Crown Of Thorns Research Articles

Anorexia nervosa and anorexia mirabilis: Miss K. R--and St Catherine Of Siena.

In the autumn of 1868, Sir William Gull provided the first modern description of a severe eating disorder. In a lecture at the University of Oxford, in Oxford, England, he described “a peculiar form of disease occurring mostly in young women, and characterized by extreme emaciation.”1(p305) Six years later, he proposed the name anorexia nervosa in his seminal publication “Anorexia Nervosa (Apepsia Hysterica, Anorexia Hysterica).”1 Gull provided 3 detailed case descriptions with woodblock illustrations based on photographs of the young women and discussed their outcomes. He noted that 1 case had a fatal termination. Despite this case, he wrote that none of the cases are hopeless as long as life exists. The final case that Gull described was that of Miss K. R— (Figure 1), a patient that he saw in consultation with another physician; hers was themost severe presentation. Gull noted that this case was so extreme that he had her photographed and accurately engraved for publication to make clear the severity of her illness. Fortunately, she responded to refeeding and, within 6 months, was “nearly well.” Seeking to trace thehistoryofanorexianervosa, somephysicians have retrospectively diagnosed the conditions of femalemedieval saints as anorexianervosabecause these saints wouldabstain fromeating food to suchanextent that, in some instances, they died.2-4 Virtuous self-abnegation and fasting havebeenreferredtoas“holyanorexia,”3oranorexiamirabilis,4 which is similar to anorexia nervosawith regard to the physiologyof starvationand its focuson seekingperfectionandpurity. However, it is in many ways distinct from anorexia nervosaandoccurred inanentirelydifferentsociocultural context. St Catherine of Siena, a patron saint of Italy, is the most prominent of the “holy anorexics.”3 Shewas amodel of virtue, and her excessive fasting was widely emulated. The Florentine baroque Italian painter Carlo Dolci illustrated the ascetic piety of St Catherine of Siena (Figure 2).5 She is shown in the habitofaDominicantertiarywithacrownof thorns.Thispainting refers tohervision inwhichChrist offeredher the choiceof a crown of gold or a crown of thorns. She chose the latter. The best-known contemporary portrayal of Catherine of Siena is a fresco (http://www.basilicacateriniana.com/storia _en.htm) by Andrea di Vanni, one of her many disciples. The fresco shows a gaunt St Catherine with a young female devotee kissing her hand. It was placed on one of the pillars in the Capella delle Volte (Chapel of the Veils), where Catherine prayed, in the church of San Domenico in Siena. Catherine (Caterina) Benincasa was born in Siena in 1347. When she was 6 years old, she is reported to have seen Christ in pontifical vestments above her neighborhood Dominican church. A year later, she made a vow of perpetual virginity. As a young girl, Catherine was familiar with fasting because she had observed her older sister’s food refusal as protest against her husband’s misbehavior. When Catherine was 15 years old, her older sister died in childbirth, and her parents sought to have Catherine marry her sister’s widower. Catherine’s response was to fast in protest, and she did not marry. Miss K. R—. Photograph for woodcut engraving by C. S. Ticehurst. Courtesy of Christine Ruggere, Department of the History of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.

White Crucifixion and Listening to the Cockerel: Marc Chagall.

In White Crucifixion, Chagall documents the deliberate targetingof Jews inNaziGermany thatwas theprelude to theHolocaust (Figure 1). Chagall uses religious imagerywhenhedepicts Christ on the Cross as the central figure, not as the Christian savior but as a Jewishmartyr.2 Thus, Chagall brings the Crucifixion to bear on contemporary Jewish tragedy. He starkly depicts Christ’s martyrdom as a Jew whose sacrifice speaks to the unspeakable suffering of Jews brought about by Nazi ideology. Chagall was reacting to events that took place in 1938, a year that marked the renewed persecution of Jews inGermany. It beganwith the registrationandmarkingof Jewishbusinessesandwas followedby the forceduseof thenames Abraham and Sarah for men and women and the required stamping of passports with a “J.” Concurrently that June and again in August, synagogues were destroyed in Munich and Nuremberg. The destruction reached its climax on the night of November 9, 1938, Kristallnacht (Crystal Night, or Night of BrokenGlass),whenmore than7000Jewish-ownedstoresand buildings had their windows broken, when more than 1000 synagoguesweredesecrated,andwhenmore than30 000Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps, and at least 90 were killed. Historically, Kristallnacht marked the beginning of the Holocaust. InWhite Crucifixion, Chagall documents the desecration of 1938 and calls the world to witness. In this painting, light shinesdown fromabove to illuminatebothChrist on theCross and amenorah (a symbol of the Jewish faith) at the foot of the Cross. Both the head of Jesus and themenorah (an ornamentalmenorahwith6candles, 1 ofwhich is extinguished) are surrounded by a halo of light. To signify his Jewishness, instead ofa typical loincloth, Jesuswearsa fringedJewishprayer shawl with 2 black stripes across it. Rather than a crown of thorns, hewears awhite head cloth. The Roman’s traditional derogatory Latin inscription INRI (“Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”) appearsabovehishead.Beneath it is theAramaic (a language spoken by Jews) translation Yeshu HaNotzri Malcha D'Yehudai in Hebrew characters. According to Ziva Amishai-Maisels,2 Chagall’s Aramaic spelling was a play on words because HaNotzri is more usuallyused tomean“theChristian,” rather thaneither “theNazarene” or “the man from Nazareth.”2(p139) In the Book of Acts, Nazorean is used to refer to a follower of Jesus (ie, a Christian rather than an inhabitant of a city), and in modern Hebrew, Notzrim is theword forChristian.Thus,Chagall’sAramaicdesignation indicateshis recognitionof Jesus’ importance toboth Christians and Jews. Hovering above the Cross are 4 alarmed figures inmourning (3 biblical patriarchs and 1matriarch)who express anguish at the tumult beneath them. Jesus’ left hand reaches out toward a pillaged and burning synagogue. Flames leapout todestroy theTorahark.Remnants of the pillaging are shown—a torn prayer book, an overturned chair, a lamp, a menorah, and, sadly, a burning Torah scroll. In the lower right side, a “Wandering Jew” (emblematic of the fate of the Jewish nation) is carrying a sack on his back, seeking toescape.Threebearded Jewishmenare shown in the lower left side.Onewipesawayhis tears.Anotherwears anunreadable sign (originally with the words Ich bin Jude [I am a Jew]). A third man holds a rescued Torah scroll tightly in his arms. To the far left, houses are burning. An unburied body lies among tombstones in a cemetery.Dispiritedvillagers sit in the snow; an unused fiddle lies on the ground beside them. Others seek to escape in an immobile, overcrowded boat with a Marc Chagall (1887-1985), French.White Crucifixion, 1938. Oil on canvas, 154.6 × 140 cm (607⁄8 × 551⁄16 in). Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Gift of Alfred S. Alschuler. © 2014 Artists Rights Society, New York, NY/ADAGP, Paris, France.

The dermoscopic variability of Degos disease at different stages of progression.

A 34-year-old woman presented with an 8-month standing eruption disseminated on the trunk and anterior upper limbs. Following their initial appearance, the skin lesions were described to occur in crops. On clinical examination, lesions of recent onset were small, dome-shaped, pale-red papules surrounded by an erythematous halo (Figure 1a), while papules of longer duration displayed a central ulceration covered by a yellowish crust and were surrounded by a whitish rim (Figure 2a). Finally, porcelain-white scars with a reddish or hyperpigmented halo were noted on the site of healed lesions. Figure 1. Dome-shaped reddish papules of recent onset (white arrows) on the thigh of a 34-year-old woman (a). Dermoscopic examination revealed a reddish-to-purple background and purpuric dots (b). Histopathologically, the lesions were characterized by focal basal ... Figure 2. Longer standing papules in the same patient with central ulceration or necrosis (a), dermoscopically typified by a necrotic center surrounded by an erythematous halo (b). Histopathology showed extensive epidermal necrosis with foci of re-epithelialization ... A 44-year-old man presented with widespread, bilateral and symmetrical skin lesions with a 6-month history. Similarly to the previous patient, the eruption consisted of lesions in three different evolution stages: reddish papules of recent onset, measuring 5 to 10 mm in diameter and not disappearing with pressure; reddish papules with a purple or necrotic center with or without central crust; and porcelain-white scars surrounded by an erythematous halo (Figure 3a). Figure 3. Porcelain-white scars with a reddish or hyperpigmented halo on the forearm of a 44-year-old man (a). Dermoscopic examination showed a central whitish structureless area (b), sometimes surrounded by a rim of short, thin, slightly curved vessels (c). Histopathology ... Dermoscopic examination in both patients revealed three different patterns, each one corresponding to a different evolution stage. Specifically, papules of recent onset were dermoscopically characterized by the combination of a reddish-to-purple background and purpuric dots (Figure 1b). At an intermediate progression stage, the papules displayed a targetoid pattern with yellowish, purple or necrotic center surrounded by an erythematous halo (Figure 2b). Finally, dermoscopy of healed lesions revealed a whitish structureless center surrounded by a rim of short, thin and slightly curved vessels (Figure 3b, c). A biopsy was taken from three lesions, one of each progression stage. The histopathologic findings corresponded well to the dermoscopic criteria (Figures 1c & d, 2c & d, ​,3d).3d). The histopathologic examination in both patients was overall suggestive of Degos disease (DD). The clinical recognition of DD is often troublesome, since the disease is characterized by polymorphic and rather unspecific cutaneous manifestations [1,2]. As highlighted by our cases, clinical examination usually reveals lesions at different progression stages, ranging from light pink papules that do not fade with pressure to necrotic papules surrounded by erythema and whitish scars [1–3]. A delayed diagnosis might significantly deteriorate the patient’s prognosis, since DD is a potentially fatal obliterative arteritis syndrome with an unpredictable physical course. Specifically, in some affected patients the disease remains restricted to the skin and follows a long benign course, while others die due to fulminating peritonitis or cerebral infractions within the first few years [3,4]. Effectively, the diagnosis of DD should always be followed by monitoring for systemic involvement, and treatment should be adjusted accordingly [3,4]. In our patients, laboratory, imaging and endoscopic examinations did not reveal any signs of systemic involvement. In the first patient, a treatment with 100 mg of aspirin daily was initiated, followed by remission of the lesions and no relapse during a 4-year follow up. The second patient was already under anticoagulant medication because of heart failure, and no additional treatment was initiated. Dermoscopy has been shown to enhance the recognition of several inflammatory skin diseases, especially when the macroscopic morphology is not typical enough to allow a clinical diagnosis [5–7]. A dermoscopic “crown of thorns,” consisting of linear and hairpin vessels surrounding a central scar, has been previously described in DD [8–10]. Our cases highlight that the latter pattern can be seen in late-stage lesions of DD, while early and intermediate lesions exhibit different dermoscopic findings, as shown in Figures 1 to ​to33. Our findings provide an indication that dermoscopy might enhance the clinical recognition of DD, by revealing three different patterns which correspond to lesions at different evolution stages and mirror the underlying histopathologic alterations.

Are Lakshadweep Corals Heading Toward COT Outbreak?

Crown-of-Thorns (COT) predation off Kavaratti and Agatti islands in the Lakshadweep reef system has increased sporadically in recent years and appears to be approaching outbreak status, as indicated by a study of the starfish’s spatial progression along 16 transects off each island between 2010 and 2012. Infestation along one transect rose from 3 COTs in 2010 to 18 COTs in 2012. A threat susceptibility level for corals calculated as stressors/total live corals present along each transect averaged 38.9% to 52.5% in 2011 and 43.5 to 52.6% in 2012. Over much of the study period, COT exhibited selective feeding on branching corals but then shifted to Pavona sp. during 2012. High periodicity in COT prevalence was also observed, with a higher population during March–May (pre monsoon) and August–September (post monsoon), months when the corals were under severe environmental stress.

Literary Barbed Wire

Literary Barbed Wire

Literary Barbed Wire: Reifying the Metaphor

Literary Barbed WireReifying the Metaphor Scott Abbott (bio) and Lyn Bennett (bio) It was a nun they say invented barbed wire. —James Joyce, Ulysses Barbed wire has been an important motif in American literature since Mark Twain’s 1889 novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, published only fifteen years after the invention of the paradoxical fence that protects and controls animals by threatening injury. The motif of barbed wire is common in works about control of the American West (and of the half-wild cowboy), notably in Owen Wister’s The Virginian, in which barbed wire, like civilizing women, is both lamented and welcomed as inevitable, and in Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang, in which “cuttin’ fence” is a monkey wrencher’s imperative. Barbed wire appears in the Wyoming stories of Annie Proulx’s Close Range as a necessary (if vicious) ranching tool that lends itself to metaphor, as in “I’m goin a fight John I might as well have some a that liquid bobwire first” (174) or as the claustrophobic and homophobic antithesis to the open mountain where Ennis had hoped to scatter Jack’s ashes: “the country cemetery fenced with sagging sheep wire, a tiny fenced square on the welling prairie” (282). In what follows, we discuss the motif of barbed wire in a set of texts that includes John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood, Brian Evenson’s “Contagion,” and Jeff Mann’s “The History of Barbed Wire.” Cruel control is the specialty of barbed wire, and the barbed fence emerges in these texts as an instrument of Christian flagellation (a variant of Christ’s crown of thorns1), as a means of protection and coercion, as an object of religious veneration, and as an enforcer and/or enabler of identity. [End Page 12] Following a motif through various works of literature not only highlights the nature and history of the motif itself but can also focus attention on aspects of a work that might otherwise go unnoticed.2 Addressing problems in the analysis of painting and sculpture, Erwin Panofsky lays out a process related to our investigation of the motif of barbed wire in literature: “Iconographical analysis, dealing with images, stories and allegories … presupposes a familiarity with specific themes or concepts as transmitted through literary sources” (11, italics in original). The question of what the image of barbed wire means in any specific context can only be answered in the larger context, and, of course, the larger context arises only out of the individual works. Barbed wire, invented in 1874, has a relatively brief but rich cultural history,3 beginning with the imaginative advertising through which early manufacturers attempted to construct an image of the wire that would attract buyers who might well be put off by the fact that the new fence works because it is dangerous. This advertising often played on the prejudices of prospective buyers, as does the cartoon entitled “Peek-A-Boo” published in the 1885 edition of The Glidden Barb-Fence Journal shown here, and as do various ads that promoted barbed wire as a tool to subdue the “savages” of the American West.4 That potential ability of barbed wire to control humans led almost immediately to its use in warfare.5 A Google Ngram survey of print usage of the term “barbed wire” shows a huge upturn during each of the world wars. As a result, any reference to barbed wire since the First World War necessarily carries echoes of vicious trench warfare, and since the Second World War, of Nazi concentration camps. And finally, there is no escaping the connection between the “thorny fence” and the Christian “crown of thorns.” three-foot shag of bobwire —The Grapes of Wrath Casy sighed. “It’s the bes’ way. I gotta agree. But they’s different kinda fences. They’s folks like me that climbs fences that ain’t even strang up yet—an’ can’t he’p it.” —The Grapes of Wrath It was an exchange between Jim Casy and Tom Joad about the conflicted workings of the “Holy Sperit” that first drew our attention to the...

Tonsure circulaire dans l’église Orthodoxe

There were two ways of the clerical tonsure in the Orthodox Church during the middle Ages. The cutting of four locks of hair in the shape of cross and circular tonsure. The wreath of hair around the shaved top of the head symbolized Christ?s crown of thorns. The archpriests of the Serbian Orthodox Church were practicing circular tonsure, from its founder Sava until the middle of the 17th century.

Sulfated glycosaminoglycans from crown-of-thorns Acanthaster planci - extraction and quantification analysis.

In this article, the novel inventive steps for the extraction and quantification of sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) from Acanthaster planci starfish, generally known as crown-of-thorns (COT), are reported. Starfish have been implicated with collagenous distributions within their body anatomy, thus making it a prima facie fact searching for the possibility that GAGs can be isolated from COT. In this study, total-, N-, and O-sulfated GAGs were extracted from three anatomical regions of the COT (integument, internal tissue, and coelomic fluid) and comparison was made. The result showed that body region of COT seemed to contain higher amount of sulfated GAGs as opposed to the arm region (55.79 ± 0.65 μg/mg was the highest amount in the body extracted from its coelomic fluid and 32.28 ± 3.14 μg/mg was the highest amount in the arm extracted from its internal tissue). COT's integument and coelomic fluid from its body region possessed the highest total of sulfated GAGs content with no significant difference (P < 0.05) between the two. All GAGs from COT comprised a higher percentage of N-sulfated GAGs than its counterpart, the O-sulfated GAGs. When compared with a similar previous study that used sea cucumbers as the sulfated GAGs source, COT possessed more total sulfated GAGs content per milligram as compared with the sea cucumber generally. This result seems to unveil this marine species' advantage per se pertaining to GAGs extraction biomass applicability. Thus, COT could now be the better alternative source for production technology of total-, N-, and O-sulfated GAGs.

Some Artistic Aspects of Late Medieval Georgian Mitres

A mitre is one of the main components of a bishop’s apparel, and is thought to have originated from the Byzantine emperor’s crown. According to Christian tradition, the mitre symbolizes Christ’s crown of thorns. This article aims to illustrate specific features of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century mitre decorations and to analyze their symbolic meaning.

Severely Calcified Pericardium: The Crown of Thorns

A 40-year-old woman was admitted for heart failure. Echocardiography revealed a thickened and calcified pericardium. A chest radiograph showed pericardial calcification (Fig 1A). She did not report any epidemiology or contact with tuberculosis. The patient underwent surgery through a median sternotomy. At surgery, a large quantity of calcium was observed in the pericardium, mostly in the diaphragmatic surface, atrioventricular grooves, and great arteries, but only partial pericardiectomy was performed.

Holy bones, holy dust: how relics shaped the history of medieval Europe

Relics affected everyone in medieval society. Saintly morsels such as bones, hair, teeth, and clothes, and items like the Crown of Thorns, coveted by Louis IX of France, were thought to bring the believer closer to the saint who might intercede with God on his or her behalf. In the first comprehensive history in English of the rise of relic cults, Charles Freeman takes readers on a vivid, fast-paced journey from Constantinople to the northern Isles of Scotland over the course of a millennium. In Bones, Holy Dust, Freeman illustrates that the pervasiveness and variety of relics answered very specific needs of ordinary people across a darkened Europe under threat of political upheavals, disease, and hellfire. But relics were not only venerated - they were traded, collected, lost, stolen, duplicated, and destroyed. They were bargaining chips, good business and good propaganda, politically appropriated across Europe, and even used to wield military power. Freeman examines an expansive array of relics in the broad social and cultural context of their age, showing how the mania for these objects deepens our understanding of the medieval world and why these relics continue to capture our imagination.

Acanthaster planci impact on coral communities at permanent transect sites on Bruneian reefs, with a regional overview and a critique on outbreak causes

The submerged coral reefs of Brunei, little-impacted by human activity and characterized by high live coral cover, have no recorded history in recent decades of the presence of the crown-of-thorns (COT), Acanthaster planci. This sea star, first recorded on Brunei reefs in 2008, attained outbreak densities in 2010. At Littledale Shoal its impact on corals at permanent transect sites has been quantified; mean live coral cover reduced by half from 2006 to 2010 due predominantly to predation. Line intersect transect data confirm a predisposition for tabular Acropora species, a prominent feature at this site, although other scleractinian taxa were also predated. Other regional outbreaks are reviewed, including episodes, and their timing, within the neighbouring Coral Triangle (CT). Mounting evidence implicates nutrient-enhanced increases in primary production as a primary cause of COT outbreaks. However, this stands in contrast with a report of global oceanic phytoplankton decline in the past century, and there is little evidence of such a link in the CT, even though this region is characterized by high precipitation, erosional plumes and seasonal upwelling-associated phytoplankton blooms. Furthermore, until survivorship and competency for a wider spectrum of mass-spawned invertebrate planktotrophs in relation to elevated phytoplankton densities is better understood, such evidence, suggesting release from food limitation as the principal cause of enhanced COT recruitment, should be interpreted with caution.

Shifting base-lines, declining coral cover, and the erosion of reef resilience: comment on Sweatman et al. (2011)

Formal monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef was initiated in 1986 in response to the clear scientific evidence (and growing public concern) over the loss of corals caused by two protracted outbreaks of crown-of thorns starfish, which began in 1962 and 1979. Using monitoring data from manta tows along and across the Great Barrier Reef, Sweatman et al. (Coral Reefs 30:521–531, 2011) show that coral cover after these outbreaks declined further from 28 to 22% between 1986 and 2004. Pointing to the current levels of protection of the Great Barrier Reef, they state that earlier estimates of losses of coral cover since the early 1960s have been exaggerated. However, the loss of close to one-quarter of the coral cover over the past two decades represents an average loss of 0.34% cover per year across the whole GBR after 1986, which is very similar to previously reported rates of annual loss measured over a longer timeframe. The heaviest recent losses have occurred on inshore and mid-shelf reefs, which Sweatman et al. (Coral Reefs 30:521–531, 2011) attribute to a natural cycle of disturbance and recovery. But there has been very limited recovery. While coral cover has increased for short periods on some individual reefs, it has declined sharply on many more to produce the observed system-wide trend of declining cover. Close to 40% of coral cover on inner reefs has been lost since 1986. Of particular significance is the new evidence that coral cover has remained unchanged or declined further from a low 1986 baseline in 28 out of 29 sub-regions of the Great Barrier Reef, indicating a gradual erosion of resilience that is impeding the capacity of this huge reef system to return towards its earlier condition. This result, and other clear evidence of widespread incremental degradation from overfishing, pollution, and climate change, calls for action rather than complacency or denial.

(B)old: Theological Perspective on Spiritual Formation for Aging

Ideally, a Christian's spiritual formation envisions a positive attitude toward aging and contains coping mechanisms for their struggles with growing older. In keeping with this ideal, the author's practical theology uses two metaphorical models to help nurture a healthy spiritual condition by promoting adaptive religious coping for aging: “(B)old. Our crown of glory,” a positive image of growing older contrasted with “crown of thorns,” a negative view of aging.

“Crown of thorns” of Daphnia

DNA barcoding has emerged as valuable tool to document global biodiversity. Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequences serve as genetic markers to catalog species richness in the animal kingdom and to identify cryptic and polymorphic animal species. Furthermore, DNA barcoding data serve as a fuel for ecological studies, as they provide the opportunity to unravel species interactions among hosts and parasites, predators and prey, and among competitors in unprecedented detail. In a recent paper we described how DNA barcoding in combination with morphological and ecological data unraveled a striking predator-prey interaction of organisms from temporary aquatic habitats, the predatory notostracan Triops and its prey, cladocerans of the Daphnia atkinsoni complex.

A “crown of thorns” is an inducible defense that protectsDaphniaagainst an ancient predator

Genetic data has become an essential part of ecological studies, because the analyses of diversity within and among natural populations may grant access to previously overlooked ecological and evolutionary causalities, especially among cryptic species. Here, we present an example of how phylogenetic analysis of molecular data obtained within a DNA barcoding study, in combination with morphological and ecological data from the field and laboratory experiments, unraveled a striking predator-prey interaction between aquatic organisms. The "crown of thorns," a conspicuous morphological feature among water fleas of the Daphnia atkinsoni species complex (Crustacea: Cladocera), is considered to represent a species-specific trait. However, our study, initiated by the analysis of sequence variation in 2 mitochondrial genes, shows that this feature is phenotypically plastic and is induced by chemical cues released by Triops cancriformis, the tadpole shrimp (Notostraca). The trait acts as an effective antipredator defense, and is found in several Daphnia lineages coexisting with notostracans. These facts suggest that the "crown of thorns" evolved in coexistence with this ancient predator group.

Αναζητώντας την εικόνα του Ελκομένου της Μονεμβασίας. Το χαμένο παλλάδιο της πόλης και η επίδρασή του στα υστεροβυζαντινά μνημεία του νότιου ελλαδικού χώρου

&amp;nbsp; &lt;p&gt;Vassiliki Foskolou&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tracing the Monemvasia Icon of Christ Helkomenos. The City's lost Palladium and its Influence on the Late Byzantine Monuments of Southern Greece&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The study's aim is to trace the now lost Monemvasia icon of Christ Helkomenos. Our knowledge of the city's celebrated palladium is confined to fragmentary information deriving from narrative sources. Specifically, we know that it was transferred by Isaac Comnenos to Constantinople in the late 12th century; as for the scene represented on the icon, our sole information comes from an epigram by John Apokaukos.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The written sources as well as some recent oral testimonies, reveal also the icon's importance to local tradition; this leads us to the thought that the famous icon might have influenced the artistic production of southern Greece. The research resulted to the conclusion that a specific iconographie type of Christ Helkomenos is widely diffused throughout the late Byzantine monuments of this area, especially of Laconia (Peloponnese). In this iconographie type, Jesus, wearing a red tunic and a crown of thorns, is standing facing the Cross, which is already fixed on the ground with a ladder standing against it. This basic notion is in some examples enriched with secondary figures such as Roman soldiers accompanying Jesus, or the Jewish prelate. The latter, pointing towards the symbol of Passion, is ordering Jesus to ascend, by the exclaiming word &amp;laquo;ἀ&amp;nu;ά&amp;beta;&amp;eta;&amp;theta;&amp;iota;&amp;raquo;, which is usually inscribed at the background of the scene.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Since G. Millet's days (1916), scholars have already expressed assumptions regarding a probable relation between these depictions and the lost icon. However, having as a starting point the above -quite appealing- thought, and based on the currently available evidence, we must pose two questions, presented below.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The theme of Christ Helkomenos is depicted in Byzantine Art in two different iconographie forms. The theme, moreover, does not belong to the illustrations of the Great Feasts of the liturgical Calendar, which were usually represented in Byzantine icons. So the following question arises: Is it possible for the iconographie type found in Laconia to have been used for a devotional icon and, furthermore, to reflect the Monemvasia palladium?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If we accept a positive answer to the first question, we have then to answer the second one: in what way the icon, kept at the Archangel Michael Monastery en &lt;em&gt;to Anaplo&lt;/em&gt; in Constantinople since the late 12th century, could have been used as a model for several monuments in its &amp;laquo;native&amp;raquo; land?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A brief review of the iconographic type's evolution, combined with research into Monemvasia's historical profile in the end of the 13th century, provides us with satisfactory answers to our questions and allows an approach to the city's legendary icon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

Planctus Mariae from Cividale: A Performance Edition

Planctus Mariae from CividaleA Performance Edition Audrey Ekdahl Davidson and E. Rozanne Elder Dramatics Personae: Mary Magdalen - Mary Major - John - Mary Jacobi Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 271] Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 272] Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 273] Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 274] Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 275] Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 276] Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 277] Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 278] Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 279] Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 280] Translation Here begins the Lament of Mary and the others on Good Friday: 1. Mary Magdalen: O brothers and sisters, Where is my hope? Where is my consolation? Where is my entire salvation, O my Master? 2. Mary Major: O sorrow! such sorrow! Why therefore, dear Son, Do you hang there, when you are life To all eternity? 3. John: Heavenly King, For sins Of the guilty You have borne, Stainless Lamb of God. 4. Mary Jacobi: Cleansing flesh, caring for the world, You thirst on the cross A victim for sinners. 5. John: The maternal heart weeps, Of Mary weeps for the wounds. [End Page 281] 6. Mary Jacobi: I mourn the motherhood Which I said was Happy childbearing. 7. Mary Major: Weep, most faithful of souls, Weep, best of sisters, So all signs of sorrow may be multiplied With lamentation and tears. 8. Mary Magdalen and Mary Jacobi: Why do you become faint, Mother of the crucified one? Why are you consumed with sorrow, Our sweet sister? Thus it was to be As predicted by the psalmist. 9. Mary Major: Sad spectacle Of cross and spear! The secret sign Of a Virgin mind Wounds me deeply. This is what was said, What was prophesied He foretold it. This is the sword Which pierces me. 10. Mary Major: My John, be moved to lament, Be sorrowful with me, my new son, Son newly given to me, [End Page 282] Mother and maternal. It is time to lament. Let us, closest friends, Victims of grieving For dying Christ. 11. John: O Mary, my mother, You will always be dear, I will protect you as a treasure Which now has been committed to me. 12. Mary Magdalen: O kindly Father, O glorious Master, Do not abandon me. Look on the sinful one, You who have redeemed me. 13. Mary Major: O Mary Magdalen, Sweet disciple of my Son, Mourn with me, my sister, Mourn with me with sorrow For your Master’s death, And the death of him Who loved you so much, Who all your sins Forgave, Sweetest Mary Magdalen. 14. Mary Magdalen: Mother of Jesus crucified, With you I will lament Christ’s death, The death of my Master, [End Page 283] From sorrow anguished, I am in my heart wounded. 15. Mary Major: Where are the disciples, Those for whom you had admiration? Where are the apostles, Whom you loved so much? All those who, filled with terror, Have fled. And you alone, my Son, Abandoned on the cross. Alas! Alas! Miserable Mary. 16. Mary Jacobi: Who is here who would not weep To see the Mother of Christ In such deep sorrow? 17. Mary Major: All you who pass by this way, Together weep with me And similarly for my dear Son. Mourn and see If there is any sorrow Like to my sorrow. Alas for me! Alas for me! Miserable Mary! 18. Mary Magdalen: Console yourself, lady, Mother and queen, Why give yourself over to grief, Star of the Morning? [End Page 284] Your Son will raise The world from ruin. 19. Mary Major: My dearest Son, My sweet loved one, Why do I see you in this way Suspended on the cross Between two thieves, With a crown of thorns, Your side, my Son, Pierced with a spear? Alas for me! Alas for me! Miserable Mary. 20. John: Why on the cross do you thirst, Whose flesh was without sin, Whose flesh...

Entre la narración y el símbolo. Iconografía del Ecce Homo en la escultura barroca granadina

El Ecce-Homo es una de las más felices creaciones de la iconografía cristiana. El tema constituye un trasunto del “Varón de Dolores” profetizado por Isaías, al evocar el momento de la presentación de Jesucristo al pueblo de Jerusalén por parte de Poncio Pilatos, coronado de espinas, revestido de una clámide púrpura y un cetro de caña entre las manos. A partir del Renacimiento, la visión hedonista del cuerpo de Cristo, propiciada por la interpretación de un desnudo de corte clasicista, se aúna con los valores dramáticos y persuasivos que irán abriéndose camino, decididamente, en las interpretaciones barrocas del asunto. El presente trabajo aborda dichas cuestiones, conectándolas con la problemática particular suscitada desde el ámbito de la escultura granadina de la Edad Moderna, con especial incidencia en los matices conceptuales que diferencian la imagen de devoción, que canaliza la experiencia y la contemplación mística en el ámbito privado, de los valores teatrales inherentes a la función procesional..

Chesucristo

Cuba and a few “heretical” interpreters of scripture have seen Jesus in the context of armed struggle against the Roman occupiers. With the Gospels, Jesus was largely disarmed. In the generation since Che Guevara's death, Che has become similarly disarmed—associated with the struggle for social justice and peace rather than with revolutionary violence and the gun. The world-famous Korda photograph, with its expression of a serene visionary, has lent itself to this pacification. Meanwhile, many of the attributes of Jesus and events from his Passion have been fused with the iconic Che images: the three-letter name (IHS = CHE), star, halo, stigmata, crown of thorns, crucifixion, Deposition/Pietà, etc. The Anglican Church has done the reverse: fused a Jesus face with that of Che. Is the left trying to recover a Jesus stolen by the right?