Paintings of early Christian saints were designed to show worshippers what sacred authority looked like, using books, clothing and gestures as symbols.
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The image you hold in your head of a cherub is completely unlike the cherubs of the biblical and medieval traditions.
The motto that Francis selected for his papacy, ‘looking at him with mercy, he chose him,’ was inspired by Caravaggio’s painting.
Usually relegated to the sidelines, Mary Magdalene is depicted with passion and power in this painting by a north Italian master.
Through the power of rituals, inanimate objects can be understood to transform into agents who can see, hear, taste and respond to the concerns of those who worship them.
The curators of this new Bishop Auckland museum have plundered a wide range of other backroom collections.
An art historian describes the two historical representations of Prophet Muhammad that led to a controversy at Hamline University.
Many of the artefacts Ethiopia is famous for are found in Tigray. Their continued destruction could lead to irreversible culture shock and social collapse.
The Renaissance San Marco convent, now a museum, is where Fra Angelico lived and painted under the patronage of Cosimo de’ Medici. It was also where Savonarola proclaimed the Bonfire of the Vanities.
Religious imagery has traditionally been a popular vehicle for artistic expression, providing comfort during conflict.
A Mexican statue of a baby Jesus resembling an adult Phil Collins has become a social media phenomenon. But the history of depictions of baby Jesus unearths some interesting parallels to this work.
Top contributors
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Associate Teaching Professor Religious Studies, University of Tennessee
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Associate Professor of Art History, Rice University
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Senior Lecturer in Spanish & Latin American Studies, University of Stirling
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Lecturer in Latin American Studies, Queen's University Belfast
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Professor of Islamic Art, University of Michigan
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Joanna Mendelssohn is a Friend of The Conversation.
Honorary Senior Fellow, School of Culture and Communication, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer in Theology, University of Notre Dame Australia
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Associate Professor in History of Art, University of Nottingham
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Associate Researcher, University of Hamburg
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Professor of the History of Christianity, Durham University
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Distinguished Professor of Humanities Emerita, College of the Holy Cross
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Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland