medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
This note is addressed to both the MEDIEVAL-RELIGION and the MEDART-L lists
Health problems have prevented me from forwarding the following
authoritative notes which provide the answer to my question as to the
depiction of a figure of Christ in the Annunciation.
I addressed the following letter to Dr. Cavadini at Notre Dame. He kindly
forwarded the note to Professor Newman at Northwestern University. Her
gracious reply follows below my note.
Dear Dr. Cavadini,
I hope that you will be kind enough to solve my problem. There are several
medieval wall paintings on the walls of Danish village churches showing the
Annunciation. Included in the depiction is a tiny figure of Christ sliding
down a beam from God into the head of the Virgin. I have been told that this
depiction was at that time heretical in the Latin Church. I have read all
the articles in the Catholic Encyclopedia on-line on the Annunciation, the
Incarnation and the Immaculate Conception, but I could not find an answer.
I happen to be Protestant, and have never had any academic exposure to the
theology of the Latin Church. I using the phrase Latin Church since I have
heard from another source that this depiction is accepted by the Greek
Orthodox Church.
My problem is simply - was this depiction heretical at the time it was
painted 1400-1500? and where and when the theological basis for the decision
made.
I thank you for any suggestions.
Sincerely, Jim Mills
Dear Mr. Mills,
John Cavadini at Notre Dame has forwarded your inquiry to me, since I work
on late medieval iconography.
The Danish wall paintings you describe are not heretical at all, but quite
standard. The "tiny figure of Christ" is usually a naked or semi-naked
child, often holding a cross to prefigure his Passion. The beam of light
should extend down from heaven to either the womb or the ear of the Virgin.
If it's the womb, the reason is obvious. If it's the ear, this signifies the
commonplace medieval notion that Mary "conceived through the ear"--i.e., as
soon as she heard the angel's message and consented to it, she became
pregnant with Jesus. Heating is also associated with faith and obedience
(Rom. 10.17). The beam of light signifies that the Child comes directly from
heaven, not from a mortal man. Writers often used the analogy that Christ
entered into Mary's womb without defiling her virginity, just as a ray of
light passes through glass without shattering it.
On the larger question, the fifteenth century (the period of your Danish
paintings) was perhaps the most creative era in the whole history of
Christian iconography. Along with traditional images dating back to the
twelfth century or earlier, artists of this period devised a great number of
new ones, in part because of the expanding art market. The Church did not
censor iconography and was not in the business of proclaiming works of art
to be heretical. This concern arose only with the 16th-century
Counter-Reformation. In response to Protestant critiques of image veneration
as superstitious and idolatrous, the Tridentine Church (so called after the
Council of Trent in the 1560s) began to crack down on novel and
"unauthorized" images, and decreed that no unfamiliar image could be placed
in a church without the express permission of the bishop.
I hope this helps--
Professor Barbara Newman
Dept. of English
Northwestern University
I found that the second paragraph in Professor Newman's note makes it clear
the those interested in the iconography of the Latin Church must take into
account that there were no guidelines imposed by religious authority in the
medieval period.
Again I thank Dr. Cavadini and Professor Newman for their help.
Sincerely, Jim Mills
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