medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> Does anyone know if there is a study of the Ascension of Jesus in medieval
> art?
Steven,
Besides the basic study of Gertrud Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art, vol. II, you
might look at Robert Deshman, "Another Look at the Disappearing Christ: Corporeal
and Spiritual Vision in Early Medieval Images," Art Bulletin, vol. 79 (1997), 518-46.
Is there a study of the ascension of saints after death in medieval
> art? What is the connection between resurrection and ascension in the after
> death experience of the saints?
Much of the literature on this revolves around the concept of the "beatific vision", on
which there is some discussion (see index) in Paul Binski, Medieval Death (Cornell
UP, 1996)
The reason why I ask is that I am working on
> the ascension of Muhammad (or I should say, the disproving of his ascension
> after death) in medieval Christian polemical literature.
You might want to consider the literature on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
One theory about the rather mysterious "rock" around which the building was
erected is that it represents the place of Muhammed's ascent. Jerusalem was also
apparently littered with rocks impressed with Christ's footprints from his various
theophanies, including the Ascension, and there were claims of similar relics
existing in Europe (e.g. Westminster Abbey claimed to possess a rock marked with
Christ's footprints from the Ascension; the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople also
claimed such footprints). There was apparently something of a "politics" of
ascending footprints in the Holy City.
I am working on the
> theory that because of the ascension of Jesus and the saints (especially
> Francis of Assisi as depicted in two ascension scenes after his death in the
> upper Basilica in Assisi) there is no way that medieval Christian writers
> would allow the possibility of Muhammad's ascent (mir'aj) during his life
> and especially after death (Christian polemical writers claimed that
> Muhammad was to ascend to heaven three days after his death).
In the Campo Santo in Pisa, there is a early to mid-14th-century fresco of the Last
Judgement that depicts Muhammed in hell: see Joseph Polzer, "Aristotle,
Mohammed, and Nicholas V in Hell," Art Bulletin, vol. 46 (1964), 547-63.
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
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