medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I can't speak to the French, Italian or English, but from what I've seen of German crucifixions, the "asleep in death" and "reigning from the cross" types dominate through the 14th Cento. I think Klaus Sluter's (or is it Claus) is one of the earliest surviving examples of a clearly suffering Christ. The Isenheim altarpiece seems a bit extreme, however, even for the German Renaissance, probably because of its context in a hospital/hospice/whatever it was.
I have a book on Schwabian liturgical Art (Suevia Sacra: Fruehe Kunst in Schwaben) which is basically a catalog (a large one) of artifacts exhibited in the exhibition held in Augsburg to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the death of St. Ulrich (1973). It has a number of plates showing Schwabish crucifixions which appear very related in theme to the Gero Crucifix in Koeln. There are also several depicting Christ (apparently) alseep in death, but wearing a royal crown - not one of thorns. These crowned images are dated in the catalog to the second quarter of the 12th cento.
I can also proudly boast I have a bronze replica of a crucifix of that era from Abtei Marienstatt (Diocese of Limburg an der Lahn) which I picked up in 2004. My family "stems" from a town about 6km from Marienstatt.
Cool stuff.
George the Less
--Original Message Text---
From: Maureen A. Tilley
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:10:09 -0400
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture I think it is good to differentiate different kinds of images of the crucifixion, e.g., Christ reigning gloriously from the cross vs a Christ bloodied and in agony. Western crucifiexes tend to be the former type until the tenth century. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, German crucifixes such as the Gero crucifix portray Christ asleep in death, a good warrior who has fought the good fight and died in battle (cf. the Anglo-Saxon poem The Dream of the Rood). After that, the gorier crucifixes make their appearance.
While it was made for a popular audience, I recommend the video "The Face of Jesus in Art," available from Kultur at http://estore.websitepros.com/1652646/Categories.bok
Maureen A. Tilley
Visiting Professor of Theology
Fordham University
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