Misplaced Pages

#690309

98-518: The complex iconography of the five faces is illustrated and identified below. The box was made by a northern Italian workshop, probably in Milan, where Saint Ambrose was bishop, and engaged in a struggle with the Arian heresy . Milan has long been considered the most likely place of origin, which has been further strengthened after the insignia on the shields of the soldiers were identified as those of

196-457: A huge number of fish. Immediately after this, they follow Him. The Gospel of John gives a comparable account of "The First Disciples". In John, the readers are told that it was two disciples of John the Baptist (Andrew and an unnamed disciple) who heard John the Baptist announce Jesus as the " Lamb of God " and then followed Jesus. Andrew then went to his brother Simon, saying, "We have found

294-399: A human figure, the rest symbolic objects. The top of the side faces is finished with a register, actually the sides of the lid, of busts of male figures in slightly flattened round clipea frames. Two of these are missing; there would have been a total of 17 originally, with five on the front, four on the back and four, one now missing, on each side. A young beardless Jesus is agreed to occupy

392-769: A more scientific manner than the popular aesthetic approach of the time. These early contributions paved the way for encyclopedias , manuals, and other publications useful in identifying the content of art. Mâle's l'Art religieux du XIIIe siècle en France (originally 1899, with revised editions) translated into English as The Gothic Image, Religious Art in France of the Thirteenth Century has remained continuously in print. In early twentieth-century Germany , Aby Warburg (1866–1929) and his followers Fritz Saxl (1890–1948) and Erwin Panofsky (1892–1968) elaborated

490-474: A particular depiction of a subject in terms of the content of the image, such as the number of figures used, their placing and gestures. The term is also used in many academic fields other than art history, for example semiotics , media studies , and archaeology, and in general usage, for the content of images, the typical depiction in images of a subject, and related senses. Sometimes distinctions have been made between iconology and iconography , although

588-746: A party of "Cephas". First Corinthians suggests that perhaps Peter visited the city of Corinth, located in Greece, during their missions. Dionysius, bishop of Corinth , in his Epistle to the Roman Church under Pope Soter (A.D. 165–174), declares that Peter and Paul founded the Church of Rome and the Church of Corinth, and they have lived in Corinth for some time, and finally in Italy where they found death: You have thus by such an admonition bound together

686-562: A reminiscent scene in John's epilogue, Peter affirms three times that he loves Jesus. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians contains a list of resurrection appearances of Jesus , the first of which is an appearance to Peter. Here, Paul apparently follows an early tradition that Peter was the first to see the risen Christ, which, however, did not seem to have survived to the time when the gospels were written. In John's gospel, Peter

784-516: A sample of N=1,437 child sexual abuse (CSA) online press articles that included 419 stock photos, a CSA iconography (i.e. a set of typical image motifs for a topic) was revealed that relate to criminal reporting: The CSA iconography visualizes 1. crime contexts, 2. course of the crime and people involved, and 3. consequences of the crime for the people involved (e.g., image motif: perpetrator in handcuffs). Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah ; died AD 64–68), also known as Peter

882-460: A specialist on early medieval churches and another German émigré, extended iconographical analysis to architectural forms . The period from 1940 can be seen as one where iconography was especially prominent in art history. Whereas most iconographical scholarship remains highly dense and specialized, some analyses began to attract a much wider audience, for example Panofsky 's theory (now generally out of favour with specialists of that picture) that

980-512: A thousand years ago, though development, and some shifts in meaning, have occurred – for example, the old man wearing a fleece in conversation with Saint Joseph usually seen in Orthodox Nativities seems to have begun as one of the shepherds, or the prophet Isaiah , but is now usually understood as the "Tempter" ( Satan ). In both East and West, numerous iconic types of Christ , Mary and saints and other subjects were developed;

1078-707: A trip by Paul the Apostle to Jerusalem where he meets Peter. Peter features again in Galatians, fourteen years later, when Paul (now with Barnabas and Titus ) returned to Jerusalem. When Peter came to Antioch , Paul opposed Peter to his face "because he [Peter] was in the wrong". Acts 12 narrates how Peter, who was in Jerusalem, was put into prison by Agrippa I (AD 42–44) but was rescued by an angel . After his liberation Peter left Jerusalem to go to "another place". Concerning Peter's subsequent activity there

SECTION 10

#1732765345691

1176-822: A unit of the Palatine Guards stationed in Milan in the late 4th century, when Milan was the usual residence of the Imperial court. The Notitia Dignitatum in the Bodleian Library in Oxford records these designs. One theory, discussed below, identifies the date very precisely to soon after 386, when Ambrose successfully led the Orthodox population in a confrontation with the Arian-leaning Imperial court. It has also been suggested that it

1274-708: A well-educated contemporary. The subtle layers of meaning uncovered by modern iconographical research in works of Robert Campin such as the Mérode Altarpiece , and of Jan van Eyck such as the Madonna of Chancellor Rolin and the Washington Annunciation lie in small details of what are on first viewing very conventional representations. When Italian painting developed a taste for enigma, considerably later, it most often showed in secular compositions influenced by Renaissance Neo-Platonism . From

1372-680: A wrathful deity but in few contexts is depicted in pacified mood. Although iconic depictions of, or concentrating on, a single figure are the dominant type of Buddhist image, large stone relief or fresco narrative cycles of the Life of the Buddha , or tales of his previous lives, are found at major sites like Sarnath , Ajanta , and Borobudor , especially in earlier periods. Conversely, in Hindu art, narrative scenes have become rather more common in recent centuries, especially in miniature paintings of

1470-434: Is a concern of other academic disciplines including Semiotics , Anthropology , Sociology , Media Studies , Communication Studies , and Cultural Studies . These analyses in turn have affected conventional art history, especially concepts such as signs in semiotics . Discussing imagery as iconography in this way implies a critical "reading" of imagery that often attempts to explore social and cultural values. Iconography

1568-415: Is also used within film studies to describe the visual language of cinema, particularly within the field of genre criticism . In the age of Internet, the new global history of the visual production of Humanity (Histiconologia ) includes History of Art and history of all kind of images or medias. Contemporary iconography research often draws on theories of visual framing to address such diverse issues as

1666-903: Is always listed first among the Twelve Apostles in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts . Along with James the Elder and John he formed an informal triumvirate within the Twelve Apostles. Jesus allowed them to be the only apostles present at three particular occasions during his public ministry, the Raising of Jairus' daughter , Transfiguration of Jesus and Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane . Peter often confesses his faith in Jesus as

1764-435: Is disputed, some saying that its usual meaning is "rock" or "crag", others saying that it means rather "stone" and, particularly in its application by Jesus to Simon, like a "jewel", but most scholars agree that as a proper name, it denotes a rough or tough character... Both meanings, "stone" (jewel or hewn stone) and "rock", are indicated in dictionaries of Aramaic and Syriac . Catholic theologian Rudolf Pesch argues that

1862-413: Is easy to establish the lack of any link (by likes or opposites) between the scenes on the two borders (Old Testament) and those of the central panel (New Testament)". However recent studies have proposed that the casket in fact shows a coherent and carefully thought out programme, comprehending both Old and New Testament scenes, though the underlying aims of this have been interpreted differently. Many of

1960-637: Is found 19 times. He is the brother of Saint Andrew , and they both were fishermen . The Gospel of Mark in particular was traditionally thought to show the influence of Peter's preaching and eyewitness memories. He is also mentioned, under either the name Peter or Cephas, in Paul 's First Letter to the Corinthians and the Epistle to the Galatians . The New Testament also includes two general epistles , First Peter and Second Peter , that are traditionally attributed to him, but modern scholarship generally rejects

2058-699: Is in the British Museum , which is also the home of most of the panels of the much later Anglo-Saxon Franks Casket (one panel is in the Bargello Museum, Florence). This has only one Christian scene, with others from northern myth and Mediterranean history, and includes texts which mingle Latin and Old English in both Roman letters and Anglo-Saxon runes . However it shares with the Brescia Casket great programmatic complexity, and an equal ability to arouse scholarly debate; it seems clear that

SECTION 20

#1732765345691

2156-645: Is instead spelled " Simeon " ( Συμεών in Greek). The variation possibly reflects "the well-known custom among Jews at the time of giving the name of a famous patriarch or personage of the Old Testament to a male child [i.e., Simeon ] along with a similar sounding Greek/Roman name [in this case, Simon]". He was later given by Jesus the name Cephas ( / ˈ s iː f ə s / ), from the Aramaic כֵּיפָא , Kepha , 'rock/stone'. In translations of

2254-418: Is no further connected information from the extant sources, although there are short notices of certain individual episodes of his later life. The synoptic gospels mention that Peter had a mother-in-law at the time he joined Jesus, and that Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law. However, the gospels give no information about his wife. Clement of Alexandria claimed that Peter's wife was executed for her faith by

2352-509: Is often repeated in the service of worship on Maundy Thursday by some Christian denominations . The three synoptic gospels all mention that, when Jesus was arrested, one of his companions cut off the ear of a servant of the High Priest of Israel . The Gospel of John also includes this event and names Peter as the swordsman and Malchus as the victim. Luke adds that Jesus touched the ear and miraculously healed it. This healing of

2450-772: Is once referred to as "prominent" or "head" among the Apostles, a title shared with Paul in the text ( The Fraction of Fast and Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ). Some, including the Orthodox Churches, believe this is not the same as saying that the other Apostles were under Peter's orders. According to the Epistle to the Galatians ( 2:11 ), Peter went to Antioch where Paul rebuked him for following

2548-409: Is provided by Jesuit Father Daniel J. Harrington , who suggests that Peter was an unlikely symbol of stability. While he was one of the first disciples called and was the spokesman for the group, Peter is also the exemplar of "little faith". In Matthew 14 , Peter will soon have Jesus say to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?", and he will eventually deny Jesus three times. Thus, in light of

2646-574: Is regarded as the first leader of the early Church, though he was soon eclipsed in this leadership by James the Just, "the brother of the Lord" . Because Peter was the first to whom Jesus appeared, the leadership of Peter forms the basis of the Apostolic succession and the institutional power of orthodoxy, as the heirs of Peter, and he is described as "the rock" on which the church will be built. Peter

2744-677: Is that Peter had a group of 12 to 16 followers, whom the Clementine writings name. Another is that it provides an itinerary of Peter's route from Caesarea Maritima to Antioch, where he debated his adversary Simon Magus ; during this journey he ordained Zacchaeus as the first bishop of Caesarea and Maro as the first bishop of Tripolis . Historian Fred Lapham suggests the route recorded in the Clementine writings may have been taken from an earlier document mentioned by Epiphanius of Salamis in his Panarion called "The Itinerary of Peter". Peter may have visited Corinth , and maybe there existed

2842-400: Is the first person to enter the empty tomb , although the women and the beloved disciple see it before him. In Luke's account, the women's report of the empty tomb is dismissed by the apostles, and Peter is the only one who goes to check for himself, running to the tomb. After seeing the graveclothes, he goes home, apparently without informing the other disciples. In the final chapter of

2940-429: Is there, in the area of Caesarea Philippi , that he receives from Jesus the name Cephas (Aramaic Kepha ), or Peter (Greek Petros ). In Luke , Simon Peter owns the boat that Jesus uses to preach to the multitudes who were pressing on him at the shore of Lake Gennesaret . Jesus then amazes Simon and his companions James and John (Andrew is not mentioned) by telling them to lower their nets, whereupon they catch

3038-604: The Catacombs of Rome show orans figures, portraits of Christ and some saints, and a limited number of "abbreviated representations" of biblical episodes emphasizing deliverance. From the Constantinian period monumental art borrowed motifs from Roman Imperial imagery, classical Greek and Roman religion and popular art – the motif of Christ in Majesty owes something to both Imperial portraits and depictions of Zeus . In

Brescia Casket - Misplaced Pages Continue

3136-481: The Franciscans , as were many other developments. Most painters remained content to copy and slightly modify the works of others, and it is clear that the clergy, by whom or for whose churches most art was commissioned, often specified what they wanted shown in great detail. The theory of typology , by which the meaning of most events of the Old Testament was understood as a "type" or pre-figuring of an event in

3234-642: The Gentiles . Simon Peter applied the message of the vision on clean animals to the gentiles and follows his meeting with Cornelius the Centurion by claiming that "God shows no partiality". According to the Acts of the Apostles , Peter and John were sent from Jerusalem to Samaria . Peter/Cephas is mentioned briefly in the opening chapter of one of the Pauline epistles , Epistle to the Galatians , which mentions

3332-642: The Greek εἰκών ("image") and γράφειν ("to write" or to draw ). A secondary meaning (based on a non-standard translation of the Greek and Russian equivalent terms) is the production or study of the religious images, called " icons ", in the Byzantine and Orthodox Christian tradition. This usage is mostly found in works translated from languages such as Greek or Russian, with the correct term being "icon painting". In art history , "an iconography" may also mean

3430-543: The Late Antique period iconography began to be standardized, and to relate more closely to Biblical texts, although many gaps in the canonical Gospel narratives were plugged with matter from the apocryphal gospels . Eventually, the Church would succeed in weeding most of these out, but some remain, like the ox and ass in the Nativity of Christ . After the period of Byzantine iconoclasm iconographical innovation

3528-707: The Messiah ", and then brought Simon to Jesus, who immediately named him as "Cephas". Three of the four gospels—Matthew, Mark and John—recount the story of Jesus walking on water . Matthew additionally describes Peter walking on water for a moment but beginning to sink when his faith wavers. At the beginning of the Last Supper , Jesus washed His disciples' feet. Peter initially refused to let Jesus wash his feet, but when Jesus told him: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me", Peter replied: "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head". The washing of feet

3626-445: The 15th century religious painting gradually freed itself from the habit of following earlier compositional models, and by the 16th century ambitious artists were expected to find novel compositions for each subject, and direct borrowings from earlier artists are more often of the poses of individual figures than of whole compositions. The Reformation soon restricted most Protestant religious painting to Biblical scenes conceived along

3724-468: The Apostle , Simon Peter , Simeon , Simon , or Cephas , was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church . He appears repeatedly and prominently in all four New Testament gospels as well as the Acts of the Apostles . Catholic tradition accredits Peter as the first bishop of Rome ‍—‌or pope ‍—‌and also as the first bishop of Antioch . According to Christian tradition , Peter

3822-699: The Apostle Peter, his See , and his successors in book III of Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies ). In the book, Irenaeus wrote that Peter and Paul founded and organised the Church in Rome. Sources suggest that at first, the terms episcopos and presbyteros were used interchangeably, with the consensus among scholars being that by the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters, whose duties of office overlapped or were indistinguishable from one another. Protestant and secular historians generally agree that there

3920-722: The Apostles portrays Peter as the central figure within the early Christian community. All four canonical gospels recount that, during the Last Supper , Jesus foretold that Peter would deny him three times before the following cockcrow ("before the cock crows twice" in Mark's account). The three Synoptics and John describe the three denials as follows: In the Gospel of Luke is a record of Christ telling Peter: "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." In

4018-466: The Apostles. The word used for "rock" ( petra ) grammatically refers to "a small detachment of the massive ledge", not to a massive boulder. Thus, Orthodox Sacred Tradition understands Jesus' words as referring to the apostolic faith. Petros had not previously been used as a name, but in the Greek-speaking world it became a popular Christian name, after the tradition of Peter's prominence in

Brescia Casket - Misplaced Pages Continue

4116-454: The Aramaic word would mean "precious stone" to designate a distinguishing person. This cannot be sufficiently proven from Aramaic, however, since the use of the Aramaic root kp as a personal name has not been proven and there are hardly any known examples of the word being used to mean "precious stone". The combined name Σίμων Πέτρος ( Símon Pétros , Simon Peter) appears 19 times in

4214-592: The Bible from the original Greek , his name is maintained as Cephas in nine occurrences in the New Testament , whereas in the vast majority of mentions (156 occurrences in the New Testament) he is called Πέτρος , Petros , from the Greek and Latin word for a rock or stone ( petra ) to which the masculine ending was added, rendered into English as Peter . The precise meaning of the Aramaic word

4312-511: The Christian church. Peter was considered along with James the Just and John the Apostle as the three Pillars of the Church . Legitimised by Jesus' appearance, Peter assumed leadership of the group of early followers, forming the Jerusalem ekklēsia mentioned by Paul. He was soon eclipsed in this leadership by James the Just, "the Brother of the Lord." According to Lüdemann, this

4410-600: The Easter event, Peter became an exemplar of the forgiven sinner. Outside the Catholic Church, opinions vary as to the interpretation of this passage with respect to what authority and responsibility, if any, Jesus was giving to Peter. In the Eastern Orthodox Church this passage is interpreted as not implying a special prominence to the person of Peter, but to Peter's position as representative of

4508-540: The Gospel of John, Peter, in one of the resurrection appearances of Jesus, three times affirmed his love for Jesus , balancing his threefold denial, and Jesus reconfirmed Peter's position. The Church of the Primacy of St. Peter on the Sea of Galilee is seen as the traditional site where Jesus Christ appeared to his disciples after his resurrection and, according to Catholic tradition, established Peter's supreme jurisdiction over

4606-654: The Greek city before his journey to Rome. Claims of direct blood lineage from Simon Peter among the old population of Antioch existed in the 1st century and continue to exist today, notably by certain Semaan families of modern-day Syria and Lebanon. Historians have furnished other evidence of Peter's sojourn in Antioch. The Clementine literature , a group of related works written in the fourth century but believed to contain materials from earlier centuries, relates information about Peter that may come from earlier traditions. One

4704-607: The Index of Medieval Art (formerly Index of Christian Art) at Princeton (which has made a specialism of iconography since its early days in America). These are now being digitised and made available online, usually on a restricted basis. With the arrival of computing, the Iconclass system, a highly complex system for the classification of the content of images, with 40,000+ classification types, and 84,000 (14,000 unique) keywords,

4802-511: The Just was bishop of Jerusalem whilst Peter was bishop of Rome and that this position at times gave James privilege in some (but not all) situations. In a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples ( Matthew 16:13–19 ), Jesus asks, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" The disciples give various answers. When he asks, "Who do you say that I am?", Simon Peter answers, "You are the Messiah,

4900-410: The Messiah. Peter is often depicted in the gospels as spokesman of all the Apostles. John Vidmar , a Catholic scholar, writes: "Catholic scholars agree that Peter had an authority that superseded that of the other apostles. Peter is their spokesman at several events, he conducts the election of Matthias, his opinion in the debate over converting Gentiles was crucial, etc." The author of the Acts of

4998-582: The New Testament. In some Syriac documents he is called, in English translation, Simon Cephas. The sources used to reconstruct the life of Peter can be divided in three groups: In the New Testament, he is among the first of the disciples called during Jesus' ministry. Peter became the first listed apostle ordained by Jesus in the early Church. Peter was a Jewish fisherman in Bethsaida . He

SECTION 50

#1732765345691

5096-585: The Petrine authorship of both . Nevertheless, Evangelicals and Catholics have always affirmed Peter's authorship, and recently, evangelical scholars have revived the claim of Petrine authorship of these epistles . Based on contemporary historical data, Peter's papacy is estimated to have spanned from AD 30 to his death, which would make him the longest-reigning pope , at anywhere from 34 to 38 years; however, this has never been verified. Saint Irenaeus ( c.  130  – c.  202 AD ) explains

5194-519: The Roman authorities but he did not specify any date or location. Another opinion states that Peter's wife was no longer alive at the time he met Jesus, so he was a widower. The Gospels and Acts portray Peter as the most prominent apostle, though he denied Jesus three times during the events of the crucifixion. According to the Christian tradition, Peter was the first disciple to whom Jesus appeared, balancing Peter's denial and restoring his position. Peter

5292-553: The Son of the living God." Jesus then declares: Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Cephas (Peter) ( Petros ), and on this rock ( petra ) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. A common view of Peter

5390-783: The Virgin , parts of the Old Testament, and, increasingly, the lives of popular saints . Especially in the West, a system of attributes developed for identifying individual figures of saints by a standard appearance and symbolic objects held by them; in the East, they were more likely to identified by text labels. From the Romanesque period sculpture on churches became increasingly important in Western art, and probably partly because of

5488-438: The ascension of our Saviour, as if also preferred by our Lord, strove not after honor, but chose James the Just bishop of Jerusalem. Dunn proposes that Peter was a "bridge-man" between the opposing views of Paul and James the Just [italics original]: For Peter was probably in fact and effect the bridge-man (pontifex maximus!) who did more than any other to hold together the diversity of first-century Christianity . James

5586-407: The brother of Jesus and Paul, the two other most prominent leading figures in first-century Christianity, were too much identified with their respective "brands" of Christianity, at least in the eyes of Christians at the opposite ends of this particular spectrum. Paul affirms that Peter had the special charge of being apostle to the Jews, just as he, Paul, was apostle to the Gentiles. Some argue James

5684-417: The centre of the front panel, and he is probably surrounded by the Twelve Apostles , with Saint Paul substituting for Judas , making 13. Saints Peter and Paul are presumed to be the two older men with long beards flanking Jesus. The remaining four heads, presumably those on the back face, might be the Four Evangelists , which would mean repetition of subjects, or other saints. The selection of incidents

5782-511: The collections of the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin and the German Marburger Index . These are available, usually on-line or on DVD . The system can also be used outside pure art history, for example on sites like Flickr . Religious images are used to some extent by all major religions, including both Indian and Abrahamic faiths, and often contain highly complex iconography, which reflects centuries of accumulated tradition. Secular Western iconography later drew upon these themes. Central to

5880-537: The conservative line regarding the conversion of Gentiles, having meals separate from Gentiles. Subsequent tradition held that Peter had been the first Patriarch of Antioch . According to the writings of Origen and Eusebius in his Church History (III, 36) Peter had founded the church of Antioch. Later accounts expand on the brief biblical mention of his visit to Antioch . The Liber Pontificalis (9th century) mentions Peter as having served as bishop of Antioch for seven years, and having potentially left his family in

5978-643: The definitions, and so the distinction made, varies. When referring to movies, genres are immediately recognizable through their iconography, motifs that become associated with a specific genre through repetition. Early Western writers who took special note of the content of images include Giorgio Vasari , whose Ragionamenti interpreted the paintings in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence . Ragionamenti reassuringly demonstrates that such works were difficult to understand even for well-informed contemporaries. Lesser known, though it had informed poets, painters and sculptors for over two centuries after its 1593 publication,

SECTION 60

#1732765345691

6076-400: The early Christian church had been established. The leadership of Peter forms the basis of the Apostolic succession and the institutional power of orthodoxy, as the heirs of Peter, and is described as "the rock" on which the church will be built. Catholics refer to him as chief of the Apostles, as do the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox . In Coptic Orthodox Church liturgy, he

6174-419: The early part of the Easter Vigil it was opened and the contents displayed to the congregation. In 1798, with the suppression of the convent after the Napoleonic invasion, it was transferred to the Biblioteca Queriniana , the main library in Brescia, and in 1882 transferred to the museum that, after some moves, since 1999 has occupied part of the old convent home of the box. At some point during this period it

6272-553: The essential unity of the two parts of the Christian Bible, an aim common in later medieval art , which was previously thought not to have been found so early. The identification of many of the scenes remains uncertain, with new identifications having been proposed only recently, and not all identifications agreed between, for example, Watson in 1981, Tkacz in 2001 and Bayens in 2004. The primary identifications here follow Watson, sometimes mentioning alternatives. Watson's notes summarize most but not all other identifications. For example,

6370-406: The framework, carrying the decoration, with most zones of decoration on their own individual plaques. The casket measures 22 centimetres (8.7 in) high, 32 centimetres (13 in) wide and 25 centimetres (9.8 in) deep. The casket is covered with a profusion of small religious scenes carved in ivory relief , drawn from both the Old and New Testaments . The lid, which may be regarded as

6468-517: The full meaning of both boxes would have represented a puzzle, or riddle , even to well-educated contemporaries used to the iconographies of their respective periods. Monographs: Other: Iconography Iconography , as a branch of art history , studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct from artistic style . The word iconography comes from

6566-523: The iconography and hagiography of Indian religions are mudra or gestures with specific meanings. Other features include the aureola and halo , also found in Christian and Islamic art, and divine qualities and attributes represented by asana and ritual tools such as the dharmachakra , vajra , chhatra , sauwastika , phurba and danda . The symbolic use of colour to denote the Classical Elements or Mahabhuta and letters and bija syllables from sacred alphabetic scripts are other features. Under

6664-421: The iconography of climate change created by different stakeholders, the iconography that international organizations create about natural disasters, the iconography of epidemics disseminated in the press, and the iconography of suffering found in social media. An iconography study in communication science analyzed stock photos used in press reporting to depict the social issue of child sexual abuse. Based on

6762-468: The identification of visual content) and "iconology" (the analysis of the meaning of that content), has not been generally accepted, though it is still used by some writers. In the United States , to which Panofsky immigrated in 1931, students such as Frederick Hartt , and Meyer Schapiro continued under his influence in the discipline. In an influential article of 1942, Introduction to an "Iconography of Mediaeval Architecture" , Richard Krautheimer ,

6860-461: The influence of tantra art developed esoteric meanings, accessible only to initiates; this is an especially strong feature of Tibetan art . The art of Indian Religions esp. Hindus in its numerous sectoral divisions is governed by sacred texts called the Aagama which describes the ratio and proportion of the icon, called taalmaana as well as mood of the central figure in a context. For example, Narasimha an incarnation of Vishnu though considered

6958-429: The lack of Byzantine models, became the location of much iconographic innovation, along with the illuminated manuscript , which had already taken a decisively different direction from Byzantine equivalents, under the influence of Insular art and other factors. Developments in theology and devotional practice produced innovations like the subject of the Coronation of the Virgin and the Assumption , Both associated with

7056-627: The life of, or aspect of, Christ or Mary was often reflected in art, and in the later Middle Ages came to dominate the choice of Old Testament scenes in Western Christian art. Whereas in the Romanesque and Gothic periods the great majority of religious art was intended to convey often complex religious messages as clearly as possible, with the arrival of Early Netherlandish painting iconography became highly sophisticated, and in many cases appears to be deliberately enigmatic, even for

7154-654: The lines of history painting , and after some decades the Catholic Council of Trent reined in somewhat the freedom of Catholic artists. Secular painting became far more common in the West from the Renaissance, and developed its own traditions and conventions of iconography, in history painting , which includes mythologies , portraits , genre scenes , and even landscapes , not to mention modern media and genres like photography , cinema , political cartoons , comic books . Renaissance mythological painting

7252-460: The lives of Krishna and Rama . Christian art features Christian iconography, prominently developed in the medieval era and renaissance , and is a prominent aspect of Christian media . Aniconism was rejected within Christian theology from the outset, and the development of early Christian art and architecture occurred within the first seven centuries after Jesus . Small images in

7350-467: The meaning of Christian images and architecture is closely linked to the content of biblical , liturgical and theological texts, which were usually considered authoritative by most patrons, artists and viewers. Technological advances allowed the building-up of huge collections of photographs, with an iconographic arrangement or index, which include those of the Warburg Institute and

7448-483: The most important face of a small box such as this, has the largest reliefs, with five scenes from the Passion of Christ in two registers, and a small top register with a frieze of birds. All four sides follow a design with a middle register containing relatively large New Testament subjects. Above and below this are narrower registers with Old Testament scenes, and at the corners thin vertical images, only one containing

7546-606: The nineteenth century in the works of scholars such as Adolphe Napoleon Didron (1806–1867), Anton Heinrich Springer (1825–1891), and Émile Mâle (1862–1954) all specialists in Christian religious art, which was the main focus of study in this period, in which French scholars were especially prominent. They looked back to earlier attempts to classify and organise subjects encyclopedically like Cesare Ripa and Anne Claude Philippe de Caylus 's Recueil d'antiquités égyptiennes, étrusques, grècques, romaines et gauloises as guides to understanding works of art, both religious and profane, in

7644-512: The number of named types of icons of Mary, with or without the infant Christ, was especially large in the East, whereas Christ Pantocrator was much the commonest image of Christ. Especially important depictions of Mary include the Hodegetria and Panagia types. Traditional models evolved for narrative paintings, including large cycles covering the events of the Life of Christ , the Life of

7742-544: The practice of identification and classification of motifs in images to using iconography as a means to understanding meaning. Panofsky codified an influential approach to iconography in his 1939 Studies in Iconology , where he defined it as "the branch of the history of art which concerns itself with the subject matter or meaning of works of art, as opposed to form," although the distinction he and other scholars drew between particular definitions of "iconography" (put simply,

7840-446: The publications of Erwin Panofsky, has been critically discussed since the mid-1950s, in part also strongly ( Otto Pächt , Svetlana Alpers ). However, among the critics, no one has found a model of interpretation that could completely replace that of Panofsky. As regards the interpretation of Christian art , that Panofsky researched throughout his life, the iconographic interest in texts as possible sources remains important, because

7938-518: The scene on the back panel that Watson calls the Calling of Andrew and Peter by Jesus, which she admits is a rare subject not otherwise known in a similar composition, is called the Transfiguration of Christ by Tkacz, followed by Bayens and a number of reviewers. That would also be an unusual depiction, though of a far more common subject. The key difference in reading the image is whether

8036-637: The scenes are very rarely depicted in surviving art, and several have had new identifications proposed in recent decades. For Carolyn Joslin Watson, in a thesis of 1977 and an article in Gesta in 1981, the key to the programme lies in Milanese church politics of the time, and Ambrose's battle with the Arians. For Catherine Brown Tkacz, in a book of 2001, the main purpose of the programme is to state through typology

8134-477: The servant's ear is the last of the 37 miracles attributed to Jesus in the Bible. Simon Peter was twice arraigned , with John, before the Sanhedrin and directly defied them. Peter takes a missionary journey to Lydda , Joppa and Caesarea . At Joppa, Peter had a vision given him from God which allowed for the eating of previously unclean animals, leading the early believers to the decision to evangelise

8232-561: The sons of Zebedee , James and John . The Gospel of John also depicts Peter fishing, even after the resurrection of Jesus, in the story of the Catch of 153 fish . In Matthew and Mark, Jesus called Simon and his brother Andrew to be " fishers of men ". In the Confession of Peter he proclaims Jesus to be the Christ ( Jewish Messiah ), as described in the three synoptic gospels. It

8330-651: The wavy lines the figures stand on represent cloud or water. All three authors are able to relate the subject they have chosen to their differing interpretations of the overall scheme of decoration. Probably the closest direct comparison to the Brescia casket is the Pola Casket, found in a fragmentary condition under a church floor in Istria in 1906, which has fewer scenes, and those rather more conventional. Another smaller casket, now dismantled, with four Passion scenes

8428-529: The writing on the rear wall in the Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck turned the painting into the record of a marriage contract. Holbein 's The Ambassadors has been the subject of books for a general market with new theories as to its iconography, and the best-sellers of Dan Brown include theories, disowned by most art historians, on the iconography of works by Leonardo da Vinci . The method of iconology , which had developed following

8526-462: Was Cesare Ripa 's emblem book Iconologia . Gian Pietro Bellori , a 17th-century biographer of artists of his own time, describes and analyses, not always correctly, many works. Lessing 's study (1796) of the classical figure Amor with an inverted torch was an early attempt to use a study of a type of image to explain the culture it originated in, rather than the other way round. Iconography as an academic art historical discipline developed in

8624-509: Was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero . The ancient Christian churches all venerate Peter as a major saint and the founder of the Church of Antioch and the Church of Rome , but they differ in their attitudes regarding the authority of his successors . According to Catholic teaching , Jesus promised Peter a special position in the Church. In the New Testament , the name "Simon Peter"

8722-663: Was developed in the Netherlands as a standard classification for recording collections, with the idea of assembling huge databases that will allow the retrieval of images featuring particular details, subjects or other common factors. For example, the Iconclass code "71H7131" is for the subject of " Bathsheba (alone) with David's letter", whereas "71" is the whole " Old Testament " and "71H" the "story of David ". A number of collections of different types have been classified using Iconclass, notably many types of old master print ,

8820-438: Was dismantled and the panels displayed laid out flat on a board forming a cross shape with a frame. The box was restored and re-assembled in 1928. The casket is rectangular, with five faces, four sides and a lid, held together by an internal framework of walnut wood, replaced when the casket was returned to its proper format in 1928 when the current short ivory feet were also added. Numerous carved ivory plaques are attached to

8918-667: Was due to the discussions about the strictness of adherence to the Jewish Law, when the more conservative faction of James the Just took the overhand over the more liberal position of Peter, who soon lost influence. According to Methodist historian James D. G. Dunn , this was not a "usurpation of power", but a consequence of Peter's involvement in missionary activities. The early Church historian Eusebius (c. AD 325) records Clement of Alexandria (c. AD 190) as saying: For they say that Peter and James (the Greater) and John after

9016-638: Was founded in 753 by Desiderius , last of the Lombard kings. Whatever its original function it was used as a reliquary in the Middle Ages , and was referred to in monastery documents as the "ivory sepulchre", possibly because it contained a stone taken from the empty tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem . It played a special role in the convent's Easter liturgy , when in

9114-607: Was in theory reviving the iconography of its Classical Antiquity , but in practice themes like Leda and the Swan developed on largely original lines, and for different purposes. Personal iconographies, where works appear to have significant meanings individual to, and perhaps only accessible by, the artist, go back at least as far as Hieronymous Bosch , but have become increasingly significant with artists like Goya , William Blake , Gauguin , Picasso , Frida Kahlo , and Joseph Beuys . Iconography, often of aspects of popular culture ,

9212-497: Was long thought not to follow a specific programme, although Delbrueck in his monograph of 1939 was able to show that the majority of the scenes, including many of the rare ones, depicted events covered in the lectionary readings for the period of Lent and Easter that were used in Milan in Ambrose's time, about which we have a reasonable amount of information from Ambrose's surviving writings. Andre Grabar in 1969 wrote that "It

9310-458: Was named Simon, the son of a man named Jonah or John. The three synoptic gospels recount how Peter's mother-in-law was healed by Jesus at their home in Capernaum ; these passages depict Peter as being married or widowed. 1 Corinthians 9:5 has also been taken to imply that he was married. In the synoptic gospels, Peter (then Simon) was a fisherman along with his brother, Andrew , and

9408-556: Was probably "no single 'monarchical' bishop in Rome before the middle of the 2nd century...and likely later." Outside of the New Testament, several apocryphal books were later attributed to him, in particular the Acts of Peter , Gospel of Peter , Preaching of Peter , Apocalypse of Peter , and Judgment of Peter , although scholars believe these works to be pseudepigrapha . The New Testament presents Peter's original name as Simon ( / ˈ s aɪ m ə n / ; Σίμων , Simōn in Greek ). In only two passages, his name

9506-596: Was regarded as unhealthy, if not heretical, in the Eastern Church, though it still continued at a glacial pace. More than in the West, traditional depictions were often considered to have authentic or miraculous origins , and the job of the artist was to copy them with as little deviation as possible. The Eastern church also never accepted the use of monumental high relief or free-standing sculpture, which it found too reminiscent of paganism. Most modern Eastern Orthodox icons are very close to their predecessors of

9604-477: Was used for the relics of Gervasius and Protasius , two Milanese Roman martyr saints whose remains were translated (dug up and moved) in Ambrose's time, as recorded in a letter of his; this was one of the earliest translations recorded. The silver lock plate is later, probably from the 8th century, and later metal hinges were removed in 1928. It is not known when it entered the keeping of the convent of San Salvatore, Brescia , but it may well have been soon after it

#690309