10 - VENETIAN-BYZANTINE ART, 12th century

VENETIAN-BYZANTINE ART, 12th century Panel decorated with the Tree of Life and facing birds Rectangular panel made of travertine limestone, finely carved in bas-relief with a symmetrical design. Dimensions: 42.8 x 57.5 x 5.8 cm In the center is a fluted vase from which emerges a stylized tree whose foliage unfolds in volutes on either side of the composition. The foliage, rendered in superimposed registers, winds into facing scrolls forming circular medallions. Within these spaces and along the foliage are facing birds (peacocks) with bodies carved in shallow relief, pecking at clusters of grapes carved in high relief and alternating with stylized vine leaves. The entire composition is enclosed within a molded frame with a double fillet. This type of composition, organized around the Tree of Life motif flanked by facing animals, has its origins in the Sassanid and Byzantine ornamental repertoire, which spread throughout Northern Italy and the Adriatic region as early as the Early Middle Ages. The flat, graphic treatment of the decoration, the use of a trepan to emphasize the contours, as well as the preference for vegetal interlacing populated by birds, are characteristic of 11th- and 12th-century Venetian-Byzantine sculpture, which is found in particular on pulpit parapets, chancel plaques, and liturgical furnishings. Another example similar to ours can be found in Venice, on Torcello, at the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. Provenance: Pierre Bergé Auction, Paris, June 2021, lot 3.