Images and Their Use

Defences of Christian Art

• Common in 12th century Latin Chrisitianity to defend use of images:

“It is one thing to worship a picture and another to learn from the story of a picture what is to be worshiped. For what writing conveys to those who can read, a picture shows to the ignorant... and for that very reason a picture is like a lesson for the people.”

– from a letter attributed to Gregory the Great

Explosion of Images

• 12th – producing images at a new pace, with a newfound vigor

• books, ivory, church architecture, glass, metalwork • Diverse uses; diverse understandings• Three functions typically cited by medieval

theologians:– Didactic– Affective– Anagogic

Aesthetic, Embodied Spirituality

• “High” middle ages – pilgrimage, saints shrines, dramatized liturgy – embodied, material, sensual

• 1059 – eucharist controversy– doctrine of transubstantiation– contact with the sacred, in this world

• Romanesque churches– Reliquaries, litrugical vessels, vestments, utensils,

fans, chalices, patens, candlesticks, ornate altars

RomanesqueMaria Laach Abbey, Germany

Crucifixion Imagery

Gero Cross, Cologne Cathedral, late 10th c.