The Second Commandment And "True Worship" In The Iconoclastic Controversy

2010 ◽  
pp. 541-554
Keyword(s):  
Second Commandment ◽  
Iconoclastic Controversy

Classical Conceptions of Visuality and Representation in John of Damascus' Defense of Holy Images1

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-308
Author(s):  
James A. Francis
Keyword(s):  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Second Sophistic ◽  
Word And Image ◽  
John Of Damascus ◽  
History Of ◽  
Classical Culture ◽  
Common Era ◽  
Iconoclastic Controversy

The Defense of Holy Images by John of Damascus stands as the archetypal exposition of the Christian theology of images. Written at the outbreak of the Iconoclastic Controversy, it has been mostly valued for its theological content and given scholarly short shrift as a narrowly focused polemic. The work is more than that. It presents a complex and profound explication of the nature of images and the phenomenon of representation, and is an important part of the “history of looking”in western culture. A long chain of visual conceptions connects classical Greek and Roman writers, such as Homer and Quintilian, to John: the living image, the interrelation of word and image, and image and memory, themes elaborated particularly in the Second Sophistic period of the early Common Era. For John to deploy this heritage so skillfully to the thorny problem of the place of images in Christianity, at the outbreak of a violent conflict that lasted a further 100 years after his writing, manifests an intellect and creativity that has not been sufficiently appreciated. The Defense of Holy Images, understood in this context, is another innovative synthesis of Christianity and classical culture produced by late antique Christian writers.

The Iconoclastic Controversy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian E. Daley, SJ
Keyword(s):  
Fifth Century ◽  
Mosaic Image ◽  
John Of Damascus ◽  
Iconoclastic Controversy

Earlier Eastern Christian authors saw the veneration of images as idolatrous. Yet from the late fifth century, representations of Christ and the saints grew increasingly popular. Official hostility also grew. In 726, Emperor Leo III ordered a mosaic image of Christ to be removed from the palace in Constantinople. Controversy continued through the middle of the following century. Key figures were Emperor Constantine V, a critic of image-veneration, and Patriarch Nicephorus, whose writings in its defense provided—along with the council at Nicaea in 787—the main theological arguments linking this practice with the orthodox understanding of the person of Christ. Other important defenders were Patriarch Germanus of Constantinople, the monk John of Damascus, and the monastic leader Theodore of Stoudios. The conflict was finally resolved on March 11, 843, by the gesture of a procession with icons. The veneration of images was now accepted as standard Church practice.

scholarly journals The transfiguration at Shivta. Retracing early Byzantine iconography

Zograf ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Maayan-Fanar
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Negev Desert ◽  
Missing Link ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Christian Iconography ◽  
Iconoclastic Controversy ◽  
Early Byzantine

The Transfiguration constitutes one of the most important events in the New Testament. Yet, only few pre-iconoclastic examples of the Transfiguration scene have survived: S. Apollinaire in Classe, Ravenna, St. Catherine Monastery, Sinai and Porec in Istria, each has its unique iconography. Therefore, scholars have concluded that the Transfiguration scene became widespread only after the iconoclastic controversy. We aim to show, that Transfiguration scene in Shivta, an early Byzantine settlement in the Negev desert, allows a glimpse into the early Christian iconography of the well-known scene, providing a missing link to its development in the post-iconoclastic period.

Iconoclastic Controversy in Cyprus:

2017 ◽  
pp. 25-54
Author(s):  
Nico Carpentier
Keyword(s):  
Iconoclastic Controversy

Cinderella! Cinderella!: A closer look into Dutch seventeenth-century gender roles and genre paintings

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Downs
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Gender Roles ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Golden Age ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Art Form ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Second Commandment

This article highlights a time when Northern artists were no longer allowed to paint or carve holy images as they had done during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The Catholic Church banned this art form due to the interpretation of the second commandment: ‘Thou shalt make no graven image of thy God’. Genre paintings were the outcome of this banishment and a way to represent and depict an everyday life scene in a Dutch seventeenth-century household. The paintings would show the best of a situation and also its worst counterpart in almost a mocking comical way. By exploring these paintings, we come to understand how women were fed propaganda into becoming a better housewife, mother and bearing the weight of physical nourisher to all. Although amusing, the images have been celebrated and considered legendary during the Golden Age of the Netherlands. While taking a closer look at genre paintings and the everyday practices of the Dutch household, we can connect patterns to how these paintings affected women and influenced their domestic duties in the Golden Age.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document