CrimeaPRESS reports:
On International Bird Day, an exhibition of one object, “Symbol of Immortality,” opened in the building of the Byzantine exposition of the museum-reserve. It shows a 13th century bowl. with an image of a peacock from excavations of the residential estate of Tauride Chersonesus.
The bowl is made of red clay, has a ring tray and a vertical rim. On the glazed inner surface you can see a peacock painted with fine engraved lines, highlighted with green and brown paint. It was not by chance that the peacock was depicted on the bowl: it had a symbolic meaning in both ancient and Christian art. In antiquity, this bird was an attribute of Hera (Juno), the wife of the supreme god of Olympus Zeus (Jupiter). In ancient Rome, the peacock was also the personal emblem of the empress and her daughters.
In Christianity, the peacock was considered a positive symbol. His luxurious tail, painted in all sorts of colors, was perceived as a universal sign of the unity of Being. In the ideas of the ancients, the meat of this bird was incorruptible, and in Christian culture it became a symbol of immortality and the Resurrection of Christ. Images of peacocks drinking from a cup were perceived as a sign of spiritual rebirth; peacocks carrying a garland symbolized victory over death. The image of this bird is repeatedly found among the monuments of Chersonesos, including in the paintings of crypts, on the mosaic floors of temples and on products made of glazed ceramics, one of which is presented at the capsule exhibition, — noted in the press service of the museum-reserve.
You can see a unique artifact — a bowl with an image of a peacock — in the Byzantine exposition of the museum-reserve from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 17:00, admission is free. The exhibition “Symbol of Immortality” is open until April 28.
source: Public Relations Department of the State Museum-Reserve «Chersonese Tauride»
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