THE ART OF VISUAL EXEGESIS SBL Press E MORY STUDIES IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY Vernon K. Robbins, General Editor David B. Gowler, General Editor Bart B. Bruehler, Associate Editor Robert H. von Thaden Jr., Associate Editor Richard S. Ascough Juan Hernández Jr. Susan E. Hylen Brigitte Kahl Mikeal C. Parsons Christopher C. Rowland Russell B. Sisson Elaine M. Wainwright Number 19 Press SBL THE ART OF VISUAL EXEGESIS Rhetoric, Texts, Images E dited by Vernon K. Robbins, Walter S. Melion, and Roy R. Jeal Press SBL Atlanta Copyright © 2017 by SBL Press Publication of this volume was made possible by the generous support of the Pierce Pro- gram in Religion of Oxford College of Emory University. The editors of this volume express their sincere gratitude to David E. Orton and Deo Pub- lishing for publication of this series 2009–2013. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by means of any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permit- ted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to the Rights and Permissions Office,S BL Press, 825 Hous- ton Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30329 USA. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Robbins, Vernon K. (Vernon Kay), 1939- editor. | Melion, Walter S., editor. | Jeal, Roy R., editor. Title: The art of visual exegesis : rhetoric, texts, images / edited by Vernon K. Robbins, Walter S. Melion, and Roy R. Jeal. Description: Atlanta : SBL Press, [2017] | Series: Emory studies in early Christianity ; number 19 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016056518| ISBN 9781628371727 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780884142140 (hardcover : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Bible—Illustrations. | Bible. New Testament—Criticism, interpretations, etc.—History. | Christian art and symbolism Classification: LCC N8023 .A78 2017 | DDC 755/.4—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016056518 Cover design is an adaptation by Bernard Madden of Rick A. Robbins, Mixed Media (19" x 24" pen and ink on paper, 1981). Cover designPress used by permission of Deo Publishing. Printed on acid-free paper. SBL Contents Acknowledgments ...........................................................................................vii Abbreviations ................................................................................................. xiii Introduction Vernon K. Robbins, Walter S. Melion, and Roy R. Jeal .........................1 Part 1: Methodology for Visual Exegesis and Rhetography New Testament Texts, Visual Material Culture, and Earliest Christian Art Vernon K. Robbins ...................................................................................13 Visual Interpretation: Blending Rhetorical Arts in Colossians 2:6–3:4 Roy R. Jeal .................................................................................................55 Methodology Underlying the Presentation of Visual Texture in the Gospel of John L. Gregory Bloomquist ............................................................................89 Eyes Wide Open, Seeing Nothing: The Challenge of the Gospel of John’s Nonvisualizable Texture for Readings Using Visual Texture L. Gregory Bloomquist ..........................................................................121Press Part 2: Visual Exegesis Using Roman Visual Material Culture Paul, Imperial Situation, and Visualization in the Epistle to the Colossians Harry O. SBLMaier .......................................................................................171 vi CNO TE TS The G alatian Suicide and the Transbinary Semiotics of Christ Crucified G( alatians 3:1): Exercises in Visual Exegesis and Critical Reimagination Brigitte Kahl ............................................................................................195 Armor, Peace, and Gladiators: A Visual Exegesis of Ephesians 6:10–17 Rosemary Canavan ................................................................................241 Part 3: Visual Exegesis Using Christian Art Graphic Exegesis: Reflections on the Difficulty of Talking about Biblical Images, Pictures, and Texts Christopher J. Nygren ............................................................................271 The Gifts fo Epiphany: Geertgen tot Sint Jans and the Adoration of the Magi Henry Luttikhuizen ................................................................................303 “Exactitude and Fidelity”? Paintings of Christ Healing the Blind by Nicolas Poussin and Philippe de Champaigne James Clifton ...........................................................................................337 Topos versus Topia: Herri met de Bles’s Visual Exegesis of the Parable of the Good Samaritan Michel Weemans ....................................................................................359 Signa Resurrectionis: Vision, Image, and Pictorial Proof in Pieter Bruegel’s Resurrection of Circa 1562–1563 Walter S. Melion .....................................................................................381 Bibliography ...................................................................................................441 Contributors ...................................................................................................485Press Ancient and Medieval Sources Index .........................................................487 Authors Index ................................................................................................497 Subject Index ..................................................................................................505 SBL Acknowledgments Canavan, Rosemary Figure 1. Roman coin with Nero (obv.) and Temple of Janus with closed doors (rev.). Photo courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group Inc. Figure 2. Roman coin with Titus under Vespasian (obv.) and Pax stand- ing (rev.). Photo courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group Inc. Figure 3. Roman coin with Vespasian (obv.) and Pax seated (rev.). Photo courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group Inc. Figure 4. Diagram of Sociorhetorical Model adapted from the original by Vernon K. Robbins. Figure 5. Roman oil lamp with depiction of gladiator. Burdur Museum, Turkey. Photo courtesy of Carole Raddato. Figure 6. White marble memorial stele for Nikephoros, ca. second– third century CE. Denizli Archaeological Museum, Hierapolis, Turkey. Photo by Rosemary Canavan (author). Figure 7a. Marble stele of gladiator, likely thraex style, ca. second century CE. Ephesus archaeological site, Turkey. Photo by Rosemary Canavan (author). Figure 7b. Marble stele of gladiator, ca. second century CE. Ephesus archaeological site, Turkey. Photo by Rosemary Canavan (author). Figure 8. Secutor style gladiator etched into the plaster on the wall of a terrace house, ca. second–third century CE. Ephesus archaeological site, Turkey. Photo courtesy of Alan Cadwallader. Figure 9. Fragment of stone frieze depictingPress gladiators, cemented into a stone wall. Modern city of Honaz, Turkey. Photo courtesy of Alan Cadwallader. Figure 10. Marble relief panel from the Sebasteion with the personifi- cation of Rome crowning Augustus, ca. first–second CE. Sevgi Gönul Sebasteion Hall, Aphrodisias Archaeological Museum. Turkey. Photo by Rosemary Canavan (author). SBL-vii - viii AKOC N WLEDGMENTS Clifton, James Figure 1. Nicolas Poussin, Jesus Healing the Blind, 1650, oil on canvas, 119 x 175.5 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Figure 2. Étienne Villequin, Christ Healing the Blind Man of Jericho, oil on copper, 31.7 x 42 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Figure 3. Nicolas Poussin, Jesus Healing the Blind, ca. 1650, graphite underdrawing, pen and brown ink, 151 x 220 mm. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2015. Figure 4. Nicolas Poussin, Jesus Healing the Blind, pen and brown ink, 110 x 196 mm. Musée Bonnat, Bayonne. Figure 5. Pierre Firens, King Henri IV of France Touching for Scrofula, late sixteenth century, etching. Musée national du château de Pau. Figure 6. Philippe de Champaigne, Christ Healing the Blind, c. 1660 [?], oil on canvas, 104 x 142 cm. The PutnamF oundation, Timken Museum of Art, San Diego. Figure 7. Philippe de Champaigne, Christ Healing the Blind (detail), c. 1660 [?], oil on canvas, 104 x 142 cm. The Putnam Foundation, Timken Museum of Art, San Diego. Figure 8. Philippe de Champaigne, Saint Thaïs Freed from Her Cell by Paphnutius, 1656, oil on canvas, 230 x 356 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Jeal, Roy R. Figure 1. Leo Mol, Moses. Leo Mol Sculpture Garden. Assiniboine Park Conservancy, Winnipeg. Photo by Roy R. Jeal (author). Figure 2. Illusory Contour. Public Domain Image. Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License. Figure 3. Illusory Contour. Public Domain Image. Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License. Kahl, Brigitte Figure 1. Exhibition hall at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, 2011– 2012, with a display of the four “smallPress barbarians” from Naples/Italy—a Dead Giant, a Dying Galatian, a Dying Persian, and a Dead Amazon— together with plaster casts of the two “big” (or Ludovisi) Galatians/ Gauls—The Dying Galatian (or Trumpeter) and The Galatian Suicide at the front and center. All sculptures are Roman copies of Pergamene originals dating to the third/second century BCE. Photo by Brigitte Kahl (author). Figure 2. TheSBL Galatian Suicide. R oman marble copy from the late first/ AKOC N WLEDGMENTS ix early second century CE of a lost Pergamene bronze