The image of Christ
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The image of Christ
National Gallery Co., 2000
- : pbk
Available at 23 libraries
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Note
"This book was published to accompany an exhibition at The National Gallery, London, 26 February - 7 May 2000"--T.p. verso
Bibliography: p. 213-218
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780300083651
Description
For two millennia artists have stuggled to create an image of Christ -- both man and God, human and divine -- although the Gospels and Early Christian texts provide no information about his appearance. This magnificent book explores how the challenge of portraying Christ has been met in paintings, prints, and sculpture from the Early Christian era to the twentieth century.The authors of the book point out that in the earliest art, Christ is represented principally by symbols and images that have become potent and enduring metaphors, such as the Good Shepherd, the Light, and the Vine. They tell how a concern with Christ's "true likeness" emerged, which was based on miraculous "true" images -- particularly the images that Christ imprinted on the cloth held out to him by Saint Veronica on the way to Calvary. They discuss works focusing on Christ's childhood, which confront the problem of representing the paradox of his dual nature as victim and victor. They analyze the iconography of the Passion, demonstrating how, from a devotional point of view, images of Christ's suffering could induce a sense of sorrow for sin and gratitude to God. Finally, they look at how artists have translated into images the idea that Christ lives on and that the teachings and events of his life continue to have a profound impact.
- Volume
-
ISBN 9781857092929
Description
The Image of Christ expresses the view that modern secular audiences can engage with the masterpieces of Christian art at an emotional as well as a purely aesthetic or historical level. This book aims to help the viewer understand these pictures by focusing attention on the purpose for which they were made, and explores what they might have meant to their original viewers.
The authors trace how a recognizable image of Christ evolved, starting with the earliest symbols and metaphorical images such as the Sheperd, the Lamb and the Vine. They trace the emergence of a "true likeness," emphasizing the importance of the Veronica, the "miraculous portrait" said to have been imprinted on the cloth held out to Jesus on the way to Calvary. They describe how artists conveyed the paradox of Christ's dual nature-human and divine, weak and powerful, victim and victor-in portrayals of his infancy. They also show how images of Christ's suffering during the Passion were intended to convey a cosmic, not just a personal significance. Artists have attempted to put extremes of suffering and despair into an overal context of hope-a vein of hope that runs from the catacombs to Hiroshima and beyond.
These are images that speak, even to those who do not hold Christian beliefs. Artists had to make it clear that in representing the life and death of Jesus they were offering a continuing truth; we the spectators have to become eyewitnesses to an event that matters to us now. As a result, the different moments and aspects of Christ's life become, in the hands of great artists, a reflection of all human experience. The Virgin nursing her son expresses the feelings of love every mother has for her child. Christ mocked in innocence beset by violence. Christ risen and appearing to Mary Magdalene is a universal reaffirmation that love cannot be destroyed by death. Beyond their obvious religious significance, these are paintings that have a universal meaning.
Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University Press
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