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Overview
Jesus was not depicted on the cross until the early 5th century. Since then this scene has been painted or carved in sharply differing ways. With the aid of over 30 full-page plates, The Passion in Art explores the historical contexts and theologies which led to such differing depictions. Because the first Christians saw the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as different aspects of a unified victory over sin and death, scenes of the passion are juxtaposed with some of the resurrection, which again are highly varied in what they do and do not show.This is the first book to consider the passion as portrayed in the whole sweep of Christian history. Each picture is considered both from the point of view of its context and its theological standpoint.Spanning the centuries, the images reproduced and discussed include: Scenes from the Passion of Christ in the Catacombs of Domitilla, mosaics in Ravenna, the Rabbula Crucifixion and Resurrection, the Crucifixion Plaque from Metz, the Gero Crucifix, Cimabue's Crucifix, Giotto's Noli me Tangere, Piero della Francesca's Resurrection, the Eisenheim altarpiece, Carravagio's Supper at Emmaus, Rembrant's Christ on the Cross, Chagall's White Crucifixion, contemporary paintings by Stanley Spencer, Graham Sutherland, Nicholas Meynher, and many more works of great acclaim.
Contents: Introduction
Symbols in the Catacombs - 2nd and 3rd centuries
The Victory of the Passion - a 4th century sarcophagus
The First Depiction of Christ on the Cross - a 5th century ivory
Women Discover the Empty Tomb - a 6th century mosaic
Christ in a Long Tunic - a 6th century Gospel book
On the Edges of Empire - signs in stone from the 7th century
Christ Dead on the Cross - an 11th century mosaic
Doubting Thomas - a Byzantine mosaic
The Anastasis - an 11th century mosaic
Classical and Cosmic - a Carolingian book cover from the 9th century
A Sense of the Poignant - an Ottonian crucifix of the 10th century
Christ Reigns from the Cross as Priest and King - a Romanesque carving of the 11th century
On the Road to Emmaus - a romanesque relief of the 12th century
The Chairete - a Venetian mosaic of the 12th century
The influence of the Theologians - a 13th century illuminated Gospel
The Sublime Cimabue (1240-1302)
Noli Me Tangere - Giotto's masterpiece of the early 14th century
A lily Crucifix of the Late 14th Century
The Anastasis - a 14th century fresco
The Man of Sorrows (c.1490)
Christ Rises from the Grave - Piero della Francesca's Humanist Vision of the 15th century
Extreme Agony - The Isenheim altarpiece
The Supper at Emmaus - Caravaggio in the 17th century
Jesus alone - Rembrandt
Caspar David Friedrich and the Cross in Landscape
The White Crucifixion - Marc Chagall
Christ on the Cross - Georges Rouault
The Crucifixion - Stanley Spencer
The Noli Me Tangere - Graham Sutherland
The Supper at Emmaus - Ceri Richards
Menorah - Roger Wagner
The Incredulity of Thomas - Nicholas Mynheer
Index.
Author Biography: Richard Harries has written more than 20 books, including The Nativity in Art and Art and the Beauty of God, which was selected by the late Anthony Burgess as a Book of the Year in The Observer. He was elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature in 1996.
Synopsis
Harries, Bishop of Oxford, surveys the Crucifixion of Christ from its earliest depiction in Christian art to the present, exploring how the art in each age reflected the Christian understanding at the time. In order to keep his account focused, he does not deal with any part of the Passion cycle except the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. He describes one image from each century, beginning with the second, except that he considers several from the 20th century. Among the stages of his journey are a sixth-century Gospel book, a Byzantine mosaic, an Ottonian crucifix of the 10th century, a 13th-century illuminated Gospel, and Marc Chagall's The White Crucifixion. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR