Synopses & Reviews
Thanks to current portrayals of Jesus of Nazareth, we are apt to think of him as having long hair and a short beard. But, the holy scriptures do not describe Christand#8217;s physiognomy, and his representations are inconsistent in early Christian and medieval arts. How did this long-haired archetype come to be accepted in the late ninth century as the standard iconography of the Son of God? To answer this question,and#160;
The Many Faces of Christand#160;examines the complex historical and cultural dynamics underlying the making and final establishment of Christand#8217;s image between late antiquity and the early Renaissance.
and#160;
Taking into account a broad spectrum of iconographic and textual sources, Michele Bacci describes the process of creating Christand#8217;s image against the backdrop of ancient and biblical conceptions of beauty and physicality as indicators of moral, ascetic, or messianic qualities. He investigates the increasingly dominant role played by visual experience in Christian religious practice, which promoted belief in the existence of ancient documents depicting Christand#8217;s appearance, and he shows how this resulted in the shaping of portrait-like images that were said to be true to life. With glances at analogous progressions in the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and Taoist traditions, this beautifully illustrated book will be of interest to specialists of Late Antique, Byzantine, and medieval studies, as well as anyone interested in the shifting, controversial conceptions of the historical figure of Jesus Christ.
Review
and#8220;The show skirts the thornier issue of Rembrandtand#8217;s relationship to Jews in general. On that subject the catalog has more to offer.and#8221; and#8212;The New York Times
Review
“Scholarly and captivating catalog.”—The Big Think Reviews The Big Think Reviews
Review
"[A]n engaging scholarly text . . . From this study, Rembrandt emerges as an ever more expert storyteller and examiner of humanity."and#8212;A Golahny, Choice
Review
and#8220;Scholarly and captivating catalog.and#8221;and#8212;The Big Think Reviewsand#160;
Review
and#8220;This rigorous and innovative study makes a vital contribution to an ongoing debate about the emergence and crystallization of a particular physiognomy for Jesus in Christian art. Drawing upon comparative material from other religious traditions in the ancient world, the author demonstrates an impressive facility with, and command of, a broad range of evidence. Bacciand#8217;s fresh insights are compelling and will engage readers from a range of backgrounds and scholarly disciplines.and#8221;and#160; and#160; and#160;
Review
and#8220;This erudite and very innovative book on the invention of Christand#8217;s portrait is the first such study to give full weight to the influence of biblical and later texts that deal with iconic, ascetic beauty.and#8221;and#160;
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Review
and#8220;What did Jesus of Nazareth look like? Did he have curly or long, blond or black hair, was his beard short or flowing? Written by a brilliant scholar and narrator, this book is the first comprehensive history of the shaping of Christand#8217;s face in Eastern and Western Christianity from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance. It analyses the search for and promotion of authentic images and authoritative texts. Addressing a wider public, the book offers groundbreaking insights into the religious imagination regarding the nature and role of holy men not only in Christianity but also in Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, and Islam.and#8221;and#160;
Synopsis
With the creation of the dramatic
Supper at Emmaus (Louvre)and#160;and a series of intimate oil sketches of Christ on oak panels, Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) overturned the entire history of Christian art. Traditionally, when depicting Christ, artists had relied on rigidly copied prototypes and icons. Among Rembrandt's innovations was his use of a Jewish model to portray a Christ imbued with empathy, gentleness, grace, and faithfulness to nature.
Lavishly illustrated, this captivating and important book presents the seven known panels, along with more than 60 paintings, drawings, and prints by Rembrandt and his pupils. Essays by expert contributors offer insights into the production of the panels and their relationship to other works in Rembrandt's oeuvre; how he changed the meaning and status of the canonical image of Christ in northern European art; and much more. Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus is a marvelously intriguing study of how one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age revolutionized an aspect of art history dating to antiquity.
Synopsis
An intriguing new look at the historical significance of Rembrandt's representations of Christ
With the creation of the dramatic Supper at Emmaus (Louvre) and a series of intimate oil sketches of Christ on oak panels, Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) overturned the entire history of Christian art. Traditionally, when depicting Christ, artists had relied on rigidly copied prototypes and icons. Among Rembrandt's innovations was his use of a Jewish model to portray a Christ imbued with empathy, gentleness, grace, and faithfulness to nature.
Lavishly illustrated, this captivating and important book presents the seven known panels, along with more than 60 paintings, drawings, and prints by Rembrandt and his pupils. Essays by expert contributors offer insights into the production of the panels and their relationship to other works in Rembrandt's oeuvre; how he changed the meaning and status of the canonical image of Christ in northern European art; and much more. Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus is a marvelously intriguing study of how one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age revolutionized an aspect of art history dating to antiquity.
Synopsis
In
The Many Faces of Christ Michele Bacci, who has written extensively on the history of religious images and cult-objects in Byzantium and the Medieval West, examines the complex historical and cultural dynamics underlying the making and final successful establishment of Christand#8217;s image between late Antiquity and the early Renaissance. Unlike earlier studies, the process is described against the background of ancient and biblical conceptions of beauty and the physical look as indicators of moral, ascetic, or messianic qualities. It takes into account a broad spectrum of both iconographic and textual sources and investigates the increasingly dominant role played by visual experience in Christian religious practice, which promoted belief in the existence of ancient documents of Christand#8217;s appearance and resulted in the shaping of portrait-like images, said to be true-to-life. Such phenomena are described in a comparative perspective, with glances at analogous processes in the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and Taoist traditions.
This book is of interest not only for specialists of Late Antique, Byzantine, and Medieval studies, but also for anybody interested in the historical figure of Jesus and its shifting, controversial conceptions over the course of history.
About the Author
Lloyd DeWitt is Associate Curator in the Department of European Painting before 1900 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Blaise Ducos is Curator in the Dand#233;partement des Peintures at the Musand#233;e du Louvre, Paris. Franziska Gottwald is a postdoctoral fellow at Queens University, Kingston, Ontario. George S. Keyes is Curator Emeritus of European Paintings at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Shelley Perlove is Professor of Art History at the University of Michigan, Dearborn. Larry Silver is Professor of Northern Renaissance Art at the University of Pennsylvania. Seymour Slive, a preeminant scholar of Dutch art and author of numerous books on the subject, was formerly Director of the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University. Ken Sutherland is Conservation Scientist and Mark Tucker is Vice Chairman of Conservation, both at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Table of Contents
Introduction
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Part One: The Myth of the Archetypal Image
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Lifetime Portraits in Asia
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Christian Acheiropoieta and the Authentic Portraits of Christ and the Virgin mary
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Mythic and Material Images
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Material Indicators of Holy Personsand#8217; Earthly Presence
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The Exercise of Sight and the Art of Body Inspection
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Figurative and Written Records of the Holy Menand#8217;s Physical Characteristics
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Part Two: The Looks and Locks of Jesus of Nazareth
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Christand#8217;s Controversial Visibility
and#160;
Handsome or Ugly?
and#160;
Conflicting Hairstyles
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Christand#8217;s and#145;Identikitand#8217;
and#160;
The Colour of Christand#8217;s Skin
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Disputations on Curly and Woolly Hair
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Hair and Priestly Fashion
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Christand#8217;s Long Hair and St. Pauland#8217;s Baldness
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Epilogue
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References
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Bibliography
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Acknowledgements
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Photo Acknowledgements
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Index