Which regions/dynasties do the flags in this Fresco about Byzantine-Persian war represent?
score:2
I can offer a little insight into one of the symbols. The bird in the banner on the left is a goose.
The goose was symbolic to the Romans, dating to a legend concerning geese from a temple of Juno warning the besieged Romans on Capitoline hill of an impending assault on their position during the Battle of Allia, 390 BC. It represents the quality of vigilence, and is mentioned at times as the "Saviour of the Roman Army".This is referenced by the author of books concerning the painter as the "Capitoline Goose":
- Piero Della Francesca: San Francesco, Arezzo, by Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, 1994
- Piero della Francesca, Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, 2002
The goose reappears in similar form as part of the flag of a particular Contrade of Siena, the Oca contrade.
Remember, this work was done as a fresco to record the History of the True Cross, and covers the walls of the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo Italy. It was never meant to be a historically accurate reenactment of a battle. It was painted around 1452 concerning the Battle of Neneveh, which took place in 627, so knowledge of the particular elements of the forces under Heraclius would have been limited at best. Other elements of the painting do not accurately represent the history of the battle, the faces of the people surrounding Khosrau II are actually the faces of the benefactors of the church, the Bacci family, and the representation of the beheading of Khosrau II is inaccurate in itself, according to the wiki article on the battle:
Khosrau had already fled to the mountains of Susiana to try to rally support for the defense of Ctesiphon...The Persian army rebelled and overthrew Khosrau II, raising his son Kavadh II, also known as Siroes, in his stead. Khosrau perished in a dungeon after suffering for five days on bare sustenance—he was shot to death slowly with arrows on the fifth day.
So don't try too hard to glean historical information from a painting done 825 years after-the-fact.
Upvote:1
1) A black eagle on gold is usually used to represent the ancient Roman Empire in Medieval and Renaissance art — usually a two-headed eagle. Starting in the late 1200s heraldic works claimed that the Holy Roman Emperor used a black two-headed eagle on gold and the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Emperor used a gold two-headed eagle on red. But I have seen other images of Heraclius using a black eagle on gold.
2) Lions were and are very common in coats-of-arms. A gold lion rampant on a red field is the coat-of-arms of Bulgaria today, as well as being attributed to Macedonia. A single gold lion on red, but passant, is attributed to the Duke of Aquitaine. Many other coats-of-arms were attributed to Macedonia and Alexander the Great, not just a gold lion on red.
It is possible that the gold lion on red was the coat of arms of some contemporary Italian lord put in the painting for some reason.
A gold lion on red, or a red lion on gold, was used as the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia. Heraclius did recruit Armenian allies and attacked Persia through (Greater) Armenia.
3) The black head on white was the coat of arms of Corsica, a region near Italy where an Italian dialect was spoken. But it was a Moor's head, used to represent all kinds of Africans, black people, Arabs, Turks, and Muslims. Thus it might also be used to represent non-Christian Persians. So maybe Piero della Francesca used it as Chosroes's flag. It would be interesting to know the various coats of arms of ancient Persia used in various paintings and illustrations.
3b) What about the blue and gold flag? What was its design and was it supposed to some kind of Persian flag?
4) Yes a white cross on red was the coat of arms and banner of the Count and later Duke of Savoy. But the Count of Savoy might have copied it from his overlord. One flag used by the Holy Roman Empire was allegedly a white cross on red. It is possible that the Emperor's vassals such as the King of Denmark and the Count of Savoy copied it to show their loyalty. And it is also claimed that some Ghibelline cities in Italy used a white cross on red as their coat of arms while many Guelph cities used a red cross on white as their coat-of-arms. Pavia, Novaro, Como, Treviso, and Asti are Ghibeline cities with white crosses on red.
Piero della Francesca was probably familiar with the coats-of-arms of several Italian cities and may have used a red flag with a white cross to symbolize a particular Italian city for some reason. Or maybe to symbolize Christendom — presumably the use of such a flag by the Emperor was to symbolize overlordship of Christendom.
5) To me the "white swan on black" looks like "a pelican in it's piety" a bizzare looking pelican wounding it's breast to feed its young on drops of its blood. The white bird on green looks to me like its legs are a bit too long to be a duck.
I hope my comments are of some use in understanding the problems of identifying the flags correctly.
More post
- 📝 What did 19th century playgrounds look like?
- 📝 What is the origin of the "Bigot" clearance used by the Allies in World War II?
- 📝 How did destroyers protecting convoys operate in bad weather during WWII?
- 📝 Were there any Jewish members of the Roman Senate?
- 📝 How would the Germans have sent the Zimmerman telegraph if the German-American telegraph line was cut?
- 📝 Did any Chinese warlord claim the mantle of the Beiyang government after 1928?
- 📝 Why were monasteries built in obscure places around Ireland?
- 📝 Why didn't USSR "bust a move" to veto the Korean War?
- 📝 Can it be claimed there were Bulgarians in the Balkans before 681 AD?
- 📝 Why did European countries become more economically advanced than non European countries?
- 📝 Is there any evidence to support the claim that the United States was "suckered into WW1" by Zionists, made by Benjamin Freedman in his 1961 speech?
- 📝 Flag flying dynamics
- 📝 Why is Napoleon III seen as a bad leader?
- 📝 Why are lower court jurists, judges, and supreme court jurists, justices?
- 📝 Was John S. Mosby the model/motivation/template for John Carter?
- 📝 Al Khazneh in Petra: is it fake?
- 📝 What Roman legions were present in London (UK)?
- 📝 What was the origin of religious tolerance in Europe?
- 📝 Was the M4 Sherman used frequently in artillery capacity?
- 📝 How was ownership of property managed during the Black Death, when so many original owners had died?
- 📝 How can I find the most complete list of the names of Kaytn Massacre victims?
- 📝 What German torpedo problem was discovered in 1942?
- 📝 Why wasn't the DeLorean DMC-12 popular on the market?
- 📝 What does the first Versal in Book of Kells refer to?
- 📝 Why was Madagascar settled by far-flung Austronesian seafarers?
- 📝 What was the process to join the army in WW2 England?
- 📝 Have atheists ever been persecuted in India?
- 📝 Is this tale of WW2 true?
- 📝 Help identifying image of winged robed figure and young man
- 📝 What is the difference between annexing, occupying and taking over a country?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Which regions/dynasties do the flags in this Fresco about Byzantine-Persian war represent?
- 📝 What did Germany do in World War II about the different rail gauge in the Soviet Union?
- 📝 Which was the last major war in which horse mounted cavalry actually participated in active fighting?
- 📝 Which was the first war in which photography was employed?
- 📝 Colonisation of India: Which regions of the United Kingdom did colonial personnel come from?
- 📝 What were the thoughts of the Celts, Romans and other ancient European people about the standing stones which survive from prehistoric times?
- 📝 Which Scottish regiment is the Queen inspecting in this photo?
- 📝 What is the source of this quote about Demosthenes by Philip II of Macedon?
- 📝 Which Muslim factions during the Crusade used the crescent in their flags or banners?
- 📝 Which company offered this aircraft interior in the 60s?
- 📝 Why did antique guns and swords from the Franco-Prussian War make part of the demilitarization program to which Germany was subjected?
- 📝 Where can I find documents from the Nuremberg trials about war crimes of the Wehrmacht in the Soviet Union?
- 📝 What did the Jews during the First Jewish-Roman War know about other anti-Roman revolts?
- 📝 What are the flags in this Yellow Peril Cartoon from Italy?
- 📝 Which early Imperial Roman writer said this about grains?
- 📝 Is this anecdote about use of poison in guerrilla war mentioned by Schopenhauer based on facts?
- 📝 Which German cities does this article in The Economist allege that Britain destroyed?
- 📝 What is the name of this song about taking Cherokee land?
- 📝 How do I learn more about untitled artworks on the internet? (like this specific Basquiat painting)
- 📝 Why is this hat identified as the Byzantine Imperial kamelaukion?
- 📝 Which American Civil War admiral said he would not punish people for getting their ship close to the enemy?
- 📝 What capabilities did Southern soldiers in the American Civil War have to get news about the North?
- 📝 Why were countries which were clearly aligned to one of the two power blocs during cold war a part of the non-aligned movement?
- 📝 Given the concern about Soviet oil in World War II, why is so little mention made of captured Soviet coal reserves?
- 📝 Where did this claim about the Egpytian Theban army come from?
- 📝 Autobiographical books about the Atlantic war for WWII from the allied perspective
- 📝 What is the source for this story about Plato expelling a student?
- 📝 Which was the last war in which swords were used?
- 📝 Is this story about the Tsar's encounter with a sergeant true?
- 📝 Was this anecdote about the bad effects of military secrecy told by Colin Powell?