconch
Ascension and three depictions of Christ in Majesty, painted one over the other in the eastern semidome
Eastern lobe, with part of the northern and southern lobes and the clerestory
Western wall
Unidentified standing saint
Eastern semidome from the south
Flaming wheels and wings with eyes, details from two of three versions of Christ in Majesty
Christ in Majesty above the Virgin and Child, apostles, and local saints
Moses receiving the law
Moses and the burning bush
Angel with a Eucharistic flagon
Angel with Eucharistic implements
Entablature frieze, eastern and southern lobes, with baskets of bread
Peacock and antelope, with architectural polychromy
Eastern and southern lobes
Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, with the ghost of an earlier standing figure, probably also Cyril
Archangel Michael
Archangel Gabriel
Northern semidome with Virgin and Child
Arcades and lamps, with Joseph at the left, detail
Virgin Mary nursing the Christ Child
Western side of the northern semidome, showing Elijah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Peter
Eastern side of the northern semidome, showing Paul, Isaiah, Daniel, and Moses
Southern semidome showing fruit trees above Christ
Christ as Logos
Eastern side of the southern semidome, showing Peter I, John, Mark, and John the Baptist
Western side of the southern semidome, showing Zachariah, Luke, Matthew, and Dioskoros
Dioskoros, patriarch of Alexandria
Angel
Prophet Daniel
Christ and two angels, underpainting
Angel, underpainting
Apostle, underpainting
Apostles and fragments of Christ in Majesty scenes
Angel with elements of Christ in Majesty scenes
Apostle
Roman official
Nude infant
Oedipus killing Laios
Angel of Annunciation
Standing angel, drapery, detail
Roundel of the Virgin Mary with an interlacing circle pattern
Apostle or evangelist
Apostle or evangelist
Gazelle and architectural polychromy
Mark the Evangelist
Archangel, presumably Michael
Virgin Mary
Tyche of Constantinople, detail
Virgin Mary Galaktotrophousa with an angel, west wall
Apa Theona, the Archbishop of Alexandria
Apa Elijah the Tishbite
Connections between paintings in the northern lobe, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Peter the Apostle in Shenoutean federation dress
Connections between paintings in the southern lobe, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Biological connections in paintings in the northern lobe, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Pshoi and Stephen, flanking the eastern lobe
Inscriptions, detail of wall painting
Dipinto of Matthew, detail
Two identifying inscriptions, details, showing The Holy Apa . . . the Archdeacon and The Holy Stephanos
Shallow dome showing an archangel, possibly Michael, painted over grapevines and a yellow eagle
Shallow dome, reconstruction of iconography
Shallow dome showing rays of jeweled light, eagles, and grapevines, with archangels and busts of evangelists in roundels
Domed vestibule with eagles in the pendentives
Southern long room looking northeast into the southern square room
Christ and adoring angels, south wall, northern square room
Mary and Pshoi (?), west wall, northern square room
Ornamental pattern, perhaps stylized loaves, northern side of the archway between the northern square room and the northern long room
Coptic inscription
Christ in Majesty
White and Red Monastery churches, circa 1798
Medieval cross
Orant
Shenoute depicted on a manuscript page
Cross roundel framed by a guilloche arrangement containing knot patterns, after partial test cleaning
Surviving portion of a cross in an aedicule and a later equestrian saint
Area of the facade wall above the portal leading into the northern long room
Medieval cross decorated with elaborate interlace
Cross decorated with interlace
Cross decorated with interlace and surrounded by animals, from Encomium on St. Theodore Stratelates
Equestrian saint
Trilobed entrance portal and medieval figures painted on the columns of the sanctuary platform
Christ in Majesty, detauk showing zodia, the Virgin Mary, the evangelists Matthew and Mark, and Armenian inscriptions
Key inscribed with the names of Shenoute and monks of the White Monastery
Archangel, during test cleaning
Virgin and Child
Archangel Michael, detail
Cross with angels, the Virgin Mary, and John the Baptist
Coptic inscription
Silver cross, undated and now lost
Dedicatory inscription of Deacon Paul
Walter Crum, Josef Strzygowski, Somers Clarke, and Max Herz outside the northern portal of the Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Earliest surviving depiction of the White Monastery church
Plan and section of the White Monastery church, also showing Coptick Font from the Red Monastery
Sanctuary, looking east, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Paintings in the southern semidome, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Exterior of the sanctuary, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Pages from field notebooks showing various views and details of the Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Composite plan of the Red Monastery church's boundary wall
Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt, from the southeast, showing walled village
Triconch, looking southwest, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Medieval squinch below the sanctuary dome, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Northern and eastern lobes of the sanctuary after restoration, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Somers Clarke, Max Herz, and others standing in front of the medieval enclosure wall, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Plan showing the condition of the Red Monastery church in 1908 and the distribution of the houses in the nave
Red Monastery church's nave, looking north, after the partial clearance of domestic structures
Medieval brick building and trilobed entrance in front of the sanctuary, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Plan showing the condition of the Red Monastery hurch after completion of the 1909–1910 Comité project
Sanctuary facade and protective roofs seen from the west, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Elevation of the Red Monastery church sanctuary facade showing the Comité interventions of 1909
Sanctuary facade, northern end, after restoration, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Sanctuary facade, southern end, after restoration, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
October 1962 plan of the Red Monastery church showing the inlaid marble paving in the sanctuary and the wall in the nave
Mahud Ahmad (left) and an anonymous figure in the northern lobe of the Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Western facade of the church and tower, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Rubble enclosure wall incorporating the medieval trilobed portal, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Peter I to the left of John and Mark, detail of test cleaning
Face of Vigrin Mary, detail of 2002 test cleaning
Detail of conservation in progress
Detail of a face visible beneath a later painting of a cross during cleaning
Photographic section showing the brick vault, the clay and red hematite preparatory layer, and three layers of plaster
Detail of placement marks under a preliminary sketch
Diamond pattern exposed by the loss of plaster, detail
Braid pattern with three horizontal guidelines (battitura di filo), south wall, northern long room
Imitation masonry
Pilaster capital with trompe l'oeil sculpting on the left face
Cross painted over the remains of prophets holding scrolls
Inscription painted over an ornamental pattern
Orange and purple paint applied on top of black to enhance the color range
Eastern semidome, detail
Virgin orans above a medieval cross in the niche
Palimpsest showing a checkerboard pattern, an angel, and a medieval cross roundel
Pink and green encaustic paints, detail
Photographic section showing green encaustic paint on plaster
Graphic documentation of the Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Church before conservation, detail
Niche above the chancel arch before conservation
Geometric pattern, exposed by the loss of later plaster, on the soffit of the southern arch
Alberto Sucato reattaching loose plaster with liquid mortar, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Head of an apostle from the Ascension, detail
Ghost of encaustic paint used in the Ascension, detail
Emiliano Ricchi applying acqua sporca to the painting of Besa, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Female bust in a wreath during conservation, detail
Female bust in a wreath after conservation, detail
Eastern semidome before the aesthetic reintegration of Christ
Eastern semidome after the aesthetic reintegration of Christ
Luigi de Cesaris applying trateggio, west wall, northern long room, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Facade wall, chancel arch, and triconch, looking east
Angel, detail
Northeastern corner of the triconch, detail of third and fourth levels
Besa and Shenoute in niches with architectural polychromy
Isaiah, detail
Medieval bird in a guilloche pattern
Chiara Di Marco applying acqua sporca, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Test cleanings of two angels, Red Monastery church, Sohag, Egypt
Sanctuary facade wall, looking south, with a view into the triconch
Paschal computus in Coptic, nave, west wall
Facade wall with location numbering, Red Monastery church
Triconch plan with location numbering, Red Monastery church
Triconch elevation with location numbering, Red Monastery church
Triconch flattened elevation of levels I and II, with location numbering, Red Monastery church
Facade wall showing phases of painting, Red Monastery church
Northern lobe showing phases of painting, Red Monastery church
Northern lobe showing phases of painting on levels III through V, Red Monastery church
Northern lobe showing phases of painting on levels I and II, Red Monastery church
Northern lobe showing phases of painting in the niches of levels I and II, Red Monastery church
Eastern lobe showing phases of painting, Red Monastery church
Eastern lobe showing phases of painting on levels III through V, Red Monastery church
Eastern lobe showing phases of painting on levels I and II, Red Monastery church
Eastern lobe showing phases of painting in the niches of levels I and II, Red Monastery church
Southern lobe showing phases of painting, Red Monastery church
Southern lobe showing phases of painting on levels III through V, Red Monastery church
Southern lobe showing phases of painting on levels I and II, Red Monastery church
Southern lobe showing phases of painting in the niches of levels I and II, Red Monastery church
Inner western sanctuary wall showing phases of painting, Red Monastery church

Free

Contents

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Contents

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23715

Read

Free

Foreword

Gerry D. Scott III

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

This book presents, in a comprehensive and multidisciplinary manner, an extraordinary monument, the richly painted early Byzantine Red Monastery church at Sohag, Egypt (fig. 1). The church holds a unique place in world heritage as the best surviving triconch basilica. Most remarkable is the extent of its decoration, its interior surfaces completely...

Author

Gerry D. Scott III

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23716

Read

Free

Preface

Michael Jones

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

In Egypt the care of all historic heritage, including ancient churches currently in use, is the responsibility and prerogative of the State, specifically the Ministry of Antiquities (MoA). While the Coptic Orthodox Church is able to use historic churches, official procedures and the complex and frequently restrictive regulations enforcing them have encouraged both clergy and local populations to...

Author

Michael Jones

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23717

Read

Free

Prologue: The Renaissance of the Red Monastery

Maximous El-Antony

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

The Red Monastery has undergone a tremendous change in the last ten years. Not only has its ancient church been conserved, which has revealed the beauty of its unique wall paintings, but the monastery itself has been repopulated for the first time since the middle ages. It has been transformed from a dilapidated and unoccupied archaeological site into a...

Author

Maximous El-Antony

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23718

Read

Free

Introduction

Elizabeth S. Bolman

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Monumental buildings physically manifest human imagination and desire. These two intangibles begin the long process of architectural creation, which involves many different people and a wide range of...

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23719

Read

Free

Acknowledgments

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

~It has been an extraordinary privilege to have spent the last fifteen years working on one of the great monuments surviving from the early Byzantine Empire. Projects such as this one, involving extensive site work and...

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23720

Read

Free

Part I: The Red Monastery and Its Church

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Part I

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23721

Read

Chapter 1. The Red Monastery in Early Byzantine Egypt

Andrew Crislip

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

The past several decades have been transformative for the historiography of early Byzantine Egypt, and its bibliography is now enormous.See Bagnall 2007. In this chapter I restrict my comments to aspects of the region and period that pertain most directly to the Red Monastery: Egyptian ecclesiastical and monastic...

Author

Andrew Crislip

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.3-9

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.1

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23722

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineByzantine Empire--Church historyByzantine Empire--Civilization--Egyptian influences

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 2. Pshoi and the Early History of the Red Monastery

Stephen Emmel and Bentley Layton

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Literary and material evidence indicates that a fourth-century ascetic named Pshoi founded the Red Monastery (fig. 2.1). Pshoi’s institution was a cenobium, that is, a communal monastery with an all-powerful abbot, collective worship and common food service, a rigid schedule of work and worship, an elaborate, walled...

Author

Stephen Emmel and Bentley Layton

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.11-15

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.2

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23723

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptByzantine Empire--Church historyPshoi, of Scetis, Saint, active 4th century-5th centuryByzantine Empire--Civilization--Egyptian influences

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 3. “The Possessions of Our Poverty”: Beauty, Wealth, and Asceticism in the Shenoutean Federation

Elizabeth S. Bolman

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Making the desert a city, an often quoted phrase from Athanasios’s Vita Antonii, draws attention to new centers of ascetic activity...

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.17-25

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.3

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23724

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineDayr al-Abyaḍ (Sūhāj, Egypt)Asceticism--History--Early church, ca. 30-600

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 4. Liturgy and Ritual Practice in the Shenoutean Federation

Ugo Zanetti and Stephen J. Davis

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Lawrence A. Hoffman has defined liturgy as “acts and scripts of worship” as well as “similarly ritualized phenomena” found in a variety of religious (and even sometimes nonreligious) settings...

Author

Ugo Zanetti and Stephen J. Davis

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.27-35

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.4

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23725

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineAsceticism--History--Early church, ca. 30-600Liturgy--TextsByzantine Empire--Church history

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 5. The Type of the Triconch Basilica

Dale Kinney

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Defined by its configuration of three apses or exedrae on two perpendicular axes...

Author

Dale Kinney

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.37-47

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.5

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23726

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineByzantine Empire--Church historyTriconchs

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 6. Architectural Survey

Nicholas Warner

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

The Red Monastery lies between the cultivated lands of the Nile Valley and the high escarpment of the...

Author

Nicholas Warner

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.49-77

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.6

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23727

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineByzantine Empire--Church history

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 7. Architectural Sculpture

and Dale Kinney

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

The architectural sculpture of the Red Monastery church—comprising capitals and entablatures, niche frames, and two elaborate doorways—is the only such ensemble from early Byzantine Egypt that...

Author

and Dale Kinney

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.79-93

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.7

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23728

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineCapitals (Architecture), Byzantine

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Free

Part II: Early Byzantine Paintings in the Red Monastery Church

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Part II

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23729

Read

Chapter 8. Artistic Working Practice and the Second-Phase Ornamental Program

William Lyster

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the early Byzantine paintings in the Red Monastery church is the lavish...

Author

William Lyster

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.97-117

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.8

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23730

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantinePolychromy (Architecture)

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 9. A Staggering Spectacle: Early Byzantine Aesthetics in the Triconch

Elizabeth S. Bolman

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

One of the rarest and most dramatic aspects of the Red Monastery church triconch is its painted skin...

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.119-127

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.9

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23731

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineTriconchsPolychromy (Architecture)

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 10. The Iconography of Salvation

Elizabeth S. Bolman

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Virtually everything in the intentional communities of early monasticism was charged with meaning, especially the church. In this building, monastics worshipped God, consumed the means of sharing everlasting life with Christ (the Eucharist), honored the saints, and commemorated their ancestors. Liturgical prayers encapsulated biblical and church history and mapped out the path to salvation offered through the incarnation and resurrection of Christ...

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.129-149

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.10

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23732

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantinePolychromy (Architecture)Mural painting and decoration, Byzantine

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 11. Figural Styles, Egypt, and the Early Byzantine World

Elizabeth S. Bolman

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

The Red Monastery triconch, with its stratigraphically clear phases of painting, provides an excellent opportunity to explore the variety of styles chosen for a single church in relatively quick succession. The monastic authorities had the triconch painted three times within about a century, and minor...

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.151-163

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.11

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23733

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineMural painting and decoration, ByzantineByzantine Empire--Church history

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 12. Ascetic Ancestors: Identity and Genealogy

Elizabeth S. Bolman and Agnieszka Szymaúska

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

According to his Life, Shenoute, when still a young boy, went to visit Pcol, the founder of the White...

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman and Agnieszka Szymaúska

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.165-173

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.12

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23734

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineMural painting and decoration, ByzantineByzantine Empire--Church history

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 13. Textual Aesthetics: Dipinti and the Early Byzantine Epigraphic Habit

Paul C. Dilley

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

The Red Monastery church provides a unique opportunity to study the early Byzantine epigraphic habit in its Christian context.This...

Author

Paul C. Dilley

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.175-181

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.13

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23735

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineMural painting and decoration, ByzantineInscriptions, Byzantine

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 14. Preparation of the Eucharist: Paintings in the Side Chambers

Elizabeth S. Bolman

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Early Byzantine paintings from phases 1, 3, and 4 survive in the pairs of rooms flanking the triconch, irregularly...

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.183-189

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.14

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23736

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineByzantine Empire--Church historyMural painting and decoration, Byzantine

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Free

Part III: A Diachronic View of the Red Monastery

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Part III

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23737

Read

Chapter 15. An Eclipsed History: Toward a Framework for the Medieval History of the Red Monastery

Mark N. Swanson

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

In their excellent entry on the history of the Red Monastery in The Coptic Encyclopedia, René-Georges Coquin and Maurice Martin made the astute comment that “this monastery always remained in the shadow of its celebrated neighbor [the White Monastery], so much so that its history is somewhat eclipsed...

Author

Mark N. Swanson

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.193-201

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.15

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23738

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineCoptic inscriptionsByzantine Empire--Church history

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 16. A Medieval Flourishing at the White Monastery Federation: Material Culture

Elizabeth S. Bolman

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

The White Monastery Federation continued to thrive well beyond the early Byzantine period, as Mark Swanson and Paul Dilley show in Chapters 15 and 17, drawing on the written record. Material evidence complements their accounts. Massive...

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.203-215

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.16

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23739

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineByzantine Empire--Civilization--Egyptian influencesByzantine Empire--Church history

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 17. Inscribed Identities: Prosopography of the Red and White Monasteries in the Early Byzantine and Medieval Periods

Paul C. Dilley

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

The Monastery of Apa Shenoute, popularly known as the White Monastery, is one of only a few major ascetic communities across the Mediterranean world to have existed continuously from late antiquity through the medieval period...

Author

Paul C. Dilley

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.217-229

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.17

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23740

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineCoptic inscriptionsDayr al-Abyaḍ (Sūhāj, Egypt)

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 18. “A Strange Jumble of Roman Detail”: Western Explorers and Antiquarians at the Red Monastery, 1673–1926

Nicholas Warner and Cédric Meurice

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

At the very end of the nineteenth century, the English architect and antiquarian Somers Clarke...

Author

Nicholas Warner and Cédric Meurice

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.231-241

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.18

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23741

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptByzantine Empire--Church historyHistoric preservation--HistoryAntiquarians

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 19. The Comité: Conserving the Red Monastery Church in the Early Twentieth Century

Nicholas Warner and Cédric Meurice

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

In 1909 the church of the Red Monastery was subjected to the first documented restoration project in its history, which was carried out by the Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l’Art Arabe (fig. 19.1). This body, established by Khedive Tawfiq (r. 1879–1892) in...

Author

Nicholas Warner and Cédric Meurice

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.243-259

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.19

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23742

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptDecoration and ornament, ByzantineArchitecture--Conservation and restoration

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Chapter 20. Wall Painting Conservation at the Red Monastery Church

Luigi De Cesaris and Alberto Sucato and Emiliano Ricchi

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

The possibility of working at the Red Monastery was first discussed in 1999 during the final stage of our wall painting conservation project in the Old Church at the Monastery of Saint Antony near the Red Sea, when Elizabeth Bolman showed us photographs...

Author

Luigi De Cesaris and Alberto Sucato and Emiliano Ricchi

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.261-279

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00359.20

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23743

Chapter subject tags:Red Monastery church, Sohag, EgyptArchitecture, Byzantine--EgyptMural painting and decoration, ByzantinePainting--Conservation and restoration

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Get access

Free

Conclusion

Elizabeth S. Bolman

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Before the start of the ARCE-USAID project at the turn of the twenty-first...

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23744

Read

Free

Appendix 1: The Greek and Coptic Inscriptions in the Red Monastery Church

Paul C. Dilley

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Very few of the inscriptions in the Red Monastery church, which are all dipinti, had been published, or even identified, before the ARCE conservation work...

Author

Paul C. Dilley

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23745

Read

Free

Appendix 2: Numbering System and Key Drawings

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

~This numbering system is meant to assist in locating general areas on the facade wall and in the triconch, and is not intended to give a number to every painted, sculpted, and architectural element in the church (figs. A2.1–A2.4).

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23746

Read

Free

Abbreviations

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)

The Red Monastery Church: Beauty and Asceticism in Upper Egypt

Abbreviations

Author

Elizabeth S. Bolman (Editor)