Art History discussion

Doing a class project on "the many faces of Jesus Christ." Looking for recommendations of books or articles on early Christian art, plus your favorite images of Jesus, preferably from the earlier centuries. Thanks.

I don't know how early you are looking for, but I like the one by Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci The Baptism of Christ. If you go to the last one on the list I have the link of the picture. Hopefully it comes through (I'm kind of new at this, therefore I haven't posted the picture itself).



New Testament Notes
Baptism of Christ


Baptism of Christ is decribed in the Gospels: Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:29-34.
In the course of time John the Baptist appeared in Judaea and proclaimed: 'Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is upon you!' (Matthew 3:1-2). "Everyone flocked to him from Jerusalem, Judaea, and the Jordan valley, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." (Matthew 3:5-6).
Then Jesus arrived to the Jordan river and asked John to baptize him. At first John refused, saying 'It is I who need to be baptized by you.' (Mat.3:14), but Jesus insisted as it was commanded by God. Then John agreed.
"No sooner had Jesus been baptized and come up out of the water than the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove to alight on him. And there came a voice from heaven saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I take delight.' (Matthew 3:16-17).
See: Cima da Conegliano. Baptism of Christ in the Jordan.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. The Baptism of Christ.
Gerard David. The Baptism of Christ.

Fra Angelico. Baptism of Christ.

El Greco The Baptism of Christ. Baptism of Christ.

Alexander Ivanov. The Appearance of Christ to the People.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo The Baptism of Christ.

Joahim Patinir. The Baptism of Christ.

Piero della Francesca. Baptism of Christ.

Nicolas Poussin. The Baptism of Christ, The Baptism of Christ, The Baptism of Christ, The Baptism of Christ.

Henryk Siemiradzki. Baptism of Christ.

Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci. The Baptism of Christ. c.1472-1475. Oil and tempera on wood. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

www.abcgallery.com/L/leonardo/leonard...

Tom wrote: "Doing a class project on "the many faces of Jesus Christ...."

Hi Heather, Thanks for that list. The link for the Leonardo paingting worked fine. I'll look up the others. Coincidentally, I had been thinking that Baptism paintings would be especially interesting to check out, since the Gospel of Luke presents John the Baptist as a cousin of Jesusl thus, presumably, art work might be expected to show some degree of family resemblance.

Hi Tom - if you're still interested, here's a link to a famous Byzantine mosaic in Istanbul's Haigha Sofia church/mosque/museum:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/145...

The most famous of Hagia Sophia's Byzantine mosaics is this 13th-century Deësis Mosaic, depicting Christ Pantrocrator flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist.

Christ holds a closed Book of Gospels in his left hand and raises his right in benediction. His gentle expression is that of the "Palaeologan Christ," who reveals God’s compassion for humanity. On either side, the Virgin and St. John the Baptist are turned towards Christ in attitude of worship.

This mosaic dates from shortly after the Restoration of Constantinople (1261) and was probably commissioned to express gratitude for the victory of Michael VIII Palaeologus (1261-1282), which put an end to Crusader occupation.

The wistful and grave expressions of Christ and the saints in this mosaic reflect a profound spirituality and announce a new epoch of Byzantine art marked by high aesthetic standards and classical trends.

Thanks, David. Although I finished my class term paper several weeks ago, I'm still collecting Jesus images, both ancient and modern, as a possible discussion topic for my church.