282 General Discussion of the Crosses 



interested in the monument and its purposes. ^ It might occur to 

 some one to attribute the figure to a later date than the rest of the 

 cross ; but against this it may be observed (1) that no part of the 

 monument is more weathered and defaced than this ; (2) that the 

 curved head of the niche resembles that over the figure of Christ, 

 on the same face ; (3) and that a ruler of later date would hardly have 

 ventured to incur the reproach of thus desecrating the monument, 

 whereas a beneficent and trusted leader, high in favor with the monks 

 and clergy, might have been pardoned for allowing himself to be 

 portrayed on a monument erected by his orders or under his patronage. 

 A kind of parallel to such a representation of a historical personage 

 may possibly be found in a relief wrought by the sculptor Nicholas 

 (see pp. 50-51, 144) at the right of the central door of San Zeno at 

 Verona. This represents a horseman, with a quiver at his back, and 

 his cloak blowing in the wind, pursuing a stag which his dog has over- 

 taken. The horseman, depicted in the act of blowing a horn, has 

 been identified with the semi-mythical King Theodoric.^ At the 

 left of the doorway are panels containing the Annunciation, the 

 Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, the Flight into Egypt, the Kiss 

 of Judas, the Adoration of the Shepherds, Herod, the Purification, 



^ An argument against this view might perhaps be drawn from the 

 falconer on horseback, with a hawk on his left wrist, on the tympanum 

 of the 12th century church of Parthenay-le-Vieux (Deux-Sevres), north 

 portal, west front (Baum, Romanesque Arch, in France, p. 44). Cf. p. 67, 

 above, note 1. 



2 Venturi 3. 192-4 ; Michel, Hist, de VArt l^. 698-9. Anderson [Scotland 

 in Early Christian Times, p. 166) refers to this scene, but adds : ' We find 

 the chase of the stag included among the subjects from Scripture which are 

 considered suitable for the symbohc decoration of the portal of a church.' 

 Again {ibid., note 1): ' This is not a solitary instance. A stag, chased by 

 two dogs, followed by a man blowing a horn, is carved in wood on the door 

 of the Church of Rogslosa in Sweden. It is a common subject in mosaic, 

 as at Cremona, Djemila, Carthage, and Sour.' ' The stag (p. 165) became 

 part of a traditional allegory which represented the soul driven to take refuge 

 in the bosom of the Church.' However this may be, mythical heroes are 

 sometimes found in church -sculpture of the 12th century. Thus Arthur 

 and other heroes of his cycle, recognizable by inscriptions, occur on the 

 archivolt of the Peschiera doorway of the Cathedral of Modena (Venturi 

 3. 164 ; Michel 1^ 698), while on the portal of San Zeno of Verona, Nicholas 

 (see p. 144) represented Roland, with his sword inscribed Durindarda, and 

 Oliver opposite (Venturi 3. 196 ; Michel 1^. 698). Even two episodes of the 

 Roman de lienard occur on the lintel of the doorway of the cathedral of 

 Modena (Michel P. 698). 



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