Art
12/9/04
Introduction
- rejection
of monophysite philosophy – partial explanation of iconoclasm
- 787
Seventh Ecumenical Council – icons to receive veneration, pass on to the
object, worship is only for God
- next
to baptism – the most contentious issue
- Manicheeism
– all matter is evil
- all
icons seemed to be against all matter
- Augustine
– some say that he never moved beyond Manichee approach to matter / spirit
view
- matter
/ spirit dichotomy
- Islam
– does not allow for the painting of a face, Islam’s start was near the
same time as the iconoclasm controversy
-
Art
- volatile
- art
confronts immediately
Images
- gold
color around head – represents glory of God
- light
of God breaks through the robe
- hand
is positioned for blessing
- cross
became a central image in the West
- the
East was more for glorification of Christ
- empty
cross is sign of resurrection
- in
West, Mary is shown in blue, in
East, Mary is shown in gold\
- blessing
– hand has ring finger and thumb together
- tilt
of Mary’s head – tenderly motherly care
- elongation
of face accentuated the eyes
- bishop
Iconostasis
Orthodox
- stand
throughout the worship service
- go to
become part of the history of the church
- authority
of salvation is in the church, not personal faith
Architecture
- abbey
church of Sandenee in Paris
- gothic
cathedrals built in stages (catastrophes, fires, etc)
- asp –
round center section at the back of the church, usually behind and above
the alter
- post-reformation
– renamed church to “meeting house”
- in
order to associate “church” with the people
Class Discussion
Basil – impacted greatly by iconoclasm, left-wing of
reformation
Were the Lord’s Supper disputes related to
iconoclasm? Role of material and
worship?
1529
Lutherans and Calvinists – Lord’s Supper
- Zwingli
- Calvin
– denied this
- Luther
– ubiquity of the Eucharist
- R____
What is the role of money in art and at what point did
this become controversial?
Cathedrals played same role as a new “shopping mall” in a
dying neighborhood
- brought
jobs
- provided
training
- the
building also provided new opportunities for architecture (similar to
war-time medical advances and weapons)
Is it the symbols or the elaborateness of the symbols that
are the problem?
Reminder – illiterate populace
- no
catecheses
- no
‘Sunday school’
- only
wealthy families could hire teachers
- icons
were the way they learned the faith
church bells – no way for people to hear what was being
spoken in cathedrals
Elevation of one of the senses above the others
- why
do some lead to idoltary
modern church interaction with images/symbols
- no
images in non-denominational churches – “seeker-friendly” churches
- images
provide opportunity for interpretation
- modernity
focused on exact, defined meaning
- words
(more and more of them) further define the subject
- art
leaves the interpretation (moreso) up to the viewer
- postmodern
(pendulum swinging) mindset will be open to images
- in
addition, image-driven culture feeds this
- information-overload
will also push people toward images