The Trifora of the Lebanese House (II)

This article was originally published in French by Ici Beyrouth on April 2, 2022. The original can be found here. Part I here

By Dr. Amine Jules Iskandar Syriac Maronite Union-Tur Levnon

The lily flower

The decorative theme most linked to the Trifora of Lebanese houses is without any doubt the hanging or standing lily flower. It adorns the arcades, sometimes even the capitals of so many of sacred and profane buildings found throughout all of Lebanon. If not incorporated in the stone section of the arcades, it is repeated tirelessly in the Gothic-inspired woodwork typical of Lebanese architecture. It survived in the joinery until the beginning of the twentieth century after which it faded away into the undulations of Art Nouveau, and later into the simplification of Art Deco. If the Trifora, or triple bay, with its three arcades, embodies “the unique light of the Holy Trinity”, it is worth exploring the deeper meaning of its typical lily flower.

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The Armenian Gorzi Carpet

The standing lily flower is featured on the frame of an Armenian carpet in the Berlin Museum. It is known as the Gorzi Carpet and of great importance for the interpretation of the elements of Lebanese architecture since it constitutes a synthesis of the gate of Paradise symbolized by the triple bay of the Trinity.

This rug has a band of lilies and an Armenian inscription that places it in the year 1651 and which is made in dedication of Saint Hripsimé. It contains not only the arches and the lilies, but also the written proof of its Christian and sacred affiliation. For writer Volkmar Gantzhorn, who is interested in the identity and meaning of this motif, “it is clearly a question of lilies of the species Lilium Candidum, the white lily, a flower cultivated since antiquity and of Lebanese origin. It is a symbol of divine grace, and, in this case, it represents the grace of God at the Last Judgment”. It seems to have held as prominent a place as the Cedrus Libani in the Canaanite and later in the Christian repertoire.

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The Gorzi Carpet has three arcades carried by a system of twin columns. According to Jules Leroy, this typical doubling of the columns, like the triple bays of Syriac manuscripts, is a symbolic evocation of perspective. It is therefore the representation of a church with three naves representing none other than the door to Paradise. This door is adorned with lilies, the symbol flower of divine grace. Volkmar Gantzhorn summarizes the message of this Gorzi Carpet as follows: “The church is the door to the hereafter and to Paradise. It is reached through the triumphal arch of faith with the help of God’s grace at the Last Judgement.”

Amshit Palace

A palace in Amshit brings together all these components in one. Here, the architect has reproduced in a very particular way the symbolic techniques of two-dimensional representations, characteristic of manuscripts and carpets, in a three-dimensional architectural art. He doubled the columns of the Trifora, clearly drawing inspiration from the motifs of iconographic painting. He also enriched the three arcades with a series of lily flowers. The facade of this palace thus presents the Trifora in the full glory of its soteriological message, i.e., the theology of salvation: because the doubled columns are those of the nave of the church, the door to the hereafter. The triple bay is the light of the Holy Trinity that leads to Paradise. And the lily flower represents the divine grace that makes us worthy of entry to the hereafter.