Picturing the Bible; The Earliest Christian Art

by Jeffrey Spier; With contributions by Herbert L. Kessler, Steven Fine, Robin M. J

• ISBN13: 9780300116830
• ISBN10: 0300116837
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2007-12-13
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Picturing the Bibleexplores the vast tradition of Christian art at its very beginnings in the third century A.D., just as Christianity was emerging from its outlawed, clandestine status to become the state religion of the Roman Empire. What images did these Christians use to express their faith openly? Were they the first believers to part with Mosaic law by creating "graven images"? What Jewish and pagan sources, if any, did they look to for inspiration? When did they begin to depict the life of Jesus? This beautifully illustrated book takes up such questions, revealing the story of how Christian art began through insights from recent discoveries. Leading experts explore topics ranging from Jewish art in the Greco-Roman period and the influence of Constantine, to the development of church decoration and the meaning of illustrated Bibles. Throughout we see the distinctive pictorial selection of Early Christians, who at first depicted Old Testament figuresAbraham and Isaac, Jonah, and Danieland did not invent new images until over a century later. The special meanings attached to old images and new ones like the fish, anchor, and Good Shepherd all come to life in these pages. The essays are complemented by extensive new archaeological research on a range of more than one hundred objects, drawn from major museums of America and Europe. Frescoes, marble sculpture and sarcophagi, silver vessels and reliquaries, carved ivories, decorated crosses, and illuminated Bibles are illustrated in new color photographs, allowing the reader an unprecedented encounter with Early Christian art.

Author Biography

Jeffrey Spier is adjunct professor of classics at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Herbert L. Kessler is professor of the history of art at Johns Hopkins University. Steven Fine is Jewish Foundation Professor of Judaic Studies at Yeshiva University. Robin M. Jensen is Luce Chancellor’s Professor of the History of Christian Worship and Art at Vanderbilt University. Johannes G. Deckers is professor at the Institute for Byzantine Studies, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich. Mary Charles-Murray is professor of theology at the University of Oxford.

Table of Contents

Lenders to the Exhibition
International Honorary Committee
Director's Foreword
Acknowledgments
The Earliest Christian Art: From Personal Salvation to Imperial Power	p. 1
Jewish Art and Biblical Exegesis in the Greco-Roman World	p. 25
The Emergence of Christian Art	p. 51
Early Christian Images and Exegesis	p. 65
Constantine the Great and Early Christian Art	p. 87
Bright Gardens of Paradise	p. 111
The Word Made Flesh in Early Decorated Bibles	p. 141
Catalogue: The Emergence of Christian Art
Exegesis and the Earliest Christian Images	p. 171
Jewish Symbols	p. 202
The Path to Salvation	p. 206
The Christian Empire
The Life, Passion, and Resurrection of Christ	p. 219
The Crucifixion	p. 227
The Cross	p. 233
Apostolic Succession and Traditio Legis	p. 237
Complex Exegesis	p. 253
Illustrated Bibles	p. 268
Religious Images as Imperial Messages	p. 283
Map	p. 288
Bibliography	p. 289
Index	p. 301
Photograph Credits	p. 309
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.