HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 1st degree (Bachelor)

Responsible Department: History of Art

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Galit Noga-Banai

Coordinator Email: Galit.nogabanai@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: 12:15-13:15 Tuesday

Teaching Staff:
Prof Galit Noga-Banai

Course/Module description:
The course will focus on the textual sources on which Christian art is based such as the New Testament and Apocrypha.
During the course we will learn the stories and theological beliefs upon which Christian visual culture is based from the Middle Ages till today. We will focus on art, and how it was influenced by the written Christian sources. How the texts served the visual and material Christian cultures and, not less importantly, in which cases the art showed something different than that which is written in the texts.

Course/Module aims:
The aim of the course is to provide students with tools to enable them to decipher the visual ‘text’ of Christian art. Furthermore, the course presents the historical, cultural and political contexts within which Christian iconography (western and eastern) developed throughout different periods. The power of art as propaganda and as a means for dispersing ideas will also be shown.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
Upon successful completion of the course students should be able to analyze the different sources that influenced a Christian work of art; to differentiate between textual and visual influences and to find current messages within works of art who’s official content is ‘simply’ biblical. The students will become familiar with primary sources and understand how the messages within them influenced the visual arts on a large scale, and how to work with specified secondary material in iconographical lexicons and dictionaries of signs and symbols.

At the end of the course students will be able to understand the story, signs and messages of Christian art, whether it is found in a manuscript, a narrative painting or an iconic mosaic. They will be able to enter a church and understand the connection between the art found within it, the liturgy and the denominational context. Furthermore, following the course students will be able to understand jokes and quotes in movies and books which can only be deciphered in light of the Christian sources.

Attendance requirements(%):
None

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: The course consists of a frontal lecture, one and a half hours long, once a week. From week to week students will be required to read the New Testament, several apocryphal texts, and a number of academic publications. There will be one mandatory work for submission, in which the students will analyse a work of art in light of a written Christian text.

Course/Module Content:
Types of sources for Christian art
The Christian Bible
Jesus from an historical and from a literary perspective
The Passion of Christ
The development of Christianity as a religion - Peter, Paul and the generation after Jesus
Christian eschatology
The fourth century - the shift of Christianity from an illegal religion to a massive success
Development of the ‘Dogma’ from an artistic point of view - ecumenical councils of Nicaea, Ephasos and Chalkedon
The iconoclastic controversy
The great schism
The use of art in the reformation and in the counter-reformation
Material culture in Christian theology: relics, saints and sacred sites.

Required Reading:
הברית החדשה
הפרוטואוונגליון של יעקוב
פסיאודו מתיאס
מבוא, פלוסר, דוד, "ישו", תרג. אריה קופסקי, 2009
מבוא, שנאן, אביגדור,"אותו האיש: יהודים מספרים על ישו", 1999
ישראלי, יעל, "ישו וזמנו", ב:ערש הנצרות, עורכים י. ישראלי וד. מבורך, 2000
קליינברג, אביעד, "התנצרותה של הקיסרות הרומית", ב:הנצרות מראשיתה עד הרפורמציה, ע"מ 49-58
גומבריך, ארנסט, "על פרשת דרכים", "אמנות המערב בכור ההיתוך", קורות האמנות, 1950, ע"מ 83-118
קליינברג, אביעד, "מבנה הכנסייה והסקרמנטים", ב:הנצרות מראשיתה עד הרפורמציה, ע"מ 70-78

Additional Reading Material:
"נצרות" האנציקלופדיה העברית, כרך כה, 334-354
א. לימור, בין יהודים לנוצרים, תשנ"ג (האוניברסיטה הפתוחה)
Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend, (New York 1969)
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford, 1978)
E. Ferguson, ed,. Encyclopedia of Early Christianity (New York, London, 1990)

Life of Christ:
פלוסר, דוד, ישו (מבוא), תרג. אריה קופסקי, 2009
Schiller, Gertrud, Iconography of Christian Art, 1971-2. N 7830 S3513
Loverance, Rowena, Christian Art, 2007. N 7830 L68 2007
Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane, Dictionary of Christian Art, 1995. N 7830 A66
Morey, Charles Rufus, Christian Art, N 7832 M66
Murray, Peter, The Oxford companion to Christian art and architecture, 1998. N 7830 M 87 1998
H. E. Roberts (ed.), Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art, 2vol. 1998.
G. W. Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art, (New York, 1961)
The Spread of Christianity and its Art:
צפריר, יורם, "התפשטותה של הנצרות בארץ ישראל", ב: ב:ערש הנצרות, עורכים י. ישראלי וד. מבורך, 2000, ע"מ 27-33 –
קליינברג, אביעד, "התנצרותה של הקיסרות הרומית", ב:הנצרות מראשיתה עד הרפורמציה

Constantine the great, Pilgrimage and Pilgrimage art:
Vikan, Gary, Byzantine pilgrimage Art, N 6250 V54
Walter, Christopher, The Iconography of Contantine the Great, emperor and saint, 2006, N 7852.5 W35 2006

The Christian Sacraments:
Gieben Servis, Christian sacrament and devotion, 1980 BX 577 G5

Revelations and Apocalyptic Imagery:
Kuehnel, Bianca, The end of time in the order of things:‎ science and eschatology in early medieval art, 2003. N 8030 K94 2003‎
Grubb‎, Nancy. Revelations: art of the Apocalypse, N 8030 G78
Image Bank: Images de l’Apocalypse, N 8030 G75 1977
Carey, Frances ed. The Apocalypse and the shape of things to come‎, NX 650 A1 C37
Image Bank: Alpha and omega:‎ visions of the millennium : words from the Revelation of St. John the Divine : prophetic paintings from the world’s great art museums‎, N 8030 A55 1999

Icons
M. Barasch, Icon, Studies in the History of an Idea (New York, London 1992)
George, Galvaris. The icon in the life of the church: doctrine, liturgy, devotion, 1981. N 8187, G13
Abel, Ulf, and Moore, Ver. Icons, 2002. N 8186 S8 I36 2002
Onasch, Konrad, Icons, 1963. N8189 R9 O52
Tradigo, Alfred. Icons and saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church, 2006. N 8187.5 T7313 2006

Saints
B. F. Abou-El-Haj, The Medieval Cult of Saints: Formations and Transformations (New York, 1994)
D. Attwater, The Penguin Dictionary of Saints (Penguin Books, 1965)
A. de Bles, How to Distinguish the Saints in Art by their Costumes, Symbols and Attributes (New York, 1925)

Church councils
J. N. D. Kelly Early Christian Creeds (London 1979)
J. H. Leith ed. Creeds of the Chruches (Atlanta 1977)

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 60 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 0 %
Assignments 20 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 20 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
Participation in tutorials is not mandatory. However, classes are based on discussion and on analysis of works of art. It is recommended to come to the lectures in order to look at the artwork together and to understand the relationship between the visual and the theoretical material.
Students must participate in a quiz on the New Testament and on the Proto-Gospel of James