Religious Paintings Research Articles

Prawosławna ikona na przecięciu duchowych i politycznych dróg. Wybrane problemy

This paper is meant as a commentary on less obvious developments of Western and Eastern Christian spirituality. It can hardly be denied that religions have their connections with this world: history, geography, culture, and accordingly develop in symbiosis with their environment. The reverse of that is the influence which religious beliefs exert on cultural endeavours, a most spectacular example of which is the art of painting. In this vein, the author examines the political and cultural context of the partition into the Catholic and the Orthodox Christianity, together with the differences between Western and Eastern spirituality, to search then for the correspondences between the political and cultural formation and the modes of artistic expression. Finally, some possible connections are established between the politically and historically-shaped spiritual traits of the Catholic and Orthodox Church, and the rules which inspired Western religious painting and the writing of icons, respectively.

MA-XRF datasets analysis based on convolutional neural network: A case study on religious panel paintings

Macroscopic X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) datasets are analyzed using Artificial Neural Networks. Specifically, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are trained by coupling the spectra acquired during the MA-XRF scan of two religious panel paintings (“icons”) with the associated Ground-Truth counts per characteristic transition line, as they are extracted by X-ray fluorescence fundamental parameters analysis. In total, twenty thousand XRF spectra were used for the CNN training. The trained neural networks were applied to analyze millions of MA-XRF spectra acquired during the scan of religious painting panels by computing the counts per pixel of X-ray characteristic transition lines and creating the elemental transition maps. Comparison of the CNN extracted results to the Ground-Truth (GT) shows remarkable agreement. The successful MA-XRF datasets analysis applying the CNN method paves an analytical path to the direction of the auto-identification of spectral lines, offering the means for the non-experienced XRF analyst to provide a state-of-the-art analysis and supporting the experienced user not to overlook hardly resolved transition lines.

Literati Ingredients in the 17th-Century Chinese Christian Paintings

In this paper, the modification methods of the Chinese Christian painting created by the missionaries in the late Ming Dynasty (1573–1644) were analyzed with the Chinese Catholic studies of the “Song nianzhu guicheng” and the “Tianzhu Jiangsheng Chuxiang Jingjie”. After carefully studying the differences between the Chinese Christian painting and the original European version, the study shows that these Chinese Christian paintings were integrated with the Chinese literati paintings’ elements and literati symbols, which include the “Yudiancun” (raindrop texture stroke), “Pimacun” (hemp-fiber texture stroke), “landscape screen” (painted screens with natural landscapes), and the mark of Chinese famous literati such as Dong Qichang. These adjustments conducted by missionaries aimed to make religious paintings more in line with literati aesthetics, which could build connections between the missionaries and the literati community for proselytization. However, the missionaries neglected that the literati community certainly would not sacrifice the existing social order and the vested interest brought by the current Confucian culture to support new ideas of “liberty” and “equality” in the Catholic doctrine, which caused a huge setback in the missionary work since the Nanjing Teaching Case in 1616. This research makes significant contributions to the understanding of cultural exchanges in the 17th century through a detailed exploration of the adjustments made by missionaries in the visual representations within Chinese Catholic literature.

Dialectical relations between culture and religion in self-transcending experiences of sublime and awe: The exemplar case of religious paintings.

Dialectical relations between culture and religion in self-transcending experiences of sublime and awe: The exemplar case of religious paintings.

Распятая на кресте времён: парергональность интервизуальности рефлексии рубежа XX–XXI веков на национально-религиозную тематику. Иконографический этюд

This article studies intervisuality (Michael Camille, 1991) in the context of icono-graphic studies by the example of a Russian religious painting created at the turn of the 21st century. Our analysis of intervisuality is based on Derrida’s approach which makes use of the concept ‘parergon’. This is something that does not belong to the work (ergon) but is con-nected to it. The ergon without parergon lacks self-sufficiency. In the case of intervisuality, the interaction of the work (ergon) with its visual and verbal frames and sources (parerga), accompanied with the gaps and incongruities of perception, or “frame friction” in the words of Simone Heller-Andrist (2012), bring us to solutions of research problems of iconological interpretation and attribution. Thus, the impression of “fake” produced by parergon, such as the design of the reverse side of a painting, mimicking an icon board (if there is a confi-dence in intentionality), indicates author’s manifestation in which parergon and ergon inter-change similarly to the “manneristic inversion” noted by Max Dvořák (1922), while uninten-tional imperfection due to failures, lack of skill or limited resources would rather indicate the inept stylization or a plain imitation. Thus, the parergonality of intervisuality enriches the problem field of iconographic and visual research with meaning. The work is based on an art historical study of a painting by an unknown author, a visualization of thoughts on national and religious themes and visual exegesis of historical symbolism appreciated by the audience of the period of the work’s creation. It is rich in allusions to texts on the religious philoso-phy of freedom by Nikolai Berdyaev (1911) about the crucified truth of Christianity and to the historiosophical lectures and poems by Maximilian Voloshin (1920) thematizing the cruci-fied Russia–a metaphorical image which was popular during periods of social upheavals in national history.

MA-XRF investigation of a 17th century icon by the renowned painter Theodoros Poulakis

Eastern Orthodox religious panel paintings (“icons”) are continuously manufactured since the dawn of Christianity and are still being used in the framework of pertinent rituals and worship. In the current work, an important Greek icon is investigated through non-invasive macroscopic X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) analysis to reveal the employed painting materials and techniques. The artifact in consideration was painted by the renowned icon painter Theodoros Poulakis who was active during the 17th century (ca. 1622–1692). Poulakis’ work is characterized by the extremely skillful painting and played a major role in the stylistic developments of Greek religious painting; additionally, more than one hundred icons that either bear Poulakis’ signature or are attributed to his hand on stylistic basis are spotted today. Through the MA-XRF investigation of the icon in consideration authors were able to identify the materials employed in its manufacturing and revealed interesting technical details, including some peculiar –and possibly idiomorphic– characteristics. In particular, the identified pigments include vermilion, lead white, minium, at least two distinct ochre pigments, a copper-based blue (presumably azurite) and two distinct (in terms of composition) copper-based green pigments, along with a deep-red organic lake. Poulakis used extensively high-purity gold leaves for gilding the background and the haloes of the figures, while MA-XRF allowed for the identification of inferior (in terms of purity) gold leaves that were used for rendering gilded highlights on various details. The analytical data allowed for an in-depth investigation of the materials and techniques employed by Poulakis in this particular painting and led to the spotting of some rather idiomorphic technical characteristics, such as the presence of a copper green pigment that contains Zn–As–Ba impurities and the combination of multiple colors for highlighting red vestments. The results are evaluated under the light of other relevant studies and aim primarily at setting a sound foundation for a forthcoming, extensive and thorough investigation of the materials and techniques employed in other Theodoros Poulakis paintings.

Glansbilledets skyggeside

The 19th century saw a remarkable innovation of the subject-matter of Danish altarpaintings. Frequently depicting the ministry of Christ and his Glory, these paintings have often been criticized for being skillfully executed but lacking drama, being overly sweet or even sentimental. This article argues that, in spite of the glossy façade, these paintings often engage in far more sinister topics of life and of faith. The article argues that Søren Kierkegaard’s theology offers a superb lens for gaining insights into this side of the religious painting of the so-called ‘Golden Age’ of Danish art and explores the ‘shadows of the glossy images’ through close readings of Danish altar pieces ranging from Bertel Thorvaldsen’s seminal Christ and C. W. Eckersberg’s ground-breaking Incredulity of Thomas to late 19th Century works of art by Constantin Hansen and Anton Dorph. The main argument of the article is that a negative understanding of this world and not least the constant struggle between being separated from, but needing to get (spiritually) closer to the Saviour remain very strong themes in the religious paintings throughout the 1800s, albeit mainly offered as a personal experience and not as a part of the ideal Christ figure.

ЙМОВІРНИЙ ВИГЛЯД ДАВНЬОРУСЬКОГО ХРАМУ СВ. ПЕТРА У ПЕРЕМИШЛІ ЗА МАТЕРІАЛАМИ АРХЕОЛОГІЧНИХ ДОСЛІДЖЕНЬ 2015 – 2017 РОКІВ

Based on archaeological research conducted between 2015 and 2017, along with a comparative analysis of related examples of sacred structures from the Rurik period in Halicia and the local traditional architecture, a hypothesis has been formulated regarding the possible design of the ancient Rus’ church of St. Peter inPeremyshl (Przemyśl), which is believed to have existed from the 12th to the early 15th century. Drawing on the presence of a relatively narrow foundation, a parallel was drawn to the quadrifolium "Polygon" in Halych, which is likely to have featured a combination of brick walls and wooden upper part in its architecture. The suggested reconstruction of the ancient Rus` church of St. Peter in Peremyshl (Przemyśl) envisions a stone masonry segment with a limited number of window openings situated in the transept's side walls and the central apse. A carved stone bas-relief was probably located above the entrance on the western facade, with historical accounts supporting this notion. Although the bas-relief once attributed to this church within the Old City was later identified as a product of subsequent folk art, it does provide evidence that the memory of the St. Peter church persists with stone architectural elements. The restoration of the upper portion of the structure appears relatively straightforward due to the availability of a vast array of materials from similar structures. Many of these materials have been preserved and offer insights into construction methods and finishing techniques. The use of shingle covering on vertical walls helps maintain load-bearing components, which are best not replaced in the sacred building due to the tradition of religious paintings that adorned much of the interior space.

Integration of Chinese and Western Art in Late Ming Dynasty: Imitation and Innovation with Wu Bin as an Example

The late Ming Dynasty witnessed an art exchange between two distinct civilizations, the East and the West, which served as a microcosm of globalized art history in China. In the context of numerous Western religious paintings introduced to China by Jesuit missionaries during the late Ming Dynasty, whether Chinese artists who painted in ink at the time borrowed Western painting techniques in their paintings has become a subject of discussion among contemporary scholars. To further explain the integration triggered by this artistic exchange, the research analyses the attitudes of Ming society towards foreign painting. Furthermore, the study conducts the visual comparison methodology to identify the elements of Western painting that were incorporated into Chinese painting during this period, centering on the works of artist Wu Bin (1550-1643) and employing specific information as corroborative substantiation. The results of the study indicate that late Ming society did not exhibit overt animosity towards Western art and that Wu Bins paintings contain discernible Western painting inspirations. Yet, these factors did not impede the prevalence of indigenous artistic and aesthetic inclinations in his oeuvre.

The work of Mykhailo Boychuk (Lviv period) and the "Studio" collection of the Studyts Monastery in Lviv

It has been analysed the activity of Mykhailo Boychuk in the period 1910 –1912, when the artist performed monumental paintings and easel icon painting works for the Studyts Monastery in Lviv on the street Petra Skargy, 2a (now Ozarkevicha St.). At this time the artist together with M. Kasperovych, S. Nalepinska, S. Beaudoin de Courtenay, G. Schramm and other representatives of his Parisian group worked on the frescoes of the chapel in the premises of thе monastery. The preserved works from the "Studio" collection include: "St. Nicholas" (1910), "St. Josaphat" (1910), "Jesus Christ" (1910s), "Covering of the Virgin" (1910) ("The Prophet Elijah" (1911), "The Last Supper" (1911) mosaic "St. John" (1910). The main type of Boychuk's artistic activity in 1910–1914 became religious painting. The artist revived forgotten techniques of tempera and frescoes, became a recognized restorer in the territory of Ukraine. Attention is focused on works of icon painting that have survived to this day and belong to the exposition of the Lviv National Museum named after Andrei Sheptytskyi. The object of the study is the icons and polychromies of Mykhailo Boychuk made for Studyts Monastery chapel (former Diakiv Bursa). The subject of the study is the iconography of his works, in particular, the characteristics of the iconographic type of St. Yosaphat Kuntsevich.

Magic and Metamodernism

Magic and Metamodernism

From The Lamb Symbol In Byzantine Religious Painting To The Melismos Scene

Bizans dini resim sanatında kuzu, ilk yüzyıllardan itibaren, Yuhanna 1:29’da Vaftizci Yahya’nın İsa’yı “Tanrı’nın Kuzusu” olarak tanımlamasının ve İsa’nın Fısıh bayramında kuzuların kurban edildiği saatte çarmıhtaki ölümü nedeniyle, İsa’yı ifade eden bir sembol olarak kullanılmıştır. Tanrı’nın imgelerle gösterimi yerine sembollerin kullanımı, Yahudilikte ve birçok dinde yer alan Tanrı’nın görünmezliği ilkesiyle ilişkilidir. Görünmez Tanrı’nın resmedilememesi nedeniyle onu ifade etmek için ya kelimeler ya da semboller kullanılmıştır. İlk yüzyıllarda Roma’daki katakomplarda bu tür semboller görülmektedir. Ancak Trullo Konsili’nde (691-692) alınan birçok önemli karar yanında kuzu gibi imgeler, antik semboller olduğu gerekçesiyle yasaklanmış ve İsa’nın insan formunda tasvir edilmesi istenmiştir. Kuzu sembolünün yasaklanması, Tanrı’nın oğlu İsa’nın insan olarak doğması ve ölmesi nedeniyle İsa’nın bedeni üzerinden Tanrı’nın imgelerinin yapılabilmesiyle ilişkilidir. 11. ve 12. yüzyıllarda yaşanan dini tartışmaların sonucunda ortaya çıkan yeni bir sahne olan Melismos’ta, Ökaristi litürjisine bir gönderme yapılarak İsa altarda yatar şekilde gösterilmektedir. Melismos’un kelime anlamının kurban olması sahnenin önemini artırmaktadır. Melismos’un bilinen ilk örneği, Kuzey Makedonya’da Kurbinovo köyü yakınlarındaki Aziz Georgios Kilisesi’nin 1192 tarihli resim programındadır. Bu çalışmanın konusunu, kuzu sembolü özelinde Hıristiyanlığın ilk yıllarından itibaren yaşanan tartışmalar ışığında sembol kullanımının yasaklanmasının nedenleri, Ökaristi konusunda yapılan teolojik tartışmalar ve Melismos sahnesinin özellikleri, anlamı ve önemi oluşturmaktadır.

Ilya Glazunov: The Sacrificer of the National Spirit

The article explores the philosophical meaning of Ilya Glazunov’s paintings. The author states that the artist understood the art not as the aesthetic category, but through the idea of worship. The artist considered it his ultimate mission to bring Russian meanings back to the Russian people. Essentially, this entails overcoming our metaphysical groundlessness. This approach allows us to characterize the art of Ilya Glazunov as modern and even topical in the era of cultural and intellectual desolation. In this sense, the literalism of Glazunov’s images becomes the strong side of his works. The author of the article introduces the concept of the triptych of the Russian consciousness in the twentieth century, comprised of Mikhail Nesterov’s The Soul of the People, Pavel Korin’s Farewell to Rus and Ilya Glazunov’s Eternal Russia, and explores the idea of Holy Russia shared by these artists. In this connection, the author considers the philosophical meaning of the idea of the God-bearing people, sobornost’ and the diff erences between the Christian logic and the logic of the Antichrist. The author examines the artist’s attitude to avant-garde, realism and icon painting and explains why Ilya Glazunov preferred realism in art. While avant-garde images are apophatic and icon painting exists only within the church consciousness, realistic religious painting turns out to be a direct path to the perception relying on sobornost’. Special attention is paid to Ilya Glazunov’s illustrations of the works of classical Russian literature and his attitude to Fyodor Dostoevsky. The argumentation is entirely based on the analysis of Ilya Glazunov’s specifi c paintings.

RETHINKING TRADITION AND INDIVIDUALISM AS KEY TRAITS OF JACOV ORFELIN’S STYLE - A CASE STUDY ON ICONOSTASIS PAINTING IN THE HISTORICAL BANAT

Tradition redefined by innovations is the topic our study proposes to investigate as fragments of visual transformations in the episode of Jacov Orfelin iconostasis painting. In this field, the particular example we have studied was not a singular manifestation, although it can be subsumed under the artistic evolution of the period, but a paradigmatic case of East meeting West, having as result a new perspective of visual dogma, getting endowed with new connotations. Viennese, Russian and Ukrainian baroque tendencies are the most obvious directions through which Serbian painters propose the new stylistic orientation. Those who proliferated the innovative models asserted themselves predominantly in Serbia, where they created a religious painting deeply contaminated by the inputs of the modern age, and acknowledged by the historiography of the subject as “the founders of the Serbian Baroque”. Although written sources corroborate information on biographies of the Serbian artists in connection with their artistic discourse and evolution, the study rethinks some of the concepts involved in the configuration of eighteenth-century artistic genre in the historical Banat. Moreover, the topic addressed will highlight the key aspects of Serbian late baroque, rococo and neoclassical art assimilation and advent throughout comparative - analytical methods, focusing on iconography and formal changes. In order to do so, the artwork under scrutiny is positioned within the original socio political, and religious frameworks focusing on examples that uphold or deconstruct the role this painter played in fostering a visual change. Issues regarding the ornaments will be also of reference as the iconostasis is a complex formal and iconographical medium.

Pomiędzy ekfrazą a hypotypozą – motyw Matki Boskiej Opłakującej w "Bursztynowym jabłku" Haliny Twaranowicz

In this article, I discussed the issue of ekphrasis and hypotyposis, understood as literary descriptions (and interpretations) of works of art, in poems by Halina Tvaranovich, a Belarusian poet and professor of Slavic literature. The subject of the study was poems from the volume Amber Apple, including ekphrastic and hypotypical references to motifs of religious art such as the Pietà and the Mother of Sorrows. The paper discusses analogies between these poems and the sculpture of Pietà by Nicolas Cousteau, Orthodox iconography, and religious painting. The author of Amber Apple is primarily interested in the deep spiritual message of the artifacts she describes, as well as motifs and images present in art, their expression, and their impact on the recipients. As a result, what prevails in her works is not classical ekphrasis, merely describing works of art, but interpretive ekphrasis, focusing on the meaning of artifacts.

Changes in Religious Figure Representation: A Study of the Holy Infant in Medieval and Renaissance Art

The representation of religious content has been long dominating the development of western art. A great achievement has been made through decades when Christian artists gradually developed a system of abstract representation to keep a comfortable distance from the pagan past, as well as to keep a balance between the aniconic doctrine and the desire for visual presentation. This article takes one of the most popular themes of religious painting, the Holy Infant as research focus to explain the changing representations of different eras. By comparing the plastic art representations of the holy infant, it is argued that changes have been made through symmetrical spatial layouts, characterizations, and metaphors.

“A Lot of People Watching”: Understanding the Theater of Terrorism

“In Renaissance religious paintings, angels and saints, lifted by faith, float above the ground,” said Brian Michael Jenkins in 2016. “Similarly, nuclear terrorism, lifted by fear, became gravity free.” Notable because of his position as a leading defense intellectual and respected within U.S. national security circles and internationally, Jenkins was used to speaking to official and public audiences alike about terrorism. His analogy to art in addressing a gathering of security experts was not just a passing rhetorical flourish. It was constitutive of the way Jenkins understood terrorism. By the time he made this comparison to Renaissance painting, Jenkins had spent more than fifty years trying to convince his audiences to see terrorism the way he did—as not just like art but itself a kind of art. In his view, counter-terrorists, in not understanding this, were enabling “media savvy terrorists” to play upon fears that had been “freed of evidence.” But it was worse than that. “Terrorists read what we write and listen to what we say,” said Jenkins. “Then they start talking about it. In turn, we listen to them, completing a feedback loop that confirms our own worst fears.”1 Jenkins wanted counter-terrorism, as in viewing a pointillist painting, to perceive the scene with enough perspective to see more than individual dots, but rather to see the whole. And seeing the whole meant understanding the theater of terrorism.

Exploring the Scientific Research in Religious Painting Works in Renaissance Period-Taking Durer's Etchings Knight, Death and Devil As an Example

The development of Renaissance painting evolved into the development of humanism and the in-depth study of science and nature under the changes of the times. While getting rid of religious dogma, artists were finally able to look at the world from a rational perspective. Continuous exploration and research not only made Germany open the prelude of modern art, but also stood at the forefront of the historical stage together with other regions of Europe. Among them, the talented artists represented by Durer with the spirit of innovation and exploration raised the original social status of artists to an unprecedented height. The spirit of humanism spread freely in the European continent, and the creation of art nouveau fanaticism, accompanied by the artist's distinct and strong personal artistic color, became the most powerful proof of the attack on dogmatism in painting, and had a profound influence on European modern art. This paper will introduce the transformation of religious art painting during the Renaissance from the scientific direction and it proves that adding scientific innovation to religious painting has brought great influence on later generations.

소피아 개념의 변천과 성모마리아 이콘의 특수성

This article analyzes changes in the concept of Sophia and the specificity of the icon of the Virgin Mary. The specific research subject is the Icon of the Virgin Mary, which was a typical religious painting until the Middle Ages. We compare the ideological concept of Sophia and the meaning of the icon of the Virgin Mary. In Chapter 1, We look at the change of the concept and definition of Sofia, and aspects of the acceptance of Sophia in Russia. In the Christian tradition, Sophia has been transformed into the divine administration or the divine wisdom of faith or the wisdom of Jesus Christ's love for the lowly and poor. The main medium for Russians to accept Sophia was pictorial images such as icons and frescoes. In Chapter 2, We examine the characteristics and practical aspects of each type of icon of the Virgin Mary. Through this process, we see the ontological meaning of the icon of the Virgin Mary in the Christian worldview. Unlike Sophia, the Virgin Mary did not have an independent status as a painting image. Therefore the pictorial image of the Virgin Mary has meaning as a tool that plays a role in emphasizing the personality of Jesus Christ. During this process, the icon of the Virgin Mary changed and produced various variants.

Picturing Political Power: Eighteenth-Century Korean Portraits in San Francisco's Asian Art Museum

Picturing Political Power: Eighteenth-Century Korean Portraits in San Francisco's Asian Art Museum