Friday, September 29, 2006

The Virgin and the Holy Family

This is a brief selection of unusual images of the Virgin Mary or the Holy Family.

The Virgin Pregnant with Jesus:
  • Piero della Francesca, Madonna del Parto (1467), Cappella del Cimitero, Monterchi, Italy, near Arezzo
Flight into Egypt:Madonna as Advocate (Haghiosoritissa):Madonna Nursing or with Young Child:Reclining Madonna:
  • Arnolfo di Cambio, Madonna (1296-1302), marble sculpture meant to be a part of a Nativity group, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence
See also The Cult of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages (from the Metropolitan Museum, New York) and Rare Portraits of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Blessed Virgin Mary

Mary in the Golden Legend:

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Test Review

Our first exam will be on Monday, September 25. Please be familiar with the following:

Terms:
Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend, Jacobus de Voragine)
icon
iconography
hagiography
Alban Butler (Lives of the Saints)
Feast Days (Beheading of John the Baptist, Nativity of Mary, Immaculate Conception, Annunciation)

Texts:
Gospel accounts of the Annunciation (especially Luke)
Gospel accounts of John the Baptist (especially the beheading)
Golden legend, Nativity of Mary

Paintings/Painters:
Byzantine icons
Giotto, Life of Mary, Arena Chapel
El Greco
*Caravaggio

There will be an essay asking you to compare and contrast the religious aims of two different depictions of the same sacred scene. How do the artists use artistic techniques to impart different messages about saintly heroism?

Monday, September 18, 2006

The Annunciation in Byzantine Icons

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Annunciation Scenes

This list cannot possibly be complete and exhaustive. See also the full list of Images of the Annunciation from The Text This Week.

The Annunciation in the Gospels

At the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary with the news that she would conceive God's son. It is mentioned, briefly and without any real detail, in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (Latin Vulgate and Douay-Rheims literal translation). The familiar version of the story as we know it is found, as with the Nativity narrative, only in the Gospel of Luke's first chapter (Latin Vulgate). Here is how it reads in the Douay Rheims translation:
26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin's name was Mary.

28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 Who having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.

31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus.

32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.

33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?

35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren.

37 Because no word shall be impossible with God.

38 And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Images of Annunciation scenes follow.

Friday, September 01, 2006

John the Baptist

Caravaggio, Beheading of John the Baptist, 1607-08, Pro-Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, La Valletta, Malta
Caravaggio, Beheading of John the Baptist, 1607-08, Pro-Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, La Valletta, Malta

Read the story of John the Baptist in the Gospels, in the Douay-Rheims literal translation of the Vulgate:John the Baptist in the Golden Legend:Images of John the Baptist: