medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Jim,
on most early crucifixion representations (the British Museum ivory
casket panel, the Sta Sabina panel, and let us not forget the somewhat
later - 580ish - Codex Rabbula) the _eyes of the Christ are open_ on the
cross. (I have just come across an Ottonian _Te igitur_ represenation
that retains this interesting iconography.)
The open eyes surely emphasize the divine nature.
So while I do agree that the Christological controversies had to do
something with the spread of the crucifixion scenes, I doubt that this
would have _in itself_ an anti-monophysite motivation. I would rather
suggest that these representations are more in tune with a dyophysite
theology (suffering human body - immortal divine nature), if we are
looking for motivations other than the orthodox. :)
Best,
George
Gyorgy Gereby
associate professor
Mediaeval Studies Department
Central European University
Budapest V.
Nador u. 9.
H-1051 Hungary
Email: [log in to unmask]
Skype: ggereby4
Phone/Fax/a.m.: + 36.1.34 12 634
Mobile: + 36.30.99 69 874
>>> jbugslag <[log in to unmask]> 08. 03. 28. 1:00 >>>
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
culture
John is certainly right about the Alexamenos image. As far as
ascertainable Christian usage
is concerned, the Crucifixion does not appear until the 5th century in
images like that on the
wooden doors of the Church of S. Sabina in Rome, and an ivory relief,
part of a Passion
narrative, in the British Museum. Before that, it was overwhelmingly
Christ's Resurrection
that was important, beginning in the early 3rd-century bapistery of the
house-church at Dura
Europos. An intermediary image, however, began to appear in the
4th-century on Christian
sarcophagi, in a limited sequence of Passion images, once again, but
instead of the actual
Crucifixion, what is shown is the cross, with a bust-length image of
Christ in a wreath or
clipeus, perched on top of the Cross, while soldiers sleep below it,
thus combining elements
of both the Crucifixion and Resurrection in a largely symbolic image
that undoubtedly
emphasizes, as does the Resurrection, Christ's victory over death,
rather than his death per
se. This combination continues in the 6th and 7th centuries, in images
of the Crucifixion
represented immediately above the Resurrection, as on the Holy Land
pilgrim ampullae in the
treasuries at Monza and Bobbio. I find it interesting that the
Crucifixion only begins to appear
on its own at a time of heated Christological debate over his dual
nature, when such heretical
splinter groups such as the Monophysites are denying Christ's human
nature. What better
way to stress that human nature than by showing him on the cross?
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
On 27 Mar 2008 at 9:30, John Dillon wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
> culture
>
> Pn Wednesday, March 26, 2008, at 5:37 pm, Tom Izbicki wrote:
>
> > The earliest Western depiction of the Crucixion is supposed to be -
> > yes I got that from Kenneth Clark's Civilization on TV the wooden
> > carving on the doors of Santa Sabina in Rome - early 5th century:
> >
> > http://www.bstorage.com/Rome/Sabina/
> >
> > It is unusual among the religious pictures of early date I have seen
> > on several trips to Rome. The cross appears, but not much in the
> > line of
> >
> > the Passion.
> >
>
> Perhaps Clark called the Santa Sabina image the earliest _certain_
> Western depiction of the Crucifixion or the earliest _reverent_
> Western depiction of the Crucifixion. But it has long been widely
> thought that the earliest surviving Western depiction of the
> Crucifixion is the probably third-century Alexamenos graffito
> discovered on the Palatine in Rome in 1857: http://tinyurl.com/2zrsmu
> Other illustrations and brief discussions are here:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexamenos_graffito and here:
> http://tinyurl.com/2yq95k
>
> There have been dissenters, of course, and other interpretations have
> been advanced from time to time. But these have failed to gain much
> acceptance. As far as I can determine, the _communis opinio_ among
> the learned remains that the figure worshiped by Alexamenos is a
> parodic representation of the crucified Christ. That was already the
> view transmitted by the (old) Catholic Encyclopedia at the beginning
> of the last century: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01793c.htm and it
> seems unlikely that Sir Kenneth (at the time of his writing he was not
> yet Lord Clark) or any careful scholar would have been unaware of it.
>
> For a contrary indication, see the blurb from Ashgate (a learned
> press) here: http://christianbookshops.org.uk/reviews/passioninart.htm
> I have not seen Harries' book. Perhaps someone who has a copy can say
> what his take is on the Alexamenos graffito.
>
> Best,
> John Dillon
>
> **********************************************************************
> To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
> to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it
> to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the
> message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order
> to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
> [log in to unmask] For further information,
> visit our web site:
> http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
>
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|