Art from the bible
jay_emm
Kerygmania Host
There was some fuss that the olympic ceremony included a scene that parodied artwork inspired from the bible (I guess the flotilla looked a bit like the calming of the storm). And that inspired me to think about art and the bible.
So are there any paintings that remind you of otherwise forgetton stories or events? Any paintings that have little details that show particularly close attention to a passage? Maybe that makes you feel an emotional response related to the event portrayed?
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This has the opportunity to be link heavy, so I'll remind you to make sure you follow the rules, and note commandment 7 and the faq on links.
Note it has to be legal (copywrite and protection issues), to help this please link to galleries or other curated sites.
Anything potentially NSFW to be two clicks and tagged (think about nativity scenes), does the link actually support a keryg related point?
If the post uses more than a few links to tell a story (e.g. follow how different artists viewed the same event through tine), please post that between 4-5pm and 8-9pm BST today , and still be sensible about the amount (and make sure the main point is keryg related).
[Thanks for pointing the Eurocentrism]
So are there any paintings that remind you of otherwise forgetton stories or events? Any paintings that have little details that show particularly close attention to a passage? Maybe that makes you feel an emotional response related to the event portrayed?
--
This has the opportunity to be link heavy, so I'll remind you to make sure you follow the rules, and note commandment 7 and the faq on links.
Note it has to be legal (copywrite and protection issues), to help this please link to galleries or other curated sites.
Anything potentially NSFW to be two clicks and tagged (think about nativity scenes), does the link actually support a keryg related point?
If the post uses more than a few links to tell a story (e.g. follow how different artists viewed the same event through tine), please post that between 4-5pm and 8-9pm BST today , and still be sensible about the amount (and make sure the main point is keryg related).
[Thanks for pointing the Eurocentrism]
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Comments
The controversial art in question was not intended to portray a Biblical scene but rather the feast of Bacchus/Dionysus. Some people are just looking for excuses to feel offended.
I suppose one could complain about promoting paganism by displaying a literal bacchanal, but if you're worried about pagan rituals why are you watching the Olympics in the first place?
So Michaelangelo's David statue is famously underdressed. I understand the statue is inspired by 2samuel6:16+ (David dancing before the ark)
[Apparently this is not the case, it's meant to be David fighting Goliath.]
Textually I'm not sure the passage supports nakedness. Clearly something fills Michah with contempt and is inappropriate before serving girls.
But I tend to have Micah's reaction even with the song inspired by the event, at that is fully clothed and restrained, and with no kings involved.
So given my temperament, the statues existence [even if I misunderstood] probably does challenge me over a passage I would otherwise skip over and rationalise much more.
Michelangelo’s David is also famously uncircumcised, which would seem to be more of an issue from the perspective of Biblical accuracy.
In the live show apart from the very temporary: "camera, fixture, row of people, backdrop" order (where there are limited options for both) I didn't really see the alleged connection either.
Thread wise, the pictures at the very bottom of your link (which are actually artworks designed to engage thoughts on the last supper), are probably more interesting.
And on Leonardo's work, till it was contrasted with the narrow bridge, I'd never noticed it before.but what's with the hall being so deep.
He should have been reminded when painting the Sistine chapel. It seems there's a fresco there of Zipporahs. Be interesting what story beats of moses are picked up on and what are omitted.
Varocchio's bronze David (in mini-tunic) has Greaves, which seem out of place (with the whole discussion of armour and helmet), so there's always something to question.
It looks fancy, but looks to have some thought into being not anachronistic.
"Do you have to behave like some oik from Judea? If you want people to respect you, you ought to know better by now".
After all, her father had been king. She knew what kings were supposed to do. Or, did men wear underwear in those days? Did David dance so vigorously that his privates were briefly revealed?
On incongruities in Biblical paintings, one, of course, is that once paintings west of Greece moved on from icon style, painters habitually set scenes in towns and countryside that look far more like 15th/16th century Italy or Belgium than the eastern Mediterranean.
A good quote making it way 'round over here is that Christians are much more interested in being outraged than curious.
That was very obvious with Zipporah, one had leaned into the identification with Moses's Cushite wife (reference and links to follow but Zipporah is obviously described as Moses wife, and much later Aaron is upset about him marrying a Cushite. Which you could extrapolate in lots of ways), a lot looked very Belgic.
I'm intrigued about the icons, did they just stick with it a pallete and style "this is what an icon looks like" or with a better understanding of regional fashions.
(If there's any that have a good biblical explanation, or where we learn more about what a character might have been like, flag it up)
All Christians, huh?
Just Say No
(And yes sarcasm is easily missed. There's lots of slippery slopes here and we can resolve them later if needed)
Jay-emm kerygmania host
So while it was the inspiration for me thinking about art. the vast majority of things about the olympic catwalk aren't keygmanial. They might be worthy of it's own thread about destructing the piece, or discussing what the Christian responses were and the reactions to them (if so, I strongly recommend seeing it, rather than discussing it second hand it's around 2:30 on the BBC feed)
You've got a post or so to prepare here, but it will be transferred. Of course if you do find something go ahead (maybe it made the logistics of having 13 people in a room come to mind, despite having 2*25ish)
Similarly more generally secular/pagan or pagan themed art, will be a heavenly forum topic unless there's a connection or contrast to be made (or a very brief tangent). That does leave lots of possibilities, just consider where Paul was, for instance.
Then don’t post it here.
Doublethink, Admin
I promised links and references on the zipporah in art.
on the circumsism (not that you'd know it)
and zipporah more generally
(The relevant texts are near the pictures and theres a range of different pictures, so I won't separate them).
I was hoping that there'd be more from events/passages I'd forgotten about.
A better understanding of what things were really like (mostly I suspect, "unlike the painting..." )
Maybe some smaller questions raised (are there any ot couples who don't meet feeding livestock at wells?)
Are there any interesting trends, did 16th c artists paint the last supper and 14th c the crucifixion (and if so does that tell us about how they understood the bible, or just who was buying paintings)
There were/are regional developments and variations. Not all icons conform to the more familiar Byzantine pattern, which has had a resurgence in recent years.
There are Optic and Ethiopian styles, which I find attractive, and there's a recently developed convention that icons of Celtic Saints can be painted in a 'looser' and to my eyes, somewhat more 'romantic' style.
Some even discern the development of a distinctly 'British' style from frescoes from the monastery at Tolleshunt Knights in Essex.
Iconography in Russia, Romania and other parts of Eastern Europe has been influenced by Roman Catholic styles although there have been moves back towards the 'classic' Rublev-like Russian style which owes more to Byzantine antecedents.
In simple terms there wasn't a great deal of divergence between Eastern and Western iconography until a few centuries after the Great Schism.