Christ treading on the beasts

Mosaic in the Archbishop's Chapel, Ravenna, 6th century
A coin of Constantine (c.337) showing a depiction of his labarum spearing a serpent.
Ivory from Genoels-Elderen, with four beasts; the basilisk was sometimes depicted as a bird with a long smooth tail.[1]

Christ treading on the beasts is a subject found in Late Antique and Early Medieval art, though it is never common. It is a variant of the "Christ in Triumph" subject of the resurrected Christ,[2] and shows a standing Christ with his feet on animals, often holding a cross-staff which may have a spear-head at the bottom of its shaft, or a staff or spear with a cross-motif on a pennon. Some art historians argue that the subject exists in an even rarer pacific form as "Christ recognised by the beasts".

  1. ^ A clearer image of this depiction by Wenceslas Hollar is here
  2. ^ Schiller, I,29