medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Today (24. December), the Vigil of the Nativity, is the feast day of:

All the holy ancestors of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham, son of Adam, that is, the Fathers who were pleasing unto God, who were found just and who died according to the faith, and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh...

That's my translation of the bulk of the first elogium for today in the new RM (2001), where previously one found an entry for the Vigil of the Nativity.  Some might think that this elogium's use of exclusively masculine-gendered terminology to refer to those from whom Christ was born according to the flesh signals either an unusually weak grasp of human reproductive biology or else a studied relegation of women to a position of inferiority.  Perhaps to counter such impressions, Roman Catholic dioceses in Italy and elsewhere follow tradition in calling this feast a Memorial of Saints Adam and Eve and of all the holy ancestors of Jesus Christ ('Santi Adamo e Eva e tutti i santi antenati di Gesù Cristo'), sometimes shortened on diocesan websites to just 'Adamo e Eva' (vel sim.).

With that in mind, herewith some late antique and medieval images of Adam and Eve:

Paintings in Roman catacombs:
http://tinyurl.com/9yjhrn
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adam_&_Eve_02.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/yhpnke

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (Museo storico del Tesoro della Basilica di San Pietro; fourth-century), A. and E. second from left, lower register:
http://tinyurl.com/yaahak
Detail view (A. and E.):
http://tinyurl.com/2ftl7a3

Sarcophagus of Lot (Catacombe di San Sebastiano; fourth-century), detail:
http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/catacombs/adam.html

Molded brick (sixth-century), formerly at the église Saint-Martin, Vertou (Loire-Atlantique), now in the Musée départemental Dobrée in Nantes:
http://tinyurl.com/2dokkgo

Manuscript illumination (sixth- or seventh-century), Ashburnham Pentateuch (Paris, BnF, ms. Nouvelle acquisition latine 2334, fol. 6r):
http://tinyurl.com/ybk8szk

Manuscript illumination (earlier ninth-century), Moutier-Grandval Bible (London, British Library, MS Addit. 10546, fol. 5v):
http://tinyurl.com/2b6stoj

Reliefs (early tenth-century), north facade, church of the Holy Cross, Akdamar (Aghtamar, Akhtamar) Island in Lake Van (Van province) in eastern Anatolia:
http://tinyurl.com/3ymmxd
http://tinyurl.com/yq7xut
There's an illustrated, English-language account of this structure here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akdamar_Island

Relief, Muiredach('s) Cross (tenth-century), St. Buithín’s monastery, Monasterboice (Co. Louth):
Lowest panel above the base (A. and E. at left, followed by Cain and Abel):
http://tinyurl.com/8fpgam
Detail:
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/muiredach/eastfallabel.jpg

Manuscript illumination (ca. 950-955), Escorial Beatus (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Biblioteca del Real Monasterio, Cod. & II. 5, fol. 18r):
http://tinyurl.com/2tjumn

Capital relief (tenth-century), basilica di San Zeno, Verona:
http://www.thais.it/scultura/sch00449.htm

Ivory panels (Byzantine; tenth- or eleventh-century), now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York:
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/byzantinegalleries/10.L.htm

Bronze plaques (ca. 1015), "Bernward's Door", Dom St. Mariä Himmelfahrt, Hildesheim:
http://tinyurl.com/2q72m2

Mosaic (earlier eleventh-century; restored between 1953 and 1962) of the Anastasis in the narthex of the katholikon of Hosios Loukas near Distomo in Phokis:
http://tinyurl.com/2bn6m5z
http://tinyurl.com/y8wg4a3

Mosaic (mid eleventh-century) of the Anastasis in the katholikon of the Nea Moni on Chios:
http://tinyurl.com/2akm4zb
Detail (A. and E.):
http://tinyurl.com/29zmpkn

Manuscript illumination (mid-eleventh-century), Winchester Psalter (London, British Library, Cotton MS Nero C IV, fol. 24r):
http://tinyurl.com/yzbj5wk

BnF, ms. Latin 6 (1), fol. 6r):
http://tinyurl.com/yjok7y2

Facade reliefs (Wiligelmus; 1099-1106), cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, Modena:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23885476@N00/180823556/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23885476@N00/180823558/
http://www.wga.hu/art/w/wiligelm/modena3.jpg
http://www.wga.hu/art/w/wiligelm/modena4.jpg
Detail views:
http://www.scenaillustrata.com/public/IMG/jpg/fig07.jpg
http://www.bramarte.it/romanico/img/scu1.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/yk6co5
http://www.bramarte.it/romanico/img/scu2.jpg

Capital (ca. 1100), iglesia de San Martín, Frómista (Palencia):
http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/artesp/obras/20484.htm
http://tinyurl.com/ylzsqpj

Choir capital (late eleventh- or early twelfth-century; restored), abbatiale de Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire (Loiret), a.k.a. Fleury:
http://tinyurl.com/2jamqe
http://www.art-roman.net/stbenoit/stbenoit62x.jpg

Ambulatory capital (late eleventh- or twelfth-century; an interesting term for an apparently stationary object -- do ambulatory capitals walk about at night when no one is looking?  But there are also ambulatory chapels and even flying buttresses), abbatiale Saint-Pierre, Airvault  (Deux-Sèvres).  Several views here (scroll down to "Les chapiteaux du choeur"):
http://tinyurl.com/yuylgo
Vault bosses in the same church (early thirteenth-century):
http://tinyurl.com/ypao3u

Manuscript illumination (eleventh- or twelfth-century) in an homiliary of north Italian origin (Paris, BnF, ms. Latin 792, fol. 72r):
http://tinyurl.com/yal46ck

Manuscript illumination (late eleventh- or early twelfth-century) in an illustrated  Bible (Genoa, Biblioteca civica Berio m.r. Cf 3.7, c. 4v):
http://tinyurl.com/28hdab

Fresco (early twelfth-century) from the iglesia de la Vera Cruz, Maderuelo (Segovia), now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid:
http://tinyurl.com/2mjard
Detail view:
http://www.romanicoaragones.com/MAN/MPrado%20G09.jpg

Lintel fragment (Gislebertus, attrib.; ca. 1125) from the north portal, cathédrale Saint-Lazare, Autun, now in the adjacent Musée Rolin:
http://tinyurl.com/2j9eju

Manuscript illumination (earlier twelfth-century), St Albans Psalter, (Hildesheim, Dombibliothek, MS St. Godehard I):
http://tinyurl.com/2a7v65

Manuscript illuminations (earlier twelfth-century) in a copy of Jacob of Coccinobaphi, _Orationes encomiasticae in SS. Virginem Deiparam_ (Paris, BnF, ms. Grec 1208, fols. 47r, 49v):
http://tinyurl.com/yfh7o64
http://tinyurl.com/yhv5lvx

Facade reliefs (Maestro Niccolò; 1138), San Zeno Maggiore, Verona (scroll down to "Creazione di Adamo"; 3 reliefs):
http://www.arte-argomenti.org/saggi/nicolo.html

Capital (twelfth-century), église de Notre-Dame, Chauvigny (Vienne):
http://tinyurl.com/38zc4g

Capitals (twelfth-century), collégiale de Saint-Pierre et Saint-Gaudens, Saint-Gaudens (Haute-Garonne):
http://tinyurl.com/28s53f

Cloister capitals (mid twelfth-century), monasterio de Santa María de Estíbaliz (Álava):
http://tinyurl.com/2afyan

Mosaic floor (1163-65), cattedrale della Santissima Assunta, Otranto, details:
http://www.stilearte.it/fileup/riviste_upspace/3otranto.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/29ys825

Glass window (late twelfth-century), cathedral and metropolitical church of Christ, Canterbury:
http://tinyurl.com/ye7zspd
Other Ancestors of Christ from the same program:
http://tinyurl.com/yaa8zk7

Mosaics (later twelfth-century), cattedrale di Santa Maria la Nuova, Monreale:
http://tinyurl.com/ydxobeb
http://tinyurl.com/24nzq4a
http://tinyurl.com/2ax46lc
http://tinyurl.com/2ejeaee
http://www.peopleandplaces.us/Sicily/mosaics022.jpg
http://www.peopleandplaces.us/Sicily/mosaics023.jpg
http://www.peopleandplaces.us/Sicily/mosaics024.jpg
http://www.peopleandplaces.us/Sicily/mosaics025.jpg

Bronze plaque (Bonanno Pisano; 1186), Royal Door, cattedrale di Santa Maria la Nuova, Monreale:
http://www.thais.it/scultura/image/sch00510.htm

Capital (school of Benedetto Antelami; late twelfth- or early thirteenth-century) from the cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, Parma, now in the Museo Nazionale di Parma:
http://tinyurl.com/25sdev

Fresco (ca. 1200), Wallfahrtskirche St. Magdalena, Gschnitz (Land Tirol):
http://www.sagen.at/doku/calendar/images/adam_eva.jpg

Glass window (ca. 1210), cathédrale de Notre-Dame, Chartres:
http://tinyurl.com/y6x5h7

Glass window panel (early thirteenth-century), cathedral of St Mary, Lincoln (photographs by Gordon Plumb):
http://tinyurl.com/yd32cvc

Manuscript illumination (ca. 1220), Bible (Reims, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 34):
http://tinyurl.com/2ggbqm
http://tinyurl.com/yvy8mu
http://tinyurl.com/2gat8s
mise en page:
http://tinyurl.com/yrenws

Mosaics (ca. 1220-1240), Genesis cupola, basilica di San Marco, Venice (A. and E. in the outer circle; use the zoom feature and start at lower left):
http://www.museumplanet.com/tour.php/venice/sm/66
Another expandable view:
http://tinyurl.com/2cejf3m
Detail view (A. naming the beasts):
http://tinyurl.com/24rclvm
Detail view (creation of Eve:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/3473211386_f8581695ac.jpg
The Google Books version of Penny Howell Jolly, _Made in God's Image: Adam and Eve in the Genesis Mosaics at San Marco, Venice_ (Berkeley: Univ. of California Pr., 1997) has both a good reproduction of the detail of the Expulsion that was used for the book's cover and reproductions of the black-and-white views in the text:
http://tinyurl.com/2fxvdce
The press's own e-version (lacking many of those views):
http://tinyurl.com/26n9xpm

Portal sculptures (Magister Raduanus; 1240), katedrala Sv. Lovre, Trogir:
A.:
http://tinyurl.com/38tfk7r
E.:
http://tinyurl.com/35ph5uo

Relief (Sarolus of Muro Lucano, attrib.; thirteenth-century), south wall, cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, Rapolla (PZ), Basilicata:
http://tinyurl.com/c6qla7

Frescoes (thirteenth-century; "restored", nineteenth cent.), Church of St. Agatha, Easby (N. Yorks):
http://www.paintedchurch.org/easbygen.htm

Cupola mosaic (betw. 1270 and 1300), battistero di San Giovanni, Florence:
http://tinyurl.com/3y2kap

Fresco (Manuel Panselinos, attrib.; ca. 1300), detail views of the Anastasis, Protaton church, Mt. Athos:
http://tinyurl.com/29ucscq
http://tinyurl.com/2dyoyvf

Apse fresco (betw. 1315 and 1321) of the Anastasis in the parecclesion of the Chora Church (Kariye Camii; now a secular museum), Istanbul:
http://tinyurl.com/yeojlvs

Relief sculpture (earlier fourteenth-century), Palazzo ducale, Venice:
http://tinyurl.com/29bhv4d
http://tinyurl.com/25a9xja
http://tinyurl.com/24dksz2

Relief sculptures (earlier fourteenth-century), Genesis pier, facade of the cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, Orvieto:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brunello2412/4289216244/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brunello2412/4288499729/
http://tinyurl.com/26wzmdq
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brunello2412/4289257428/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brunello2412/4288530821/
More here:
http://tinyurl.com/2duo9qf

Terracotta reliefs (Andrea Pisano; 1334-36), formerly on the belltower of the cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, now in the Museo dell'Opera del duomo:
http://tinyurl.com/2fnnhd

Fresco (1330s; detail of the Anastasis) in the church of the Hodegetria in the Patriarchate of Peć at Peć in, depending on one's view of the matter, either the Republic of Kosovo or Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija:
http://tinyurl.com/2drcobt

Frescoes (betw. 1335 and 1350) in the parecclesion of St. Demetrius in the church of the Holy Ascension at the Visoki Dečani monastery near Peć in, depending on one's view of the matter, either the Republic of Kosovo or Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija (views are expandable):
http://tinyurl.com/ybxwyr2
http://tinyurl.com/ycqpdaj

Portal relief (after 1354), Münster, Freiburg im Breisgau:
http://www.virtuelles-freiburg.de/img/Tourbilder/Eva2.jpg

Manuscript illumination (ca. 1405) in a copy of the _Histoire du Saint Graal_ (Paris, BnF, ms. Arsenal 3479, fol. 109r):
http://tinyurl.com/yg6gka5

Terracotta relief (attrib. to Donatello; 1407), now in the Museo dell'Opera del duomo, Florence:
http://tinyurl.com/2g3fpw
http://www.umilta.net/donatadameve1.jpg

Manuscript illuminations (early fifteenth-century) in a copy of St. Augustine's _De civitate Dei_ in its French-language version by Raoul de Presles (Paris, BnF, ms. Français 21, fols. 40v, 29r):
http://tinyurl.com/yzv7t4g
http://tinyurl.com/yfmqo8a

Fresco (Masaccio; ca. 1427), Brancacci chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence:
Before restoration:
http://tinyurl.com/2keku7
After restoration:
http://tinyurl.com/2srr9x

Panel paintings (Jan van Eyck; 1432), altarpiece, cathedral of St. Bavo, Gand/G(h)ent, A. and E. at upper left and right, respectively:
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/eyck/ghent/ghentopn.jpg

Gilded bronze plaques (Lorenzo Ghiberti; 1425-1452), made for the east doors of the baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence and now in the Museo dell'Opera del duomo there:
http://tinyurl.com/7emvrr
A brief English-language account, with expandable views of modern replicas now on the doors:
http://tinyurl.com/4ms6tb
A larger view of one of those replicas:
http://tinyurl.com/8q5woy

Mural paintings (fifteenth-century), All Saints Church, Broughton (Cambs):
http://www.paintedchurch.org/brougcex.htm

Glass window panels (betw. 1500 and 1517), Death of Christ window, Church of St. Mary, Fairford (Glos), A. and E. at lower right:
http://tinyurl.com/yccp9ye

Vault paintings (1511[?]; restored, 1972), Astrup kirke, Astrup (Århus Kommune), Østjylland:
http://tinyurl.com/2azvwn6

Glass window panel (earlier sixteenth-century), Creation window, Church of St Neot, St Neot (Cornwall; photograph by Gordon Plumb):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/4005703073/

Best wishes in this holiday season,
John Dillon
(last year's post revised)

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