THE BELT OF BISHOP CAESARIUS OF ARLES. BETWEEN THE "THING" AND THE "SYMBOL"

Abstract

The article studies the question whether bishop Caesarius of Arles (503–542) could be the owner of a leather belt with an ivory buckle from the Museum of Antique Arles. The issue is the absence of narrative sources directly proving that idea. High price of the object did not match the bishop’s ascetic reputation. Still that did not preclude that someone from the closest circle of his associates or supporters could make that gift to Caesarius. The article studies the ornament of the movable ring of the buckle and the iconographic type of the plot of the Resurrection of Christ carved on its surface. Some parts of the belt, its decoration and manufacturing techniques find parallels with various artifacts (buckles, sarcophagi, diptychs) stored in other museums or discovered during archaeological excavations in Gaul. A review of the elements of the liturgical vestments of the clergy of Late Antiquity led to the conclusion that the belt could not have a liturgical status. On the basis of narrative sources related to the life and work of Caesarius, the author makes assumptions about the possible extra-liturgical contexts of wearing such a belt. The data presented in the study make it possible not only to attribute the belt to the period of bishop Caesarius’s life, but also to consider the latter as the most likely owner of the thing.