Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Abbreviations of books of the Bible
- Table of Psalm numbering
- Introduction
- Part I Texts and Versions
- Part II Format and Transmission
- Part III The Bible Interpreted
- Part IV The Bible in Use
- Part V The Bible Transformed
- 40 The Bible in public art, 600–1050
- 41 The Bible in public art, 1050–1450
- 42 Icons of the eastern church
- 43 Medieval verse paraphrases of the Bible
- 44 Staging the Bible
- Bibliography
- Index of biblical manuscripts
- Index of scriptural sources
- General index
- References
41 - The Bible in public art, 1050–1450
from Part V - The Bible Transformed
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 May 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Abbreviations of books of the Bible
- Table of Psalm numbering
- Introduction
- Part I Texts and Versions
- Part II Format and Transmission
- Part III The Bible Interpreted
- Part IV The Bible in Use
- Part V The Bible Transformed
- 40 The Bible in public art, 600–1050
- 41 The Bible in public art, 1050–1450
- 42 Icons of the eastern church
- 43 Medieval verse paraphrases of the Bible
- 44 Staging the Bible
- Bibliography
- Index of biblical manuscripts
- Index of scriptural sources
- General index
- References
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.
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- Information
- The New Cambridge History of the Bible , pp. 785 - 820Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012
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