Mary, the Apostles, and the Last Judgment. Apocryphal Representations from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Mary, the Apostles, and the Last Judgment. Apocryphal Representations from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Contributor(s): Stanislava Kuzmová (Editor), Andrea-Bianka Znorovszky (Editor)
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, History, Cultural history, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion, History of Religion
Published by: Trivent Publishing
Keywords: apocryphal writings; Virgin Mary; apostles; Last Judgement; middle ages; Christianity; history of religion; theology; art history; manuscript studies;
Summary/Abstract: This volume presents a timely contribution to the growing body of scholarship on the apocryphal writings and their reception in the Middle Ages, especially in connection with visual representation. It aims to bridge what often remains disconnected, the visual art and the written text, the early Christian roots and medieval reception, the East and the West, as well as methodologies of various disciplines. The studies in this volume firstly investigate issues related to the Virgin Mary, and through them, also the status, function, and identity of women. Mary and the female element thus represent significant models and/or background figures in fields pertaining to theology, religious studies, textual studies, manuscript studies, and art history in a trans-disciplinary perspective. Secondly, the studies focus on the apostles and the Last Judgment, their visual representations and the use of apocryphal sources. The volume is divided in two parts according to two major topics: Part I dealing with Mary in the Apocrypha, and Part II focusing on the Apostles and the Last Judgment.
- E-ISBN-13: 978-615-81793-0-0
- Print-ISBN-13: 978-615-81353-8-2
- Page Count: 220
- Publication Year: 2020
- Language: English
Responsible Midwifery or Reckless Disbelief?
Responsible Midwifery or Reckless Disbelief?
(Responsible Midwifery or Reckless Disbelief?)
- Author(s):Mark Mattison
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, History, Cultural history, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion, History of Religion
- Page Range:3-22
- No. of Pages:20
- Keywords:Mary; Mariology; Salome; midwifery; virgin birth
- Summary/Abstract:The most disquieting pericope in The Protevangelium Jacobi is Salome’s violation of Mary to confirm her virginity. This essay considers whether Salome could have originally been depicted as a well-meaning midwife performing a postpartum physical examination. There are obstacles to this reading. Most challenging is Salome’s declaration to a midwife in 19:3: “unless I insert my finger and examine her condition, I won’t believe that a virgin has given birth.” An early editor could have subverted this narrative by incorporating this allusion to John 20:25, transforming Salome from a responsible midwife into a convenient literary foil to a virgin birth.
- Price: 8.00 €
Introduction to Mary as High Priest in Early Christian Narratives and Iconography
Introduction to Mary as High Priest in Early Christian Narratives and Iconography
(Introduction to Mary as High Priest in Early Christian Narratives and Iconography)
- Author(s):Ally Kateusz
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, History, Cultural history, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion, History of Religion
- Page Range:23-59
- No. of Pages:37
- Keywords:Virgin Mary; Mariology; early Christian; Byzantine; liturgy; iconography; art; gender; Protevangelium; Dormition
- Summary/Abstract:Recent studies have demonstrated that from Late Antiquity up through the early modern era, some artists portrayed Jesus’s mother Mary as a priest, including depicting her with insignia such as the Eucharistic handkerchief and the episcopal pallium. In fact, surviving art indicates that Mary was portrayed with liturgical insignia as early, or earlier, than any male leader. Contextualizing why artists portrayed Mary in this fashion, even earlier some gospel writers had paralleled Mary and Abraham as the cultic founders of their religion, and other authors represented Mary as the high priest or bishop of bishops. Censorship, both ancient and modern, appears to explain why Mary is rarely remembered this way today.
- Price: 8.00 €
Visual Cherubikon
Visual Cherubikon
(Visual Cherubikon)
- Author(s):Matthew J. Milliner
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, History, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion, History of Religion
- Page Range:61-82
- No. of Pages:22
- Keywords:Virgin Mary; Mary as Priest; Protevangelium; Dormition; Koimesis; Byzantine Art; Priesthood; Presentation of Mary in the Temple; Presentation of Christ; Cherubikon; Eucharist
- Summary/Abstract:Mary’s priesthood is a prominent theme in Byzantine art, and this paper argues that it abounds at the Virgin of the Vetches church (Panagia tou Arakos) at Lagoudera in Cyprus, especially because of extensive depictions of the apocrypha. Through subtle interpretations of the Protevangelium and Dormition narratives, the twelfth-century artist Theodore Apsevdis highlighted priestly aspects of the beginning, middle and end of Mary’s life, aspects unified through a visualization of the Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn (Cherubikon) which is said by priests to commence the Eucharistic portion of the liturgy.
- Price: 8.00 €
Apocryphal Iconography in the Byzantine Churches of Cappadocia
Apocryphal Iconography in the Byzantine Churches of Cappadocia
(Apocryphal Iconography in the Byzantine Churches of Cappadocia)
- Author(s):Manuela Studer-Karlen
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, History, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion, History of Religion
- Page Range:83-115
- No. of Pages:33
- Keywords:Cappadocia; Byzantine programs; liturgy; apocryphal iconography; Protevangelium of James; story of Mary; Infancy of Christ
- Summary/Abstract:By the early eighth century, the Protevangelium of James had achieved full acceptance in the Byzantine liturgical and theological traditions because it was used as an inspiration for liturgical hymns and sermons. The liturgical use of the Protevangelium correlates with the growing interest in the cult of Mary. In Cappadocia, from the ninth to the eleventh centuries, the permanent use of apocryphal sources can be observed, notably for the scenes of the Infancy of Christ as well as episodes featuring the Virgin. This phenomenon is unique to Cappadocia. Taking into account that Cappadocia is unparalleled in the Byzantine world for its wealth of surviving monuments with paintings that survive to this period, this region offers a great local case study for evidence of apocryphal source material.
- Price: 8.00 €
The Impact of Apocryphal Sources on the Annunciation in Medieval Art
The Impact of Apocryphal Sources on the Annunciation in Medieval Art
(The Impact of Apocryphal Sources on the Annunciation in Medieval Art)
- Author(s):Marilyn Gasparini
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, History, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion, History of Religion
- Page Range:117-146
- No. of Pages:30
- Keywords:Annunciation; Virgin Mary; Apocrypha; Marian Depictions in Medieval Art; Affective piety
- Summary/Abstract:The Virgin Mary was an essential medieval figure, and depictions of her are ubiquitous in art. Because she is mentioned only briefly in the Bible, apocryphal sources generate many of the details of her life. This paper presents apocryphal and other non-canonical sources as significant contributors to the depiction and interpretation of the Annunciation in medieval art. It focuses on how certain elements and concepts drawn from non-canonical writings converge so that the image of the Annunciation is seen as an interactive image.
- Price: 8.00 €
Pseudepigrapha and Last Judgment Iconography
Pseudepigrapha and Last Judgment Iconography
(Pseudepigrapha and Last Judgment Iconography)
- Author(s):Daria Coșcodan
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, History, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion, History of Religion
- Page Range:149-160
- No. of Pages:12
- Keywords:Luzhany; Bukovina; Moldavian art; Last Judgment; eschatology; death; senses; pseudepigrapha; hagiography
- Summary/Abstract:Erected in 1453-1456 and situated in Northern Bukovina (today in Ukraine), the Church of Ascension in Luzhany represents the oldest extant witness of medieval Moldavian monumental art. The scenes depicting the “death of the righteous” and the “death of the sinner” from its Last Judgment cycle are analysed here according to their literary sources, which include Old Testament pseudepigrapha and medieval hagiographic literature. Based on the implications from these extra-biblical sources, it is argued that the eschatological focus of these two scenes is reinforced by the sensorial experience associated with the moment of death.
- Price: 7.00 €
Apocryphal Sources and Their Importance in the Italian Iconography of Saint James the Greater
Apocryphal Sources and Their Importance in the Italian Iconography of Saint James the Greater
(Apocryphal Sources and Their Importance in the Italian Iconography of Saint James the Greater)
- Author(s):Andrea D’Apruzzo
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, History, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion, History of Religion
- Page Range:161-185
- No. of Pages:25
- Keywords:St. James the Greater; apocryphal sources; medieval iconography; medieval hagiography; iconology
- Summary/Abstract:As one of the most important apostles, St. James the Greater and iconography depicting him has shown exceptional diversity, mostly due to influence from apocryphal sources. A thorough analysis of these sources (from second to fifteenth centuries) and the way they have been translated into visual representations in Italy shows how much apocryphal sources contributed to the genesis and the development the complex characterization of St. James the Greater. This evolution demonstrates the extent into which apocryphal sources contributed to spreading his iconography throughout Europe.
- Price: 8.00 €
Apostolorum Gloriosissimus Princeps
Apostolorum Gloriosissimus Princeps
(Apostolorum Gloriosissimus Princeps)
- Author(s):Gerd Mathias Micheluzzi
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, History, Middle Ages, Theology and Religion, History of Religion
- Page Range:187-220
- No. of Pages:34
- Keywords:Shadow; Saint Peter; San Piero a Grado; Assisi; Deodato Orlandi; Cimabue; Iconography; Golden Legend; Federico Visconti; Pseudo-Clementine Writings
- Summary/Abstract:Owing to the fame of Masaccio’s depiction of the “St. Peter Healing the Sick with his Shadow” in the Florentine Brancacci chapel, its forerunners in San Piero a Grado and Assisi were barely considered for their own sake. Consequently, important implications have been overlooked. By focusing on iconographical details and the respective local contexts, the current study proposes that both the San Piero and the Assisi examples are dependent on apocryphal writings, mediated via the Golden Legend. Furthermore, the results suggest a locally specific double function, a dualism which consists in the fact that each not only to propagates the Petrine primacy, but is also intended to attract pilgrims in San Piero, or to serve as a church- and order political statement in Assisi.
- Price: 8.00 €
