https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110546842-005 Bente Kiilerich 4 Abstraction in Late Antique Art In the cupola mosaics at Centcelles in north-eastern Spain, non-figurative imagery plays an important role in framing representational scenes. In Galla Placidia’s mau- soleum at Ravenna, abstractions are even more dominant, with one particularly striking perspectival meander being wholly in the Hellenistic tradition. The dense mosaic weave of the neighbouring church of San Vitale presents a multitude of col- ourful, non-figurative images, some of which are quite complex abstractions. Such imagery warrants closer study. Unfortunately, the appreciation and understanding of non-figurative images as significant visual manifestations in late antique art is ham- pered by the fact that images are generally categorised according to a hierarchical system that treats figuration as primary. Moreover, since frames and borders are often perceived as parergonal or secondary – a notion that dates back at least to Kant – non-figurative images with a framing function tend to be seen as secondary to the figurative scenes they frame.1 Contrary to this view, I argue here that abstract images in sacred contexts are important in their own right. Methodological questions Depending on which encyclopaedia or dictionary one consults, various definitions of the concept of abstraction can be found. A common definition of abstract art is: “art unconcerned with the literal depiction of things from the visible world” (Encyclopaedia Britannica). However, it can also be an image “which has been distilled from the real world”. Continuing along this line, the abstract form can be claimed to “reshape the natural world”, or “reduce the form”.2 Visual abstraction is chiefly associated with modern art from the late 19th/early 20th century onwards.3 Still, abstraction is also found to varying degree in antiquity. Indeed, a remarkable example of purely non-figurative art is a 9th-century BCE floor mosaic from the royal palace of Gordion in Phrygia.4 Set in black, white, red and yellow pebbles in various configurations, this composition – which at first glance might be mistaken for a 20th-century artwork – resists any attempt at description. There being no recognizable features, the complex 1 Kiilerich (2001a); Kiilerich (2001b). In the present article I do not distinguish between the adjectives abstract, non-figurative and non-representational. 2 For discussions of the concept of abstraction in relation to the visual arts, see e.g., Arnheim (1947); Langer (195); Gortais (2003); Zimmer (2003). 3 For abstraction in the visual arts as a modern “invention”, see the MoMA exhibition Inventing Abstraction 1910–1925, 23. December 2012 – 15. April 2013. 4 Young (1957); Trilling (2001) fig. 36; Assimakopoulou-Atzaka (2003) fig. 2 on p. 12. Brought to you by | Universitetsbiblioteket i Bergen Authenticated | bente.kiilerich@uib.no author's copy Download Date | 1/15/19 12:27 PM