LUZ Mm AVELEYRA. ‘, 1987 D I I

A ST UDY OF CHRIST {N MNESTY FROM THE APOCALYPSE OF SAN SEVER w‘—-— § Thesis for the Degree of M. A. MlCHEGAN STATE {ENEVERSITY _‘ LUZ mm AVELEYRA. ‘, 1987 D I i I' .g IlllIIH3IIH1HIZIIHIHHHllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHllHll L - u.“ _ 291301062 3951 A LITTI’ARY 22‘2012n3tatc *.] UniV crsity ABJTRACT A dtudy_of Christ in Malestx of the Apocalypse of San Sever An analysis was done of an illustration taken from the Apocalypse of 8. never entitled Christ in Majesty. It was approached from a stylistic and iconographical vieWpoint and also includes historical data. The artist who illustrated the manuscript COpied his work from an earlier source. The attempt was made, therefore, to find the manuscript which he may have used as the basis for his illustration. no definite conclusion was made as to the particular manuscript the artist may have COpied, but it was possible to state a period to which the earlier manuscript may have belonged. A STUDY OF CHRIST IN MAJESTY FROM THE APOCALYPSE OF SAN SEVER By / Luz Maria Aveleyra A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Art 1967 ACthuLﬁDGMENT To Professor Robert Rough for his interest, help and guidance, I express my sincere thanks. Luz Maria Aveleyra CoNTENTS Page Introduction -------------- 1 Historical Background --------- 4 Problems and Opinions --------- lO Iconography -------------- 17 Style ----------------- 29 Conclusion -------------- 39 Bibliography ------------- 43 Illustrations ------------- 47 INTRODUCTION At the close of the first century after Christ, a series of epistles were addressed to seven Asian churches by a writer known as John, probably the Apostle.1 Their message predicted events that would occur on earth, and in the kingdom of God at the end of the world. Even though the arrangement was in the form of letters they were com- piled as a book known as, The Book of Revelations,or the a. Apocalypse. W Within a century the Apocalypse became widely known in all parts of the church world and it was considered to be a work of inspired authorship. Among the earliest ad- vocates as to its divine authenticity, and perhaps the greatest, was St. Irenaeus.2 At the Third Council of Car- thage, 397 A.D., the Apocalypse was included in the list of canonical books. Interpretations of the Apocalypse were not begun un- til the fourth century; Ticonius wrote one of the earliest commentaries. The first literary notice of apocalyptic themes probably belongs to the fifth century: in 424 Galla Placidia had a church built in Ravenna which she dedicated A..- 1 The following commentary, unless otherwise stated, is based on — Isbon T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John (Michigan, Baker Book House, 19677 2 John W. Bradley, The Apocalypse. (London, Charles Wit- tingham and Co., 1906) p. 4 _ 1 _ _ 2 - to St. John the Evangelist. Ten years later Hieronymus Bu- beus recorded a description of this church and he mentioned that some of the tOpics which were chosen to decorate the interior had been taken from the Book of Revelations. The first artistic representations of scenes from the Apocalypse only appeared as individual scenes and did not illustrate the entire book.1 G. B. Ladner says that the pro- totypes of Apocalyptic art were created in the last half of the fourth century and the first half of the fifth during the time of Theodosius the Great and Pope Leo the Great. From this period the Church used the art of the emperors' apo- theosis as the basis for the vision of the Apocalyptic Christ.2 By the fifth century apocalyptic themes of adora- tion which mentioned Christ or the Lamb were used by artists to adorn Roman churches. There were three illuminated manuscripts of the Book of Revelations done between the eighth and ninth centuries: The Apocalypse of Trier, early eighth century, a 00py of the Beatus commentary, latter quarter of the eighth century, and the Cambrai Apocalypse, ninth century. This may indicate that the earliest attempts to illustrate the entire book were probably done in the West. l Montague Rhodes James, The Apocalypse in Art, (London, Oxford University Press, 1931) p. 29 2 G.B. Ladner, Comments - "Van der Meer, Maiesta Domini" The Art Bulletin, (March, 1943) Vol. XXV, No. l, p. 93 _ 3 - For the present paper a page has been chosen from the Apocalypse of S. Sever, 1028 - 1072, illustrating a section taken from the fourth chapter of the Book of Revelations. It shows Christ in Majesty surrounded by a host of angels, twenty-four Elders and four creatures; all gesture in adora- tion to God, Creator and King. The Maiestas, or Christ in Majesty (Fig. 1) has been selected as the tOpic for this thesis and will by analyzed stylistically and iconographi- cally. An attempt will be made to trace the origin of this theme and follow its development up to the eleventh century. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND In the eleventh century one of the strongest conflicts in EurOpe was between Church and State. The principal argu- ments were church reform, lay investiture, the appointment of church delegates by royalty, and canonical election. These complications lead the Church to seek freedom from secular intervention and to increase and maintain power in areas strictly her own; to be independent of royal authority. In Spain the founding of a church or monastery was ac— companied by land donations and as a consequence monks even- tually became wealthy landowners. Religious orders were supported by the kings who wanted to counteract the powers of the nobility; the Church in turn helped the kings when- ever necessary.1 This type of assistance could only end in conflict for at some point religious and secular rights would overlap. This indeed happened; lay ownership gradually overpowered 'spiritual' considerations and the problem of lay investiture deve10ped. Investiture was the practice by which secular rulers invested spiritual offices to newly elected clergy by conferring on them the symbols of spiritual authority, the ring and the staff.2 In other words, l Rafael Altamira, A history of Spain, (New Jersey, D. Van Nostrand, Co., Inc., 1966) p. 204 2 Robert S. Hoyt, Europe in the Middle Ages (New York, Burlingane, Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1966) p. 233 - 4 _ - 5 _ kings felt they had the power to fill vacant bishOprics and purchase and sell the land, which supposedly belonged to the P0pe, as they saw fit. But changes were made in an effort to separate the duties and obligations of these two powers. By 1059 Nicholas II passed the Papal Election Decree which eliminated imperial control from the papacy. At the Lateran Synod it was declared that cardinal-bishOps, cardinal- priests and cardinal-deacons of Rome were to officially elect thepOpe and the emperor would be notified of the de— cision after the appointment had been made.2 Five years earlier the declaration of papal supremacy over all Chris- tendom had brought about the schism between the Eastern Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Difficulties between royalty and ecclesiastics had not Sprung merely from a desire to gain greater political strength; a state of laxity and carelessness within church discipline also created problems. For the people of the Middle Ages the Church was important. Their lives had been directed by her teachings and there were few activities that did not fall, to some degree, under her influence.3 The Church was the unifying element for everyone. In order to properly instruct the faithful she had to act in accordance 1 J.B. Bury, The Cambridge Mediaeval History, Vol. v (Cambridge University Press, 1948) p. VIII 2 Hoyt, _p. cit., p. 226 3 Hoyt, 2p. cit., p. 359 -6... with her teachings. Therefore, reform was essential. In the tenth century ecclesiastical reform had been aided by the establishment of the religious order of Cluny. This Benedictine house was founded with the view toward complete solitude from the world, but with time it grew in wealth and importance and by the eleventh century it became an intellectual leader of EurOpe. The political activities of Cluny were pushed in every direction. As a means of reform the abbeys were to be immediately subordinate to the pOpe. The rivalry that existed between the emperor and pope was because each claimed to derive his authority from the theory of a single head under God.1 The Order did not re- cognize any allegiance to the French king, duty and obedience were to the pope only;2 it believed in the universal power of Rome. The order of Cluny was dedicated to learning. Among the abbots there were philOSOphers and humanists as well as statesmen.3 Culture was to have no boundaries; not only did this Benedictine community build monasteries in France, it also established religious houses throughout different parts of Eur0pe. Even Alfonso VI of Spain contributed large sums of money toward the building of the church.4 Some of l Violet R. Markham, Romanesque France, (London, 1929) p. 103 2 Ibid., p. 105 3 Ibid., p. 105 4 Ibid., p. 106 - 7 _ the monasteries served as stopping points for travelers along pilgrimage roads and it is interesting to note that S. Sever served such a purpose. Together with the political-religious encounter the West also witnessed the reconquest of Spain from the Moors, and on the cultural level the founding of the cathedral schools and universities. Spain was fighting the Moslems in an effort to regain the Christian territories which she had lost. The population of Spain was divided into Latin-Chris- tian and Arab-Moslem.

Load more