Religious Icononography
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This document provides information on religious iconography in Eastern and Western art through several examples. It begins with definitions of the term "iconography" and discusses its origins and meaning. It then provides descriptions and background information on several religious artworks, including sculptures of Buddha from Gandhara, a wood carving of Guanyin from China, a stone carving of Vishnu from Vietnam, a marble bas-relief by Wiligelmo, an Annunciation triptych by Robert Campin, a mixed media work by Gonkar Gyatso, and Andy Warhol's large-scale adaptation of Da Vinci's The Last Supper. The artifacts represent Buddhist, Hindu and Christian religious traditions from various time periods
![Superimposing profane American corporate logos for Dove soap and General
Electric over da Vinci's sacred, Andy Warhol's massive 30 foot by 10 foot acrylic
and silk screen ink on linen painting, The Last Supper (Dove) mixes
supermarket iconography with ubiquitous religious imagery to comprise an
image that is either considered by some critics to constitute his most important
work or by others as wishy-washy, religiose and spiritless.
Like all Pop artists of his time and since, yet perhaps better than all, Andy
Warhol's works allow audiences and critics alike to consider the
oftentimes overlooked or long forgotten fundamental meaning and worth
of everyday objects and images. For nearly five hundred years, Leonardo da
Vinci's masterpiece, The Last Supper (circa 1495) had been replicated and
reduced in such innumerable ways that its meaning had been lost on viewers
long before Warhol's clever choice in 1984 to simultaneously hide and reveal its
narrative beneath supermarket imagery of the 20th century.
Regarding what was to become his ultimate series of works, Warhol
remarked to the flamboyant Australian arts writer Paul Taylor in his last known
interview, I painted them all by hand myself; so now I've become a Sunday
painter. That's why the project took so long [1984-1987]. But I worked with a
passion.
Retrieved from http://mooc.mediciuniversity.co.uk/last-supper/](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/religiousiconography-171007081841/85/Religious-Icononography-22-320.jpg)
Religious Icononography
- 1. Religious Iconography Introduction to Eastern and Western Art
- 2. Iconography The term comes from the Greek word ikon meaning image. An icon was originally a picture of Christ on a panel used as an object of devotion in the orthodox Greek Church from at least the seventh century on. Hence the term icon has come to be attached to any object or image that is outstanding or has a special meaning attached to it. Retrieved from http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/iconography
- 3. Seated Gandhra Buddha, 2nd - 3rd Century, Carved Schist Stone, 91.5 cm x 54.5 cm x 15 cm Gandhra was an ancient kingdom situated in the northwestern region of Pakistan
- 6. Seated Buddha in dhyna. The hair, in regular curls of several strands, runs over the u畊ａ朝畊a, which has a small central hole, up to the halo; the eyebrows are a very sharp edge in a low arch above horizontal eyes with prominent drooping lids. The circular 笛r畊 is raised, the damaged flat nose has straight edges continuing from the eyebrows. The lips seem pursed or even compressed and the long concave ears are close to the head, with short grooves in the long lobes. The rectangular seat has a raised top with undulating strands and, at the corners, vine leaves. A sawtooth cornice rests on Corinthian corner pilasters, each with a narrow recessed oblong panel on the shaft. Between them, flanked by worshipping monks, are five seated figures, each on a rectangular draped seat and separated by standing opening lotuses, while a leafy branch hangs at each end. All haloed, the middle and outside figures are Buddhas in dhyna with covered hands and regular grooves for drapery folds, and two are Bodhisattvas: one is a Padmapni with crested turban, in 'abhaya-mudra' and holding a lotus by its stalk in the other hand; the other is Maitreya with a horizontal length of hair looped at one end and a water pot; both are otherwise identically dressed and with broad flat chests. All these figures have prominent rounded eyes, oval heads and thin mouths. On each side beyond the pilasters is an incomplete open flower with centrally grooved petals. Retrieved from http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx? objectId=182303&partId=1&museumno=1880.71&page=1
- 7. Guanyin of the Southern Sea, China, Liao (9071125) or Jin dynasty (11151234); wood with polychromy; 95 x 65 in
- 9. Represented as "Kuan-Yin of the southern seas," the Chinese Buddhist deity of compassion and mercy is seated in a variation of the pose of royal ease (Maharajalila) on a base imitating a craggy rock with his/her right arm resting on his/her folded right knee. The left arm rests on the rock while the left leg hangs down over the rockery onto a lotus blossom. The position of the Guanyin conveys the impression that the Bodhisattva might at any moment awake from deep contemplation and step down. The Bodhisattva's worldly ornaments, such as the high tiara and rich necklaces, are carved, gilded and painted in sumptuous detail. The term 'bodhisattva' literally means 'one who has enlightenment as his/her essence', from bodhi (awakening or enlightenment) and sattva (essence). It is not simply another term for a Buddha, though: a bodhisattva is a being who is destined for enlightenment rather than one who has gained it already.
- 10. Standing Four Armed Vishnu, Vietnam (Pre- Angkor Period), 7th Century, Carved Stone, 96.5 x 43.2 cm
- 11. Vishnu is one of the principle deities in Hinduism. Vishnu is the preserver who protects the earth from being destroyed. Vishnu is part of the Hindu trinity which also includes Brahma and Shiva. This distinguished example of the pre- Angkor style comes from the Zhenla kingdom in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam. It preserves the flavor of Indian sculpture, particularly in the full, round forms of the face. Vishnu's headdress is the orthodox high miter. He holds a conch (shankha) in his raised left hand and a war discus (chakra) in his right. His lowered left hand rests on the remains of a mace (gada). Originally, there were structural supports between the sides of the miter and the upper emblems. A portion of one is still visible on the right side of the miter. Retrieved from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of- art/1992.53/
- 13. Wiligelmo, Creation and Temptation of Adam and Eve (Italian Romanesque), 1145 CE, Marble Bas-relief, 3 feet high
- 14. This work was created by the Italian sculptor Wiligelmo, who was famous for bringing back life-sized sculptures to Italy in the Romanesque Period. He was known as one of the most influential sculptors of the time as he had sculpted a number of works not only on the Modena Cathedral, but on other buildings, as well. This one is located on the frieze of the west facade (face of a building) of the Modena Cathedral and is 3 ft high (approx. 1m). It is a high-relief sculpture (bas-relief) and the Biblical scenes depicted are against an architectural backdrop (Roman arches and columns behind the figures). Christ is framed by a mandorla. The term mandorla comes from the Italian language and means "almond", referring to the usual shape. The mandorla is used to depict sacred moments which transcend time and space, such as the Resurrection and the Transfiguration of Christ. The icons include Christ who holds a Bible to represent the source of the story (Genesis), Adam, Eve, and two angels. Serpent represents evil and the apple represents temptation.
- 15. Robert Campin (Early Renaissance South Netherlandish), Annunciation Triptych (Merode Altarpiece), 1427-32, Oil on Oak Wood, Overall (open): 64.5 x 117.8 cm Central panel: 64.1 x 63.2 cm.
- 16. Having just entered the room, the angel Gabriel is about to tell the Virgin Mary that she will be the mother of Jesus. The golden rays pouring in through the left oculus carry a miniature figure with a cross. The room is filled with ordinary objects, many of them referencing the Virgin Mary, including the white lilies in the pitcher. On the right wing, Joseph, who is betrothed to the Virgin, works in his carpenters shop, drilling holes in a board. The mousetraps on the bench and in the shop window opening onto the street are thought to allude to references in the writings of Saint Augustine identifying the cross as the devils mousetrap. On the left wing, the kneeling donor appears to witness the central scene through the open door. His wife kneels behind him, and a town messenger stands at the garden gate. Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/470304
- 17. Gonkar Gyatso (Tibet), Shangri La, 2014, Mixed Media on Aluminum, 76 x 76 cm
- 19. Contemporary Tibetan artist Gonkar Gyatso uses traditional Tibetan landscape themes and iconography, but also tchotchkes, bricolage, cartoon bubbles, and stickies, all of which serve as cheery subterfuge for the dire messages he buries under his techniques. His pieces fluidly penetrate language barriers, switching between Tibetan, Chinese, and English; they jump from traditional and decorative painting and sculpture squarely into conceptual theory and linguistics as well. Gyatso centers his work on two main constructs, the Western cartoon bubble and the Chinese ideogram, though he is not above using the English language to convey his sentiments. Shangri La (2014), is a painting on aluminum in which an under- construction sacred mandala slowly dissolves into encaustic drips. Theres humor here, but also despair as the exploration for oil relentlessly desecrates a once pristine land. Cartoon bubbles, full of wit and double- entendres, occupy locations that in a traditional painting would be reserved for minor deities, ancestral figures, and members of their retinue. Retrieved from https://hyperallergic.com/150448/a-tibetan-artists-political-pop/
- 20. Andy Warhol (American Pop Art), The Last Supper (Dove), Acrylic and Silkscreen on Linen, 10 x 30 feet.
- 21. Leonardo Da Vinci (Italian Renaissance), The Last Supper, 1495-98), Oil and Tempera on Plaster, 4.6 m x 8.8 m
- 22. Superimposing profane American corporate logos for Dove soap and General Electric over da Vinci's sacred, Andy Warhol's massive 30 foot by 10 foot acrylic and silk screen ink on linen painting, The Last Supper (Dove) mixes supermarket iconography with ubiquitous religious imagery to comprise an image that is either considered by some critics to constitute his most important work or by others as wishy-washy, religiose and spiritless. Like all Pop artists of his time and since, yet perhaps better than all, Andy Warhol's works allow audiences and critics alike to consider the oftentimes overlooked or long forgotten fundamental meaning and worth of everyday objects and images. For nearly five hundred years, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, The Last Supper (circa 1495) had been replicated and reduced in such innumerable ways that its meaning had been lost on viewers long before Warhol's clever choice in 1984 to simultaneously hide and reveal its narrative beneath supermarket imagery of the 20th century. Regarding what was to become his ultimate series of works, Warhol remarked to the flamboyant Australian arts writer Paul Taylor in his last known interview, I painted them all by hand myself; so now I've become a Sunday painter. That's why the project took so long [1984-1987]. But I worked with a passion. Retrieved from http://mooc.mediciuniversity.co.uk/last-supper/