Summary Of The Merode Altarpiece

On the lower half is an organization of geometric forms. However, the most important mosaic is the representation of Emperor Justinian and Emprise Theodora. Justinian is presented holding a bowl of Eucharistic bread as Theodora carries a chalice or vessel of Eucharistic wine. Due to the orientation of these figures and the ones that surrounds them, it could be suggested that they represent bringing Eucharistic elements into the church. Perhaps even as an offering to christ which is reinforced by the three magi bearing gifts on Theodora's rob.

Mircea Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane analyzes a wide variety of components that are found within various world religions. Eliade uses the history of religion to support his ideas as the the book itself is a brief introduction to religion as a whole, particulary the religions of primitive societies. Nonetheless, when looking to the past one can see that mankind’s desire to associate itself with the sacred has been occuring for thousands of years. From temples to passages of intiation, religious man is a unique microcosm that follows and repeats the structure of the religious macrocosm, the creation of the cosmos. One can conclude that Eliade views religion as the “paradigmatic solution for every existential crisis.” (p210) and

The quality and quantity of details in Adoration of the Mystic Lamb are embodied by van Eyck’s mastery of oil, which suggests that his altarpiece is the greatest representation of Christianity in a piece of art.

One of the most celebrated paintings in the Robert Lehman Collection, this jewel-like representation of the Annunciation is set in an architectural interior constructed according to a rigorous system of one-point perspective. The panel was almost certainly commissioned as a private devotional image, not as part of a larger structure. While the identity of the patron is not known, the work was in the famed Barberini collection in Rome in the seventeenth century.

The window consists of 24 panels, each made of stained glass shards and strips of lead to help support the shards and contribute to the shape of the window. The bottom three panels depict Christ and Satan in the desert, with the devil tempting him in the first panel, and Christ eventually banishing Satan in the third. The narrative of the window then changes, to Jesus at the wedding at Cana, where Mary is introduced into the windows. After the panels recounting the miracle of water into wine, the panels then shift into the actual Lady of the Beautiful Window. Panels 10-12 depict the virgin enthroned, with the Christ child nestled in her lap. On either side of the Virgin and Christ child, is 6 angels supporting the throne. What I found interesting about these panels, is that they seem to elevate Mary above the Christ child. We have seen in previous examples, like at Mount Saini, of a virgin enthroned with the child and her both with Halos. However in this window not only does Mary have a halo, rather she also has a crown, showing her as queen of Heaven. Furthermore while both Mary and the Christ child have Halo's Mary's is the only one of the two that depicts the halo with clear light behind it. The Christ child's halo is darker. Behind Mary there is a background of red. This red is seen in the outline, but

There are different scenes of this portrait that van Eyck’s uses throughout to identify social standards of the time this piece was done. The fruit is there to identify the intimacy of marriage. The dog and gargoyles also represent various implications of religiosities. Going in enormous detail of what everything means. The gargoyles are there to display deceptiveness in the marriage of the couple’s nature as well as being somewhat

From the destruction of a religion or belief system grows another. In Things Fall Apart the village of Umuofia’s culture includes an unnamed religion strongly based on spiritual beings. Their religion bears a strong resemblance to one in Christianity,

This work investigates the implications of theories of global change for the study of religion generally and, through a series of case studies, applications of those theories to specific religious movements. In particular, Beyer is interested in the seeming contradiction of the persistence of conflict between social units within a globalizing world that is more and more becoming a "single place." The first half of his book, the introduction and four chapters, is taken up with theoretical definitions of religion as a social system and the position of that social system with regard to other systems. The second half of the book, five chapters, explores applications of Beyer’s theorizing to a wide range of world religious particularities.

It also symbolizes death and that everyone is going to die and no one has greater power than god himself. I think this painting by Massys imitates Jan Van Eyck’s work because he also used a convex mirror in The Arnfolini Portrait. The mirror in both of the these paintings has a similar concept, which was to allow the viewer to see more than what was just going on in the frame but also outside. This piece of artwork is a witness of the new wealth of the mercantile and banking social class because of trade and commerce. The increase of trade led a new economy and people started trading good for other goods. “Manufacturing, trade, and market manipulation all called for substantial amounts of cash, or credit, and so it was that banking enterprises sprang up” (Mee

Religion is a species-specific human universal phenomenon, complex, full of paradoxes, and found in all cultures. Social scientists and anthropologists since the late 17th century have attempted to rationally answer questions about religion, and while we can't evaluate the veracity of religion’s claims, we can attempt to understand its functions.

The Ghent altarpiece and the San Zaccaria altarpiece have many similarities. Starting with the Virgin Mary and the belief in Christ. Both of these artworks depicts the Virgin Mary. At the top of the Ghent altarpiece shows scrolls and books or prophets and sibyls that predicted the coming of the Christ (the coming of the Messiah). The top left is the Old Testament prophet Zacharias and the on the top right we see the Old Testament prophet Micah. The moment that they predicted is unfolding right below the scrolls, which is a scene of the Annunciation. Gabriel is seen on the left and Mary on the right. On angel Gabriel’s hand is lilies, which symbolizes Mary’s purity, her seamlessness, and virginity. He announces her that she is about to conceive Christ. You can actually see words coming out of Gabriel’s mouth in Latin “Ave Maria” (Hail Mary full of grace… blessed art thou women”). On the right, there is a dove above Mary’s head and it symbolizes the Holy Spirit. There are also words coming out of her mouth in reply to angel Gabriel. But

The couple's outfits are thick and even have fur, although the painting suggests that it is spring or summer, due to the amount of sunlight entering from the window and the fresh oranges (most oranges are harvest during the spring). The furniture and the drapery is impressive, and the oranges themselves are rare and are therefore a symbol of wealth. The painting also illustrates the relationship between the two subjects through various objects. The painting suggests that the subjects are married. There is a dog in between the couple, which represents loyalty. Both characters have rings on their ring fingers, which suggests that they are both married. Also, the painting shows that both characters have removed their shoes, which implies that they are standing on holy ground, such as Moses was when speaking to god through a burning bush in the bible. The reason they are on holy ground is because a holy ceremony has taken place, that is, a wedding. Notice the characters' body language is composed of the dominant husband and the submissive wife. There is also various references to the newlywed couple's intentions of starting a family. Not only does the wife's attire exaggerate her belly, making her seem as if she were pregnant, but behind here there is a statue of Saint Margaret, the saint of childbirth and fertility. When the individual objects of this painting are viewed as a whole, the message becomes clear. Jan van

The sculptures and paint show details how society viewed and interpreted women body, sexuality, and maternity. In addition, revealed that these women were protected from threats around them with ornaments. Civilizations since early times, believed that we were in permanent threat from forces we do not see or cannot explain and because of it, we protected ourselves with artificial elements in a form of jewelry, crowns or caps. This idea has been continue from one generation to the next to the point that in modern societies some of us still use this type of protection in our bodies (e.g., small cross, divine images, tattoos, etc.).These pieces of art also indicate that humans believed in gods with superpowers and they are looking over us constantly. Humanity also believes in dark forces or demons trying to makes us do things that would upset the good gods. Some of the differences between these sculptures and paint are the material in which each one of them were created. The first figure, the Woman of Willendorf was carved in limestone, the second piece, the portrait of Queen Tiye was carved in wood and the last piece, the Virgin and Child Icon was created of tempera on a wood. You can also notice how the details on their faces and bodies changes throughout the time and years. The woman of Willendorf figurine offers details of a voluptuous nude women’s body but there is not face, or feet. Queen Tiye statue shows the face of a woman in detail closed to the gods but without any body parts and lastly The Virgin and Child Icon, is an expression of divinity of the views, reflections and beliefs from the gospel. Because communities started to innovate on the art of carving and painting, populations began to discover and/or create art with the objective of expressing different purposes of our daily lives, such as the beauty of a woman’s body, or to commemorate an ancient

George Herbert, an English seventeenth century metaphysical poet, published a volume of poetry called The Temple, which contains The Altar. Herbert uses the concrete poem method to clearly illustrate the themes thought this work. Because the altar is physically constructed with varying lines lengths, the reader is imprinted with the image. This poem captivates the senses both visually and verbally. Using pictures, intelligent wording, allusions to the church, symbolism, and tone shifts Herbert transitions the topic from sacrifice, to heart, to sacrifice once more.

However, there is another side to religion, one that is quite contrary to idea of unification and acceptance. When looking through the scope of history, we can also see religion as an exclusionary tool, often used to differentiate groups of people on an innate level. As many of these idealogies attempt to assert