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[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Representations of the Apostles …

[German Version] (Aug 24, 1552, Bologna – Aug 11, 1614, Rome), an Italian painter, trained by her father, …

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[German Version] (May 6, 1861, Calcutta – Aug 7, 1941, Shantiniketan, West Bengal), author, philosopher, educator, and social reformer. Tagore was the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for literature (1913). He founded his school, Sant…

[German Version] (May 22, 1848, Wolkenburg – Feb 25, 1911, Munich), German painter recognized for his depictions of the Christian Scriptures in contemporary, late 19th-century settings. His interest in painting from nature emerged at Mihaly Munkácsy’s painting school in Paris (1879). Returning to Munich in 1880, M. Liebermann encouraged him to paint en plein-air and to reconstruct the works of the Dutch masters with these new cool tones, natural light, and open brushwork. Uhde’s paintings of scenes in the life of Jesus spurred controversy from the very first, Suffer the Little Chil…

[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Early Church – III. History of Art I. New Testament Named after her home town of Magdala on the west bank of the Sea of Gennesareth, she was presumably a prosperous (Luke 8:2f.) businesswoman (for the fishing industry in Magdala=Tarichaeae, see Josephus) who traveled extensively (hence the reference to her place of origin; cf. 15:21, 43). Mary was clearly unmarried (cf. Mark 15:40; Luke 8:3; John 19:25), and her age is unknown. She may have belonged to the same generati…

[German Version] I. Liturgy – II. Art History I. Liturgy The baptismal font shows how…

[German Version] I. History of the Term A tabernacle (Lat. tabernaculum, “tent, hut”) is a receptacle containing the eucharistic bread and the vessel(s) holding it in Christian sacral buildings. The Vulgate uses the Latin word for the Old Testament tent of meeting and to represent the esc…

[German Version] I. Church History – II. Art History I. Church History The mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, and spouse of Joachim. Her name (= Heb. “grace”) is given first in the Protevangelium. The text was read throughout the Middle Ages and at Marian feasts. After 1450, this birth legend was linked with the concept of a trinubium of the saints. Characteristically, The Lives of the Saints supplied Anne with her own birth story and described her as a m…

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[German Version] (Matisse-Chapel, 1947–1951). As a favorite to Sister Jacques-Marie, his former nurse, the renowned painter, H. Matisse, agreed to advise upon the construction plans for a new chapel. The elderly artist recognized the rare opportunity of a complete environment dedicated to his art. He seized the moment, becoming architectural planner, interior designer, and artist as well as the creator of liturgical objects and vestments. He crafted a space filled with mystical light and joyful co…

[German Version] I. New Testament The legend in Mark 9:2–13 proclaims Jesus as Son of God in the presence of his innermost circle of disciples. This is…

[German Version] I. Ancient Judaism – II. Art I. Ancient Judaism According to Gen 1–5, Adam and Eve were the first human couple. Although the two figures play a major role in ancient Judaism, their importance is often overrated. The tendency to see a widespread myth of Adam in Second Temple sources is connected with the pivotal role of Adam in the Pauline epistles (Rom 5; 1 Cor 15).…

[German Version] The anchor (Gk ἄγκυρα/ ankyra, “crooked hook”), the classical symbol for safety in navigation, was transformed into a Christian symbol for the soul, and for hope, adherence, and steadfastness. In his Christ the Educator (Paedagogus), Clement of Alexandria identifies the anchor as appropriate for Christian seal rings, pendants, or intaglio. …

[German Version] (baptized Oct 31, 1632, Delft – buried Dec 15, 1675, Delft), Dutch painter, the leading master of genre painting and disguised symbolism. His early art training remains shrouded in mystery, however he was admitted as a master to the Delft Guild of St. Luke in 1653 and converted to Catholicism in the same year. An aspiring history painter, he included biblical themes in his early works, such as Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (1655). The later overtly secular works are now interpreted as visual evidence of his deep Catholic faith, especially when V…

[German Version] Vézelay Abbey, masterpiece of Burgundian Romanesque art and architecture. Originally founded as a convent for women, this now former Cluniac abbey (Cluny) was, from 1050, a significant stop on pilgrimage ro…

[German Version] (Jul 15, 1606, Leiden – Oct 4, 1669, Amsterdam), painter and graphic artist. Among the leading European masters of the 17th century, Rembrandt was the chief religious artist of the Protestant tradition. His works were profoundly influenced by those of Caravaggio, Adam Elmsheimer, and P.P. Rubens, especially with regard to advancing tenebrism and dramatic theatricality. Renowned as a portrait painter, he was able to transfer his gift of projecting onto canvas his psychological pene…

[German Version] (from the Lat. bestiarius, “concerning the beasts”). A bestiary is an Old-French moralizing natural history, which merged the 4th-century Greek …

[German Version] (baptized Nov 7, 1598, Fuente de Cantos, Spain – Aug 27, 1664, Madrid), Spanish painter, renowned for his devotional images. Zurbarán painted narrative cycles, series, and altarpieces for churches and monasteries throughout southern Spain (Seville, Guadalupe, Jerez). His popular depictions of monks or saints (e.g. St. Francis) in meditation or prayer were simply arranged but emotionally direct. His works affirm his devotion to Mary as he created a significant Marian iconograph…