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41 - The Bible in public art, 1050–1450

from Part V - The Bible Transformed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2012

Richard Marsden  and
E. Ann Matter
By
C. M. Kauffmann
Richard Marsden
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
E. Ann Matter
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
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Summary

The subheadings used below – wall paintings and mosaics, sculpture, stained glass, altarpieces – which are supplemented by references to textiles, reliquaries and altar furniture, provide an indication of the enormous amount of material involved in this topic, even though a large proportion no longer survives.

Purpose and audience

Gregory the Great's twofold justification of images, that they can teach the unlettered and also stimulate religious emotion, remained standard throughout the Middle Ages. Bonaventure and Durandus were among those who quoted Gregory's dictum. Jean Gerson compared a good sermon with a pious painting in its ability to ‘inspire devotion’ and John Mirk, in defending images against the Lollards, insisted that ‘there are many thousand people who could not imagine in their hearts how Christ was treated on the cross, except as they learnt it from the sight of images and paintings’.

Durandus’ emphasis on the symbolism of the medieval church and its liturgy was taken up during the early twentieth century by Emile Mâle, whose influence on the subject has been profound. Mâle stressed the fundamental importance of the text behind the image, but when it came to New Testament depictions in churches it was, he said, the liturgy which determined the choice of scenes. Life of Christ cycles were largely limited to the childhood and passion with very little depiction of the ministry because of the liturgical emphasis on Christmas-Epiphany and Holy Week respectively. This may be applicable to France but in other countries, as we shall see, Christ’s miracles were commonly depicted in churches.

Nevertheless, a general relationship of art and liturgy remained widely acknowledged and in recent decades detailed studies of this relationship have become central to research in this field. A study of the well-known relief of the penitent Eve from the lintel of the north portal at Autun Cathedral concluded that the lintel and the tympanum above with the raising of Lazarus (destroyed) identified it as the portal of penance and confession by which penitents entered the church on Maundy Thursday.

Type
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The New Cambridge History of the Bible , pp. 785 - 820
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

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