Description
Labeled pendant portraits on a mosaic floor, dated 533 CE, from the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damianus in Gerasa, depicting the παραμοναριος (paramonarius=church warden), Theodoros, and his wife, Georgia. Each figure appears in their one panel, and they are separated by a dedicatory inscription within an tabula ansata honoring Saints Cosmos and Damianus and other local church officials.
Georgia appears on the south panel, standing above (but not on) the ground line, flanked by two trees, with a Greek label including her name and relationship to Theodoros in the field above her. She is depicted standing in a long striped blue tunic, with black horizontal stripes along the openings of the sleeves. Britt (2008, 125) identifies small blue circles containing apotropaic swastika motifs along the bottom of her tunic. She wears a red cloak fastened at the center of her chest, and red shoes. Her arms are open and raised, a common gesture of praying (an 'orans' motif). Britt (1998, 124-125) notes the presence of a necklace and earrings, and Biebel (1938, 331), a hair net.
Theodoros appears on the panel to the north of the tabula ansata in a similar arrangement: flanked by two trees, standing above the basis. The Greek label at the top of the panel is interrupted by Theodoros' head. Theodore's is shown bearded, and with a mustache and close-cropped hair. He wears a long white tunic, with a long-sleeved white undergarment, and a red or orange cloak planeta or phelonion (a liturgical vestment; Biebel 1938, 331). He is shown at an angle, his right hand crossing his body to hold out an incense burner to one side.
Publisher
Welles, C. 1938. "The Inscriptions," pg.482, nos.315-316, pl.LXXIII, in Gerasa: city of the Decapolis, C.H. Kraeling (ed.).
Mosaic Inscription Item Type Metadata
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