Entre le griffon et le monstre marin, entre le kētos et le sēnmurv. Réflexions sur les créatures hybrides du chancel de Santa Maria Assunta d’Aquilée (ix e siècle)

The sculpted decoration on the chancel slabs of the church of Santa Maria Assunta in Aquileia depicts a harmonious universe that channels matter in the process of transformation, like the spiritualization of the caro through the sacraments. The various elements that make up this universe are linked together to emphasize the coherence of Creation. In this constructed space, the boundaries between plant, mineral, animal and ornamental dissolve and merge, as does the distinction between known and imaginary animals. On one of the chancel slabs, two creatures are depicted with characteristics of terrestrial, celestial and aquatic animal species. They drink from the Fountain-Tree of Life, making a link between here below and hereafter and bringing hope of salvation. Facing each other, they oppose each other to obstruct the passage of the faithful, reinforcing the separating function of the chancel, marking the frontier between the nave and the choir, between the laity and the clerics. Presented on a vertical support facing the faithful, these composite beings help to bring man closer to God, inviting him to be one with Christ through communion, to give himself, body and soul, to the Church. Based on order, diversity and moderation, this rhythmic pictorial universe invites us to go beyond the limits of the visible, the sensible, the material, to move away from the opposition of similarity/dissimilarity and to advance towards the invisible, the intelligible and the immaterial.