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A Lexicon of Christian Iconography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Bruce M. Metzger
Bruce M. Metzger
Affiliation:
George L. Collord professor of New Testament language and literature in Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey.
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Extract

In 1968 the first volume of a monumental publishing enterprise came from the press, Herder's Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie. The editor, the late Engelbert Kirschbaum, S.J., had planned the work to embrace six volumes, 1 to 4 dealing with general Christian themes, and 5 and 6 dealing with saints and other holy persons. The scope of the latter part, however, has subsequently been expanded, with the consequence that instead of two volumes, four will be needed to deal in a more comprehensive way with the saints that are to be included. (At the time of this writing three of these four volumes have been published.)

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , March 1976 , pp. 5 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1976

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References

1. Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie, herausgegeben von Engelbert Kirschbaum, S. J. in Zusammenarbeit mit Günter Bandmann, Wolfgang Braunfels, Johannes Kollowitzt. Wilhelm Mrazek, Alfred A. Schmid, Hugo Schnell, Vols. 1–4, Allgemeine Ikonographie: vol. 1, A-E (1968), 36* pp., 720 cols., 295 ill.; vol. 2, F-K (1970), 716 cols., 336 ill.; vol. 3. L-R (1971), 576 cols., 270 ill.; vol. 4, S-Z (1972), 674 cols., 294 ill. Vols. 5–7, Ikonographie der Heiligen: vol. 5, Aaron bis Crescentianus von Rom (1973), 34* pp., 520 cols., 239 ill.; vol 6, Crescentianus von Tunis bis Innocentia (1974), 588 cols., 259 ill.; vol. 7, Innozenze his Melchisedech (1974), 628 cols., 28) ill.; [vol. 8, not yet published]. Frieburg, Basel, Vienna: Herder Verlag. Page size 6¾ × 10⅛ in. (17 × 25.6 em). DM 158,—per vol.

2. An Old Testament derivation of the motif is certainly far more probable than the theory proposed by Joseph Campbell in his recently published mélange of art and Jungian depth psychology (The Mythic Image [Princeton, 1975], p. 32Google Scholar) according to which the ass and the ox in such scenes represent the contending brothers [Set] and Osiris of ancient Egyptian mythology.

3. For pagan derivation of representations of Jonah paralleling Endymion. see Lawrence, Marion, “Three Pagan Themes in Christian Art,” De artibus opaseala XL: Essays in Honor of Erwin Panofsky, ed. Miess, Millard (New York, 1961), 1:324 ff.Google Scholar

4. The statement, however, is lacking in one Greek manuscript (codex Bezae) and in the Old Latin, Old Syriac and Marcien. Reasons for and against accepting this so-called Western non-interpolation, which has now been adopted into the text of Luke 24:40 in the second edition of the Revised Standard Version (1971), are discussed in the present writer's volume, A Textual Commentary on the Greek Ne Testament (London and New York, 1971), pp. 187 and 191–193.Google Scholar

5. For mutual recriminations of Christans and Jews that the other group had tampered with the text, see Poole, Matthew, Synopsis Criticorum (Utrecht, 1684),Google Scholar s.v.. and Ginsberg, Christian D., Introduction to the … Hebrew Bible (London, 1897; New York, 1966), pp. 968–972.Google Scholar

6. In 1968 archeologists unearthed in northeast Jerusalem what turned out to be the first authenticated physical evidence of a crucifixion in biblical times. According to a close study of the remains, it appears that the victim was nailed to the cross in a position different from that which artists have customarily depicted in crucifixions; his legs were close together and both knees, semi-flexed, were pointing away from the cross to the right. The nail, which was found with the bones, had transfixed both feet from the side. See Haas, Nicu, “Anthropological Observations on the Skeletal Remains from Giv'at haMirtar,” Israel Exploration Journal 20 (1970): 38–59.Google Scholar

7. Why it is the right foot that is so consistently superimposed has never found a satisfactory explanation—if indeed art historians have mentioned the fact at all. It may be connected with ideas concerning the triumph of the good, the side of justice; see Matt. 25:33. In general see Gornatowski, Alois, Rechts und Links in antiken Aberglaube (Diss., Breslau, 1936),Google Scholar and Fritsch, Vilma, Left and Right in Science and Life (London, 1968), pp. 49 f.Google Scholar

8. For discussion of the use made of the so-called writing desks discovered at Qumran, see now Driver, G. R. in Annual of Leeds University Oriental Society 6 (1966–1968; published 1969), pp. 23–27,Google Scholar who argues that they were used in the refectory at Qumran. See also the study mentioned in n. 9 below.

9. See the present writer's study entitled “When Did Scribes Begin to Use Writing Desks?” in his volume Historical and Literary Studies: Pagan, Jewish, and Christian (Leiden and Grand Rapids, 1968), pp. 121–137.Google Scholar In addition to the twenty illustrations of scribes published with that study, reference may be made to representations of scribes writing while holding the scroll or codex on their knees in the following: a twelfth-century Georgian Gospels manuscript reproduced by Amirianashvili, Shavla, Gruzinskaya minialyura (Moscow, 1966), no. 30Google Scholar; several Coptic manuscripts, reproduced by Cramer, Maria, Koptische Buchmalerei (Recklinghausen, 1964), nos, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 96, 97, 98, 101Google Scholar; and Ethiopic manuscripts reproduced by Jäger, Otto A., Aethiopische Miniaturen (Berlin, 1957), nos. 2, 3,Google Scholar and by Leroy, Jules, Ethiopian Painting (London, 1964), p. 23.Google Scholar There is also the unusual mural decoration on the west wall of the apse of the wooden stave church, dating from 1000 A.D., now in the Norwegian National Folk Museum, Oslo. depicting the evangelists writing while standing.