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Two Marble Reliefs with Birds, carved about 900-1100
Photos by New York Scugnizzo
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With all my Christmas shopping done early, I took advantage of my day off from work by treating myself with a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition to seeing many of my old favorites and the Annual Angel Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche installation (see upcoming post), I discovered two marble reliefs with birds from the vicinity of Salerno.
According to the museum’s wall label
These reliefs are cut down from a larger composition and show an imaginary bird, a cock with a griffin-like head, and a peacock set within foliage and amphora. Both originate from Salerno, where they were said to have been built into masonry of a church. They were reused at a later date, and cut into their present forms. While their original function is unknown, they may have been part of a chancel screen, a low wall in front of the sanctuary of a church. The exotic and orientalizing birds reflect the rich interchange of design motifs between the Islamic, Sassanian, Byzantine, and south Italian cultures in the century 1000.
