Download or read book The Apse the Image and the Icon written by Beat Brenk and published by Reichert Verlag. This book was released on 2010 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with the apse as a showcase for images in the early Christian and early Byzantine periods. Two opposed traditions, harking back to early imperial times, nourished the invention of the Christian apse image: on the one hand there were statues in apses of pagan temples and imperial cult rooms which were venerated during cult ceremonies, on the other hand, there were apse mosaics in nymphaea where aquatic myths and figures celebrated the amenities of water. Christian apse mosaics originated within this context and in spite of the Old Testament prohibition of the image. The functions and effects of apse mosaics in Christian cult rooms were explored step by step and invented afresh. The participants of this delicate process of Christian image inventions were not only ecclesiastical but also private patrons. Without any qualm, emperors and representatives of the ruling class decorated their mausolea (S. Costanza in Rome, S. Aquilino in Milan) and representational rooms in villas (Centcelles) with Christian images. Because of the Mosaic prohibition of images, the Church could not attribute to the image a biblically grounded role, it behaved cautiously towards the decoration of churches with images during the fourth century. Only during the fifth century did it relax, and start to invent high brow theological programs (S. Maria Maggiore in Rome), understandable only to few believers. Some bishops gave special treatment to the promotion of aniconic programs (Paulinus of Nola, baptistery of the Lateran in Rome, Casaranello, church of Paraskevi in Salonica). Others rejected images in churches categorically (Epiphanius of Salamis). The Church admitted images and programs representing and portrayed Jesus Christ as God and as a human being that private patrons and artists had invented together with theologians; it provoked thereby a conflict (never really argued out) between the pagan representation of gods and emperors and the representation of Christ whose image should never recall images of gods nor of emperors, though points of contact were unavoidable. Highly original creations of apse mosaics resulted from this fertile conflict that were never repeated. All early Christian apse mosaics are unprecedented, one of creations without any succession. Their treatment as iconographic types is a blind ally. The Church sat back and watched how mosaics and frescoes in apses of cult rooms generated very particular effects, evoking in the viewer respect, admiration, awe and maybe even veneration. The representation of the Virgin with the child in a large apse evoked something like visual worship. The capacity of the image to have an impact on the viewer could not be decreed by the Church, but this was an affair manifested more or less casually according to the inventive power of the artist. For several centuries, the Church was not in a situation to create an official image of Christ. It cared for having apse mosaics not being adored. But the Church could not prevent images from being adored by private persons and/or control private concerns, such as setting-up of ex votos, in official church apses (S. Venanzio in Rome). Private persons first launched the cult of the Virgin (sarcophagus of Adelphia, gold glass). From the sixth century on, images - apse-mosaics, frescoes and panel paintings - were installed for ''cult-propaganda'' (SS. Cosma e Damiano, Hag. Demetrius in Salonica). In some cases, perhaps, images promoted a devotion on the part of the private believers. This process was a novelty for the sixth century. But a real cult around an apse mosaic was never instituted, even though the altar for the celebration of the Mass was installed in the apse. The early Christian period had no interest in representing the sacrifice of the Mass in an apse mosaic. Official ecclesiastical prayers were not addressed to divine figures and saints represented in apse mosaics. Apse mosaics are never mentioned in liturgies. Apse mosaics are, therefore, a very specific species which developed in constant dialogue with other categories of images (icons, ex votos, memorial images), representing contemporaneously specific theological issues.
Download or read book The Apse Mosaic in Early Medieval Rome written by Erik Thunø and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-04-20 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on apse mosaics in Rome and engages topics including time, intercession, materiality, repetition, and vision.
Download or read book From Idols to Icons written by Robin M. Jensen and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2022-09-13 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "From Idols to Icons tells the fascinating history of the dramatic shift in Christian attitudes toward sacred images from the third through the early seventh century. From attacks on the cult images of polytheism to the emergence of Christian narrative iconography to the appearance of portrait type representations of holy figures, this book examines the primary theological critiques as well as defenses of holy images in light of the surviving material evidence for early Christian visual art. Against the assumption that fourth- and fifth-century Christians simply forgot or ignored their predecessors' censure and reverted to more alluring pagan practices, Robin M. Jensen contends that each stage of this profound change was uniquely Christian. Through a careful consideration of the cult of saints' remains, devotional portraits, and pilgrimage to sacred sites, Jensen shows how the Christian devotion to holy images came to be rooted in their evolving conviction that the divinity was accessible in and through visible objects. Even the briefest glance at a museum's holdings or an introductory textbook demonstrates how profoundly influential this belief would be on the course of Western art for the next fifteen hundred years"--
Download or read book Late Antique Portraits and Early Christian Icons written by Andrew Paterson and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-06-30 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the earliest surviving Christian icons, dated to the sixth and seventh centuries, which bear many resemblances to three other well-established genres of ‘sacred portrait’ also produced during late antiquity, namely Roman imperial portraiture, Graeco-Egyptian funerary portraiture and panel paintings depicting non-Christian deities. Andrew Paterson addresses two fundamental questions about devotional portraiture – both Christian and non-Christian – in the late antique period. Firstly, how did artists visualise and construct these images of divine or sanctified figures? And secondly, how did their intended viewers look at, respond to, and even interact with these images? Paterson argues that a key factor of many of these portrait images is the emphasis given to the depicted gaze, which invites an intensified form of personal encounter with the portrait’s subject. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, theology, religion and classical studies.
Download or read book Icons of Space written by Jelena Bogdanović and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-07-26 with total page 581 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Icons of Space: Advances in Hierotopy brings together important scholars of Byzantine religion, art, and architecture, to honour the work of renowned art historian Alexei Lidov. As well as his numerous publications, Lidov is well known for developing the concept of hierotopy, an innovative approach for studying the creation of sacred spaces. Hierotopy and the related concepts of ‘spatial icons’ and ‘image-paradigms’ emphasize fundamental questions about icons, including what defines them as structures, spaces, and experiences. Chapters in this volume engage with the overarching theme of icons of space by employing, contrasting, and complementing methods of hierotopy with more traditional approaches such as iconography. Examinations of icons have traditionally been positioned within strictly historical, theological, socio-economic, political, and art history domains, but this volume poses epistemological questions about the creation of sacred spaces that are instead inclusive of multi-layered iconic ideas and the lived experiences of the creators and beholders of such spaces. This book contributes to image theory and theories of architecture and sacred space. Simultaneously, it moves beyond colonial studies that predominantly focus on questions of religion and politics as expressions of privileged knowledge and power. This book will appeal to scholars and students of Byzantine history, as well as those interested in hierotopy and art history.
Download or read book Gospel Writing written by Francis Watson and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2013-05-26 with total page 680 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: That there are four canonical versions of the one gospel story is often seen as a problem for Christian faith: where gospels multiply, so too do apparent contradictions that may seem to undermine their truth claims. In Gospel Writing Francis Watson argues that differences and tensions between canonical gospels represent opportunities for theological reflection, not problems for apologetics. Watson presents the formation of the fourfold gospel as the defining moment in the reception of early gospel literature -- and also of Jesus himself as the subject matter of that literature. As the canonical division sets four gospel texts alongside one another, the canon also creates a new, complex, textual entity more than the sum of its parts. A canonical gospel can no longer be regarded as a definitive, self-sufficient account of its subject matter. It must play its part within an intricate fourfold polyphony, and its meaning and significance are thereby transformed. In elaborating these claims, Watson proposes nothing less than a new paradigm for gospel studies — one that engages fully with the available noncanonical material so as to illuminate the historical and theological significance of the canonical.
Download or read book The Early Middle Ages written by Franca Ela Consolino and published by SBL Press. This book was released on 2020-07-08 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examine the creative, profound dialogue between medieval women and biblical traditions The latest volume in the Bible and Women series examines the relationship between women and the Bible’s reception during the early Middle Ages (500–1100 CE) in both the Greek East and the Latin West. Essays focus on interactions between women and the Bible through biblical precepts on women and for women, biblical women as the subjects of action or objects of discussion, and writings by women that refer to the Bible as a moral authority. The women discussed in the volume range from the well-known—including the nuns Kassia in Byzantium and Hrosvita in the West; the aristocrat Dhuoda, author of a moral guide for her son; Gisela, the sister of Charlemagne and abbess of Chelles; and her niece Rotrude—to those who remain anonymous. Contributions also explore how the Old and New Testaments exercised influence on emerging Islam. Features: Analysis of images of the Virgin Mary as a means of tracing the spread of her cult and feast days from East to West Exploration of the significance of classical culture for medieval women who composed poems for a Christian audience Evaluation of art as a means of establishing devotional relationships not necessarily mediated by the voices of preachers or the reading of texts .
Download or read book Unrivalled Influence written by Judith Herrin and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-11 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the exceptional roles that women played in the vibrant cultural and political life of medieval Byzantium. Drawing on a diverse range of sources, this title focuses on the importance of marriage in imperial statecraft, the tense coexistence of empresses in the imperial court, and the critical relationships of mothers and daughters.
Download or read book The Ecumenical Work of the Icon written by Hilda Kleiman and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-09-27 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ecumenical Work of the Icon is an invitation to the students and faculties of Catholic seminaries to be a part of the tradition of the icon through the lens of ecumenis. With a view of ecumenism as lived in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions, the visual theological language of the icon may be engaged more fully and respectfully, thus enriching the theological education and future ministry of those who learn and teach in a Catholic setting. In the third portion of the book, readers are offered multiple practical pedagogical examples of how to integrate teaching and learning about the icon into seminary courses and beyond, including writing assignments, oral presentations, and hands-on activities.
Download or read book Likeness and Presence written by Hans Belting and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 692 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before the Renaissance and Reformation, holy images were treated not as "art" but as objects of veneration which possessed the tangible presence of the Holy. the faithful believed that these images served as relics and were able to work miracles, deliver oracles, and bring victory to the battlefield. In this magisterial book, Hans Belting traces the long history of the sacral image and its changing role--from surrogate for the represented image to an original work of art--in European culture. Likeness and Presence looks at the beliefs, superstitions, hopes, and fears that come into play as people handle and respond to sacred images, and presents a compelling interpretation of the place of the image in Western history. -- Back cover
Download or read book Iconotropy and Cult Images from the Ancient to Modern World written by Jorge Tomás García and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-04-06 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book examines the process of symbolic and material alteration of religious images in antiquity, the middle ages and the modern period. The process by which the form and meaning of images are modified and adapted for a new context is defined by a large number of spiritual, religious, artistic, geographical or historical circumstances. This book provides a defined theoretical framework for these symbolic and material alterations based on the concept of iconotropy; that is, the way in which images change and/or alter their meaning. Iconotropy is a key concept in religious history, particularly for periods in which religious changes, often turbulent, took place. In addition, the iconotropic process of appropriating cult images brought with it changes in the materiality of those images. Numerous accounts from antiquity, the middle ages and the modern period detail how cult images were involved in such processes of misinterpretation, both symbolically and materially. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, visual culture and religious history.
Download or read book Images of the Mother of God written by Maria Vassilaki and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-03-02 with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fully illustrated in colour and black and white, Images of the Mother of God complements the successful exhibition catalogue of the 'Mother of God' exhibition at the Benaki Museum in Athens. It brings together the work of leading international authorities and younger scholars to provide a wide-ranging survey of how the Theotokos was perceived in the Byzantine world. It embraces the disciplines of art historians, archaeologists, traditional and feminist historians, as well as theologians, philologists and social anthropologists. Images of the Mother of God will appeal not just to those interested in Byzantine art and culture, but also to scholars of Western Europe in the Middle Ages who are looking for comparative materials in their own work.
Download or read book Icons and Power written by Bissera V. Pentcheva and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pentcheva demonstrates that a fundamental shift in the Byzantine cult from relics to icons, took place during the late tenth century. Centered upon fundamental questions of art, religion, and politics, Icons and Power makes a vital contribution to the entire field of medieval studies.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Mary written by Chris Maunder and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-08-07 with total page 709 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Mary offers an interdisciplinary guide to Marian Studies, including chapters on textual, literary, and media analysis; theology; Church history; art history; studies on devotion in a variety of forms; cultural history; folk tradition; gender analysis; apparitions and apocalypticism. Featuring contributions from a distinguished group of international scholars, the Handbook looks at both Eastern and Western perspectives and attempts to correct imbalance in previous books on Mary towards the West. The volume also considers Mary in Islam and pilgrimages shared by Christian, Muslim, and Jewish adherents. While Mary can be a source of theological disagreement, this authoritative collection shows Mary's rich potential for inter-faith and inter-denominational dialogue and shared experience. It covers a diverse number of topics that show how Mary and Mariology are articulated within ecclesiastical contexts but also on their margins in popular devotion. Newly-commissioned essays describe some of the central ideas of Christian Marian thought, while also challenging popularly-held notions. This invaluable reference for students and scholars illustrates the current state of play in Marian Studies as it is done across the world.
Download or read book The Palgrave Handbook of Image Studies written by Krešimir Purgar and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-10-01 with total page 980 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook brings together the most current and hotly debated topics in studies about images today. In the first part, the book gives readers an historical overview and basic diacronical explanation of the term image, including the ways it has been used in different periods throughout history. In the second part, the fundamental concepts that have to be mastered should one wish to enter into the emerging field of Image Studies are explained. In the third part, readers will find analysis of the most common subjects and topics pertaining to images. In the fourth part, the book explains how existing disciplines relate to Image Studies and how this new scholarly field may be constructed using both old and new approaches and insights. The fifth chapter is dedicated to contemporary thinkers and is the first time that theses of the most prominent scholars of Image Studies are critically analyzed and presented in one place.
Download or read book Images Iconoclasm and the Carolingians written by Thomas F. X. Noble and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2012-02-25 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the year 726 C.E., the Byzantine emperor Leo III issued an edict declaring images to be idols, forbidden by Exodus, and ordering all such images in churches to be destroyed. Thus commenced the first wave of Byzantine iconoclasm, which ran its violent course until 787, when the underlying issues were temporarily resolved at the Second Council of Nicaea. In 815, a second great wave of iconoclasm was set off, only to end in 842 when the icons were restored to the churches of the East and the iconoclasts excommunicated. The iconoclast controversies have long been understood as marking major fissures between the Western and Eastern churches. Thomas F. X. Noble reveals that the lines of division were not so clear. It is traditionally maintained that the Carolingians in the 790s did not understand the basic issues involved in the Byzantine dispute. Noble contends that there was, in fact, a significant Carolingian controversy about visual art and, if its ties to Byzantine iconoclasm were tenuous, they were also complex and deeply rooted in central concerns of the Carolingian court. Furthermore, he asserts that the Carolingians made distinctive and original contributions to the whole debate over religious art. Images, Iconoclasm, and the Carolingians is the first book to provide a comprehensive study of the Western response to Byzantine iconoclasm. By comparing art-texts with laws, letters, poems, and other sources, Noble reveals the power and magnitude of the key discourses of the Carolingian world during its most dynamic and creative decades.
Download or read book Byzantine Art and Italian Panel Painting written by Jaroslav Folda and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-07-28 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jaroslav Folda traces the appropriation of the Byzantine Virgin and Child Hodegetria icon by thirteenth-century Crusader and central Italian painters and explores its transformation by the introduction of chrysography on the figure of the Virgin in the Crusader Levant and in Italy.
