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Summary:
The cathedral treasures of Chur contain a silk fabric
made in Syria around 800, which shows fighting pairs,
grouped in mirror symmetry around a lion rampant. This
scene is traditionally interpreted as an allegory of the
truimph of good over evil or as an illustration of David
or Samson battling the lion. However, such fabrics were
used only secondarily in a religious context, which
suggests an interpretation that is independent of
Judaic-Christian thought. Conquering the lion, a
Byzantine mataphor adopted from ancient oriental
tradition, stands for the King's or Emperor's ability to
protect his subjects from danger, the source of which -
in a pastoral society - came primarily from beasts of
prey. The ruler becomes the good shepherd. Surprisingly,
different interpretations therefore arrive at the same
conclusion, inasmuch as both David and Samson embody the
stout shepherd who protects his herd from evil in the
form of menacing wild animals. |
