Abstract
Abstract Human bodies were contested commodities in the ancient church, Early Christian writers frequently wrangled over the ethical implications of dress and bodily adornment, and sought to regiment various forms of physical interaction and movement within their communities, from sexual contact to pilgrimage travel. Bodies — and how they were used — functioned as privileged markers of Christian identity, as valuable capital in the complex economies of Christian discourse and practice. Nowhere was this more the case than in discussions about Christ's body and its relation to his divinity. This chapter examines visual representation of Christ's body among Coptic communities, and the relation that representation had to Egyptian Christian understandings of the Incarnation. It focuses on two particular contexts for such visual representation: (1) images of Christ on Coptic textiles and clothing, and (2) images of Christ on the walls of Coptic churches. In each of these two cases, the ritualized contexts for the wearing and viewing of christological images are explored.
Published Version
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