Lewy Mordechay, The motif of the apocalyptic Abessinian -presentation for IMC Leeds 2017.pptx (original) (raw)
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Two Neapolitan panel paintings from c. 1340 in the Staatsgalerie of Stuttgart give a very full account of the Apocalypse. The two paintings, of high quality, raise a number of issues, some of which will be discussed in this paper: their attribution, their iconography and its relation to contemporary Neapolitan Apocalypse cycles in manuscript illumination and mural painting, and, finally, their function.
This tightly focused collection of essays, from an invited seminar of international specialists, centres on the question of the apocalyptic worldview around the time of the Maccabean revolt. What was the nature of apocalyptic at this time? Did the Maccabees themselves have a distinct apocalyptic worldview? These questions lead to other, more specific queries: who of the various groups held such a view? Certain of the essays analyse the characteristics of the apocalypses and related literature in this period, and whether the apocalyptic worldview itself gave rise to historical events or, at least, influenced them. The collection begins with two introductory essays. Both the main and short papers have individual responses, and two considered responses by well-known experts address the entire collection. The volume finishes with a concluding chapter by the lead editor that gives a perspective on the main themes and conclusions arising from the papers and discussion.
Mention: Due to copyright issues the published version is not uploadable. Instead, I make available here a draft version, not meant to be cited. Those interested in the published version please contact me by e-mail. Abstract: "Montague Rhodes James wrote in 1931 in his introduction to his lectures on the Apocalypse in Art: ‘Those Christians of the early centuries who read the Apocalypse most and to whom it meant most were not of those who either wrote much or made great works of art. And those who could pay for beautiful sarcophagi or handsome paintings on the walls of their burial places were not of those to whom the Apocalypse appealed.’ He concludes that for this reason, it is senseless to look for any ‘apocalyptic’ artworks until the appearance of the tentative illustrations in certain manuscripts of the eighth century or even better the real great Last Judgments from the eleventh-twelfth centuries on. But – going a step further: is there any reason at all to speak about ‘apocalyptic’ art? Could there ever be anything apocalyptic in art? This paper aims to show, that there is good reason to speak about an apocalyptic category in art history, and that its origins are to be found in the Book of Revelation. Exactly those Apocalypse-reading early Christians have prepared its later triumphal entrance into all the fields of artistic creation, by picking and consolidating those symbols and images, which eventually built up the thrilling apocalyptic iconography. As a result two kinds of apocalyptic tradition have formed over the times from the motifs of John’s Book of Revelation: one plastic-figurative line represented by the Last Judgments, and another dramatic-narrative line of eschatological Antichrist- and Armageddon-stories, the former being representative in the Eastern churches and medieval times, while the latter are predominant in the art and culture of Western Christianity."