The matter of the position of Jesus’ burial cloths in a poetic text of the Orthodox Liturgy and in Iconography witnesses (original) (raw)
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Jesus' Burial Shroud in the Four Gospels
This brief paper highlights the contribution each of the canonical Gospels makes to our understanding of Jesus' burial. What became of the burial shroud? And whatever became of the facecloth mentioned by John?
Dissolving with Lazarus: Late Ancient Liturgical Bodies in Pieces
Studia Theologica - Nordic Journal of Theology, 2017
The day before Palm Sunday, early Christians celebrated the biblical figure of Lazarus. This article surveys late ancient liturgical compositions for this feast. It explores the way in which the authors described the disintegration and reintegration of Lazarus’ body. His death and reinvigoration surely point towards the resurrection of Christ; yet the detailed and morbid displays which these liturgical texts create suggest that the authors worked with more complex pallets. I argue that we should resist the temptation of a simplistic reading of the Byzantine liturgical past. Scholars are currently rediscovering the subtleties of Byzantine literary composition, but religious texts are still largely viewed as simple, didactic and naïve. Lazarus actually appears as a grotesquely dynamic corpse. At the same time his body is just as ordinary and human as any of the people who heard the macabre stories. He was them. This makes the liturgical works into texts about the churchgoers’ decay. I suggest that the authors projected the chilling imagery of dissolving bodies with an aim similar to that of modern writers of grotesque literature; it speaks to the ambivalent awareness of human mortality. The homilists and hymnographers addressed the abject embodied experiences of their congregation.
Mirabilia Ars, nº 2 (2015 /1), Institut d'Estudis Medievals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2015, p. 200-226, 2015
As a result of the fact that the New Testament mentions little episodes and provides very few details of the real life of the Virgin Mary, several pious apocryphal legends emerged during the first centuries between the eastern Christian communities, which tried by all means to solve this hermetic silence surrounding the birth, childhood, youth, adulthood and death of the Mother of Jesus. These apocryphal accounts were then assumed and interpreted by numerous Church Fathers, theologians and sacral orators. These reflections of such prestigious thinkers structured a solid corpus of doctrine from which several devotions and Marian liturgical feasts of great importance would arise shortly after. The supernatural birth of Mary, after her miraculous conception in the womb of her elderly and sterile mother Anne, is a primary milestone in her “imaginary” life. As natural fruit of these heterogeneous literary and theological sources, the European medieval art and, in a very special way, the Byzantine one, addressed with remarkable enthusiasm the iconographic theme of The Nativity of the Virgin Mary, especially since the 10th-11th centuries, as one of the most significant episodes in the life of the Theotókos. On this basis, our paper proposes a triple complementary objective. First and foremost, it will highlight the content of the apocryphal sources and some thoughts or patristic exegesis on the subject, with particular emphasis in the homilies of St. John Damascene. Secondly, it will look at some Byzantine paintings on The Nativity of Mary, to determine to what extent the apocryphal accounts and the exegetical or doctrinal reflections on this Marian event are reflected in the characters, situations, attitudes, accessories and scenic items represented in these paintings. Finally, it will suggest some author’s interpretations which seem plausible on the possible symbolic meanings underlying in this relevant, dogmatic core and in its corresponding iconographic theme. Resumen: Como consecuencia de que el Nuevo Testamento menciona escasos episodios y brinda muy pocos detalles de la vida real de la Virgen María, entre las comunidades cristianas orientales surgieron durante los primeros siglos varias leyendas piadosas apócrifas, que trataron por todos los medios de suplir ese hermético silencio en torno al nacimiento, infancia, juventud, adultez y muerte de la Madre de Jesús. Esos relatos apócrifos fueron luego asumidos e interpretados por numerosos Padres de la Iglesia, teólogos y oradores sacros. Esas reflexiones de tan prestigiosos pensadores constituyeron un sólido cuerpo doctrinario del que se derivarían poco después varias devociones y fiestas litúrgicas marianas de extraordinaria importancia. Hito primordial en esa “imaginaria” vida de María es su sobrenatural nacimiento, tras su milagrosa concepción en el seno de su anciana y estéril madre Ana. Como fruto natural de esas heterogéneas fuentes literarias y teológicas, el arte medieval europeo y, de modo muy especial, el bizantino, abordaron con notable entusiasmo el tema iconográfico de la Natividad de la Virgen María a partir, sobre todo, de los siglos X-XI, como uno de los episodios más significativos de la vida de la Theotokos. Sobre esta base, en nuestra Ponencia nos proponemos un triple objetivo complementario. Pondremos, ante todo, en luz el contenido de las fuentes apócrifas y algunas consideraciones o exégesis patrísticas sobre el tema, con especial énfasis en las homilías de San Juan Damasceno. En segundo lugar, analizaremos algunas obras pictóricas bizantinas sobre la Natividad de María, para determinar hasta qué punto los relatos apócrifos y las reflexiones exegéticas o doctrinales sobre este acontecimiento mariano se reflejan en los personajes, situaciones, actitudes, accesorios y elementos escenográficos escenografía representados en esas pinturas. Por último, sugeriremos ciertas interpretaciones personales que juzgamos plausibles sobre los posibles significados simbólicos subyacentes en este relevante núcleo dogmático y en su correspondiente tema iconográfico.
Imago. Revista de Emblemática y Cultura Visual, 2020
• The purpose of this article is to interpret the deep doctrinal meanings underlying the bed that appear in the symbolic depiction of some images of the Annunciation of the 14th and 15th centuries. To do so, we adopt two complementary methodological strategies, based on comparative analysis. In essence, from the outset we analyze an abundant corpus of explanatory texts by Fathers of the Greek-Eastern Church when they interpret some quotations from the Old Testament that include metaphorical terms such as thalamus, Sponsus, and Sponsa; second, we analyze twelve images from the Annunciation of the period that include a bed. Based on the fact that these Greek-Eastern Church Fathers unanimously consider that these metaphorical expressions signify the dogmas of the human incarnation of God the Son in the womb of the Virgin, and, as a consequence, also the virginal divine motherhood of Mary, we conclude that the bed included in these Annunciations is an eloquent visual symbol or metaphor for both dogmas.. RESUMEN• Este artículo tiene el propósito de interpretar los profundos significados doc-trinales subyacentes en el lecho que aparece en la escenografía de algunas imágenes de la Anunciación de los siglos xiv y xv. Para ello adoptamos dos estrategias metodológicas comple-mentarias, basadas en análisis comparativos: de entrada analizamos un abundante corpus de textos exegéticos de Padres de la Iglesia Greco-oriental cuando interpretan algunos textos del Antiguo Testamento que incluyen términos metafóricos tales como thalamus, Sponsus y Spon sa; en segundo lugar, analizamos doce imágenes de la Anunciación del período que incluyen un lecho. Basándonos en el hecho de que dichos Padres greco-orientales consideran unáni-memente que esas expresiones metafóricas significan los dogmas de la encarnación humana de Dios Hijo en el vientre de la Virgen, y, como consecuencia, también la virginal maternidad divina de María, concluimos que el lecho incluido en esas Anunciaciones es un elocuente símbolo o metáfora visual de ambos dogmas.
L. Lavan (ed.), Burial and Memorial in Late Antiquity. Late Antique Archaeology 13/1, 2024
This paper explores the connection between the burial habits of the Christian lay elite and the origins of the use of partitioned and transferred relics of saints. On the basis of textual and archaeological evidence, it is argued that the mobility of relics was linked to the desire of powerful Christians to have their dead buried near the saints (ad sanctos). Perhaps emulating the model of the mausoleum of Constantine the Great, the earliest known translations of relics were conducted for the consecration of private funerary shrines in 4th c. Anatolia and Constantinople. Privately sponsored by lay aristocrats in collaboration with bishops and monks, these early translations were opposed by imperial legislation and parts of the Christian community, but they gradually contributed to normalising this controversial practice, until it became an established aspect of public religion by the 5th c.
IMAGO. Revista de Emblemática y Cultura Visual, 2021
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this article is to interpret the deep doctrinal meanings underlying the bed that appear in the symbolic depiction of some images of the Annunciation of the 14th and 15th centuries. To do so, I adopt two complementary methodological strategies, based on comparative analysis. In essence, from the outset I analyze an abundant corpus of explanatory texts by Fathers of the Greek-Eastern Church when they interpret some quotations from the Old Testament that include metaphorical terms such as thalamus, Sponsus, and Sponsa; second, I analyze twelve images from the Annunciation of the period that include a bed. Based on the fact that these Greek-Eastern Fathers unanimously consider that these metaphorical expressions signify the dogmas of the human incarnation of God the Son in the womb of the Virgin, and, as a consequence, also the divine virginal motherhood of Mary, I conclude that the bed included in these Annunciations is an eloquent visual symbol or metaphor for...
2002
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