GESTI. — For determining ancient Christian iconographic scenes, the interpretation of gestures is of great importance; Cicero defined them as “the eloquence of the body” (cf. Quintilian, Instit., 11, 3, 1).
The Christian, as Tertullian teaches, prayed standing, in a humble and modest posture, holding his hands raised and spreading them apart in remembrance of the Lord’s Passion (De oratore, 14, 17). Origen recommended keeping the eyes raised upward (De oratore, 31: PG 11, 549). The gesture of teaching or praelgere was that of a seated figure with an open scroll, surrounded by an audience (Suetonius, De gramm., 16); it is the gesture made by the Lord among the Apostolic College, both in cemetery paintings and on sarcophagi (e.g., in Wilpert, Sarcofagi, pl. 1, 1).
In ancient iconography, one of the most important gestures is that of the imposition of hands, which may be employed for the rite of blessing, as, for example, when Noah blesses his sons, Isaac blesses Jacob, etc.; to confer supernatural gifts, as in the creation of man (Wilpert, Sarcofagi, pls. 96, 208, 10), in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (id., Pitture, pl. 39, 2; id., Sarcofagi, pls. 1; 2; 11, 2; 65, 5), and in the Old Testament for the judgment of Susanna (id., Pitture, pl. 14; id., Sarcofagi, pl. 196, 1).
This gesture is very frequent in scenes of healing, for example, of the paralytic (id., Pitture, pl. 212; id., Sarcofagi, pl. 229, 1), of the blind (id., Pitture, pl. 129, 2; id., Sarcofagi, pls. 143, 2; 227, 2; 230, 3), of the leper (id., Sarcofagi, pl. 220, 1), of the hemorrhaging woman (id., Pitture, pls. 20, 98, 130; id., Sarcofagi, pls. 39, 1; 99, 1; 123, 2), and of the possessed man (in a diptych in the Louvre, cf. H. Peirce - R. Taylor, L'art byzantin, I, Paris 1933, pl. 97).
The gesture of acclamation (as in the scene of the liberalitas Augusti on the triumphal arch of Constantine) is performed by the Apostles near the crua tivizita on sarcophagi, or by Peter and Paul on the triumphal arch of S. Maria Maggiore, beside the insignia Christi, or also in cemetery paintings (Wilpert, Pitture, pl. 252).
A sacred object was received with veiled hands (G. B. De Rossi, in Bull. arch. crist., 4th series, 5 [1887], pl. 7). The oratorical gesture was the same as that in classical art, of which Quintilian (Instit., 11, 3, 119) and Apuleius (Metam., 2, 21) speak. The orator was represented holding the two last fingers of the right hand closed, extending the others, and in some cases with the thumb pointing downward (Quintilian, Instit., 11, 3, 119; Apuleius, Metam., 2, 21).
At times there is the gesture of supplication, of pros ratio, as in certain cemetery paintings (Wilpert, Pitture, pl. 74, 2; cf. E. Josi, Corneterium majus. Di un arcosolio con nuove pitture, in Riv. di arch. crist., 10 [1933], p. 12, fig. 6), and on sarcophagi where the two spouses are prostrate at the Lord’s feet. There is also the gesture of invitation, for example, on a sarcophagus where the shepherd caresses the sheep (Wilpert, Sarcofagi, pl. 82, 4); the shepherd’s gesture of threat (ibid., pl. 48, 2-4); the gesture of terror made by the frightened sailors when the prophet Jonah is swallowed by the monster (Wilpert, Sarcofagi, pl. 202); the gesture of grief was represented by the right hand beneath the chin (Cyprian, Ep., 11, 4), and Jonah is often found in this posture in cemetery paintings (Wilpert, Pitture, pls. 96, 100).
There is also the apotropaic gesture against the evil eye, made by Pilate (Wilpert, Sarcofagi, pl. 13, p. 318). - Vedi tav. XVII.