Original scientific paper

The Image of Christ

Adalbert Rebić ; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

The image of Christ holds the features of spiritual tendencies and temporal sufferings of certain periods in history. In the earliest times, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, Christ was first presented by means of the symbols of fish, tendril, lamb and the like; later on, while taking over some elements from the Greek-Roman world, artists depicted Christ as the sun god, and then as the Good Shepherd. Stylistic changes and iconographic transformations of the image of Christ throughout the history of Christianity, particularly in the Middle Ages, correspond with the changes of the mind-set of people through history. After the Constantinian turn, Christians painted Christ as the king of all kings and the lord of all lords, omnipotent ruler, pantocrator. At the time of the great Church Councils, Jesus appeared in the paintings as a teacher and legislator (4th and 5th centuries). Romanesque theophanies in the 12th century have a symbolic place in the image of Christ, somewhere out of space and time. The 12th-century paintings of Romanesque art also tried to touch the viewer, but Romanesque painters wanted above all to make the viewer feel the sublimity and distance full of reverence towards the celestial glory of the Lord's majesty (Lat. Maestas Domini). That was the time of a radical change in the history of the image of Christ. Christ was depicted as a gentle, merciful, kind, beautiful God (Fr. beau Dieu). It was a reflection of the spirituality initiated by Francis of Assisi, Dominic and many other mystics. In this period, paintings used to express all the enchantment of Jesus in the scenes of his birth and Passion. They wanted to move the faithful to transform their lives. Gothic oil-paintings of Christ (12th - 15th centuries) on wood or canvas focus attention on the reality of death and suffering (e. g. paintings of laying Jesus in the Sepulcher or of the Holy Sepulcher itself). However, Gothic art in painting also expresses the supratemporal aspect of the history of salvation. The themes of these paintings are new or old, but thought over anew: the image of Jesus'face on Veronica's veil or his dead body in his mother's lap, Man of pain, etc.
Renaissance (14th - 16th centuries) shows Christ as an unspeakably beautiful man, in whom and through whom true, authentic humanity (Lat. humanum) is offered to us. During the presentation, several examples of the Renaissance image of Christ were demonstrated: The Holy Trinity by T. Masaccio, The Nativity by H. B. Grien, Christ Parts from His Mother by A. Altdorfer, Man of Pain by A. Mantegna, The Coronation of Christ by H. Bosch, Christ's Resurrection in the Isenheim altar by M. Grünewald, Christ in The Last Judgement by Michelangelo, Christ's Transfiguration by Raphael. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo painted Christ in an unspeakably superhuman cast of features.
In the late Middle Ages (14th - 15th centuries), artists tried to present Christ in such a way again that would touch an individual to the heart so that he might be directly confronted with the suffering Christ. This new iconographic shaping of Christ corresponded with the themes and mind-set of Christians at the end of the late Middle Ages. In their adherence to Christ, the faithful strove to bear the cross themselves, to kiss the trunk of the cross, to participate in the intimate unity with saints. The image thus became an integral part of religious life, promising the faithful protection and intercession.
At the end of the Middle Ages, there was a change of the attitude of the viewer towards the image. Influenced by the theological and spiritual tendencies of the time, the faithful believed that the person, depicted in a picture, was incarnated in it in a way (in-carnatio). They were convinced that pictures spoke, bled or moved. This only shows what a special place the image of Christ and saints had in the lives of the faithful. The painted Christ was never merely an imperfect expression of the transcendent reality, but also a visible form of the invisible reality (like in the sacraments).
A mystical breakthrough of Christ into Renaissance was achieved by baroque (16th - 18th centuries) in which images of Christ's Passion, transfiguration, resurrection and ascension were highly popular. Baroque domes, covered with paintings of Christ and Heaven, want to provide a glimpse of Heaven, with the Holy Trinity on the throne, surrounded by angels and archangels, thrones and lordships, and all powers of the heavens (here, a dome was shown with rhapsodic painting Christ in Glory by J. B. Zimmermann). Several baroque paintings were demonstrated and explained here: The Supper in Emaus (Caravaggio and Rembrandt), The Resurrection of Jesus (El Greco), as well as some distinctive features of Rembrandt's and Rubens's art of painting with special reference to the image of Christ.
In the age of the Enlightenment in the 18th century, paintings with scenes from Christ's life were less frequent, whereas more frequent were those, meant to decorate the interior of churches built at the time (rococo domes, in particular). The French Revolution was followed by the Restoration period (restauratio) in the 19th century that also brought about a restoration of religious art, thus also of the image of Christ. Religious themes were in high esteem again, especially the scenes of Jesus' miracles (e. g. The Raising of Lazarus by P.-E. Detouche), which served the spirit of the Church apologetics of the day. In the 19th century, there was a final break between the Church Magisterium and great painters who gradually became more and more independent. At the end of the 19th century, and in the 20th, a new image of Christ dominated in painting, especially in the works by painters belonging to the Nazarenes and Pre-Raphaelites. The paintings by James Ensor (Christ's Entry into Brussels, 1888) and Paul Gauguin (The Yellow Christ, 1890) are examples of such new tendencies. Impressionism and expressionism were prevalent in the painting of the image of Christ, particularly within the Dresden Bridge (e. g. Crucifixion, painted in 1930 by Picasso, and later on by F. Bacon, G. Sutherland, A. Saura and others). E. Nolde was a pronounced expressionist when painting Christ. He abandoned the traditional iconography of Christ and created a new image of Christ in his polyptych. The Life of Jesus with the painting of The Holy Night (1912), that was demonstrated and explained during the presentation. Demonstrated and analysed were also the images of Christ by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (Christus-Mappe, 1918), Georges Rouault (Mocking of Christ, 1932), L. Corinth (The Red Christ, 1922), Marc Chagall, inspired by symbolism (A White Crucifixion, 1937).
In the 20th century, some Croatian painters were also noted for depicting Christ, such as I. Meštrović, J. Kljaković, Z. Šulentić, after the Second World War I. Dulčić, D. Botteri, M. Ljubičić, Đ. Seder, as well as the well-known representatives of naive art I. Lacković Croata, I. Generalić and I. Rabuzin.
After the Second World War, an impetus to paint religious themes was given by Dominicans R. Couturier and Regamey. Under the impression of the horrors of war, artists created an image of Christ as an expression of human suffering. Prominent in depicting Christ were S. Dali (Christ of St. John of the Cross, 1951), G. Richier (The Crucified Christ), H. Matisse, J. Bazaine, J.-P. Raynaud, C. Viallat, P. Soulages, M. Rothko, C. Carter and many others.

Keywords

the picture of Christ; the painting of Christ; the antic iconography of Christ; the painting of Maestas Domini; the Gotic painting of Christ; The Icon of Christ in the Renaissance; the baroque Christ; the Image of Christ in the Enlightenment

Hrčak ID:

25052

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/25052

Publication date:

8.4.2005.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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