tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8101104303695920672024-03-14T07:53:58.581+00:00The Devil ResearchThe Devil in Art from 11th century onwards.Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-41634300035986406462013-11-02T16:04:00.003+00:002013-11-02T16:04:55.743+00:00Dosso Dossi - the unlikely inspiration.
In the last
month I have thought about Dosso Dossi more than I have in five years studying
art history. Dosso Dossi is a Renaissance painter who was positioned in the court
of Ferrara. Ferrara was one of the centres of Renaissance culture and was also
home to the infamous Lucrezia Borgia (her third husband was the Duke of
Ferrara). I also know Dosso as the owner of the coolest signature known toJenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-67670982583894410802013-10-09T11:24:00.003+01:002013-10-09T11:24:56.726+01:00Modern MedievalEver since I started studying the medieval period I thought that it was more modern than most people assume. Every image (almost every image) I saw in the lecture I could think of at least one modern equivalent. For example, the iconic scene in 'Ring' of the girl climbing out of the TV screen is actually just the reworked image of the Blemmye that is trying to escape from the pages of the 1050's Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-67442076910135274242013-04-06T12:04:00.001+01:002013-04-06T12:04:18.149+01:00When angels fall: when? why? and where?
When I was a lot younger and more of a metal head, I really
liked a song that had a phrase ‘when angels fall.’ Now, almost a decade later, this
turned in to a pestering question ‘when DO angels fall?’ As it turned out trying to find out ‘when
do the angels fall’ is just as impossible as telling the exact date for ‘once
upon a time’. One of my favorite summaries of the&Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-21080316807522763062013-03-26T11:50:00.001+00:002013-03-26T11:50:14.498+00:00Holkham Bible: Satan enthroned.
fig 1. Holkham Bible, MS 47682, fol 2, British Library, England, 1327-1340, (detail).
The crowning of Satan, from one of my favorite manuscripts
the Holkham picture Bible (1327-1340) a book created by an amateur (Figure 1,
2). The proposed, by Michelle Brown, amateurism of the creator certainly
explains the very unorthodox image of the creation of the world. Usually God
would Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-60533074917026288082012-12-20T13:15:00.000+00:002012-12-20T13:15:11.739+00:00The Devil Poster and Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year At the beginning of the month my Brief History of the Devil poster came in third at Glasgow University's Images of Research competition. And here it is:
and the link to the picture is here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gfibjrkbzqt0wb2/devil%20poster.png
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-18142472524977393132012-11-02T17:24:00.000+00:002012-11-02T17:24:19.072+00:00The one in Oxford (and a very belated Happy Halloween)
MS Douce 134, fol. 098r
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Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-51374861404131809412012-10-20T15:32:00.000+01:002012-10-20T15:33:13.356+01:00The Devil's Bible
Codex Gigas; 1200-1230
A long time ago in a Bohemian monastery a Benedictine monk was sentenced to be walled-up. Yet he managed to bargain for his life and made a deal that he will write a book containing all knowledge in one night and if he fails he will submit to his punishment. He set out to work yet by the middle of the night he realised that he is not Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-54573975871049460642012-09-28T20:09:00.002+01:002014-01-08T10:48:40.345+00:00The Florentine Devil
Last week I went to Italy and in Florence I saw the most awesome Devil. And after telling about the depiction to every one who would listen I thought its best to write about it here.
I knew that Florence has a lot of treasures to offer as almost any undergraduate art history course is based around the artworks and buildings found in that city. Thus in a really Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-13751067270780378032012-09-11T20:17:00.002+01:002012-09-11T20:17:46.852+01:00The one that looks like Dobby with yellow eyes or Holbein's Allegory of the New and the Old Testaments
An Allegory of the Old and New Testaments, Hans Holbein the Younger
I came across this little beauty a couple of months ago in the National Gallery of Scotland. Unfortunately then I didn't have time to look at it or to even glance at the name of the author, and it was just recently that I managed to go back to explore Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-39743359702475540432012-09-04T12:31:00.000+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.271+01:00Devil, illuminati, antichrist and Rebecca Black or the crazies came out to play
I knew that writing about the Devil will be hard, not because its the devil but because I would have to sift through god knows how much poop to find proper literature and go on trips to the far and weird corners of YouTube.
For me any academic research starts with google. After typing in Satan, Devil, Lucifer, Antichrist, the Devil a Biography I came across some things Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com153tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-54803251355027180082012-08-30T20:45:00.000+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.279+01:00Church Trip II: Italian EditionSo at the beginning of the summer I went on a cathedral/church trip around the East of England so as the summer is coming to the end what better way to bring it to a close then by going on another church trip. This one will be on the continent. After studying about Florence and Italian art this year I am breaking the habit and instead of studying I will actually go to see it.
Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-22292549862908356242012-08-22T14:50:00.003+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.255+01:00Satanism: am I a closeted Satanist?
Witches' Sabbath, F. Goya, 1789. Oil on canvas.
I remember years ago when wikipedia was not as mainstream as it is now and I was still in school I became aware of Satanism mostly because I was in to rock and metal, but also because a couple of Daily-Mail-like newspapers had articles demonising satanism and with in depth descriptions of people gathering at night to boil babies and Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-40158425699181166612012-08-17T14:19:00.003+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.273+01:00Counting Churches
I have a thing for churches (this sounds like an entrance sentence at an AA meeting according to sitcoms) so it is no surprise that my version of the popular car game 'I spy with my little eye...' is 'cpot the church' or 'who pots more churches' after playing this game for a while I came to two realisations:
1) Britain is littered with churches they are everywhere.
2) If I was takingJenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-31016724146494515752012-08-10T10:44:00.000+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.263+01:00Devil the scapegoat
Virgin and Child and the 9th commandment, German, Rhine Land c. 1440-50, detail of the stain glass window in Burrell collection.
After reading a bit on the devil I am now sure that it is the ultimate scapegoat. There has always been a ruler of the underworld or an evil god but usually they were part of a bigger reality, monism could acknowledge that evil is a natural and necessary Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-65643526384755049382012-07-27T15:59:00.002+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.286+01:00The Gaze and Batman
The Devil in Art is a humongous topic and I think I managed
to finally narrow my thesis topic down to the depiction of the ‘special
relationship’ between women and the Devil. I decided that I do not want to take
the usual path and look at witchcraft, but rather indulge my passion for the Genesis
3 story of Adam, Eve, and the snake. In the Bible the snake is a snake and just
that – a reptile, Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-87977961059305137222012-07-18T15:42:00.001+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.300+01:00Its ROUND!
Psalter map,
London, British Library, Add. MS 28681, fol. 9, London? After 1262
I must admit that when I started studying Medieval Art (or as some would view it: when the lecturer started talking Medieval Art at me) what blew my mind was not the talent of the masons, not the perfection of calculations at Vezeley, not even the quirkiness of Green men and Shilah na gig, not the Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-87269112892473221592012-07-09T20:28:00.000+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.297+01:00What happened to the imp?
I love imps they are funny, clumsy, cute, when they appear in folk stories you know that some funny mischief will happen. They are funny, and though they provide a conflict they are safe like Tom, or Sylvester, or the coyote who can not catch the road runner. One thing I could not understand is where did they go? If Latvian, Russian, some Germanic and Scandinavian folk Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-64798266765600057362012-07-04T21:22:00.002+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.281+01:00Introducing the first image of the Devil! (continued)
The Judgment of the Nations,
early 6th century C.E., Mosaic,
Ravenna, Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, upper register of the nave.
After the excitement of finding the oldest image of the devil
cooled down (I don’t think it will ever die out completely) and I got my head
back I read up on the image.
The mosaic is dated 520 common era. The halo in this case represents notJenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-83888720482842393312012-07-03T22:08:00.000+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.294+01:00Introducing the first image of the Devil!
The Judgment of the Nations,
early 6th century C.E., Mosaic,
Ravenna, Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, upper register of the nave.
This image of really poor quality is the first representation of the Devil (at least according to Jeffey Burton Russell). The Devil is shown without horns, and not as a hybrid, and without a psycho glare in his eyes, and with a halo. The best thing is the Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-49491487561302496512012-06-30T22:20:00.000+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.276+01:00Healer or Devil's dealer?
There are activities and parts of human life which are associated with the devil (the irony is that usually these are the things that make us human), small vices like gluttony, or activities like art, music, culture, curiosity for knowledge, in other words the small things that make life worth living. This considered the comment that a true poet is of the devil's party. But medicine and doctorsJenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-29668061122660390082012-06-23T16:14:00.001+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.261+01:00Evil is like holes in cheese
If there is anything I will forever remember and take away from JBR's epic work is the brilliant analogy that Good and Bad is like Swiss cheese. This is one of the most colourful and imaginative explanations of evil through via negativa - evil as the absence of good.
"Christian theologians would argue that evil is non being, literally nothing, no thing, a mere lack of goodness. Evil existsJenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-9264250635473294792012-06-20T19:19:00.000+01:002012-09-08T16:23:55.738+01:00The origins of the Devil or the grave of monotheism
Blabbering inspired by 'The Devil' by Jeffrey Burton Russell:
From movie 'Legend'
If I think about the devil the first things that come to mind are contemporary
movies, literature (Inferno, Faust, Master and Margarita, Paradise Lost) and
Medieval Art. If I am asked for his origins I would have to stop for a second
before saying New Testament and then think hard if there is a devil or a Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-28158222385553918722012-06-18T13:18:00.000+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.258+01:00Super Epic Cathedral Trip day 4 (last day)
The schedule for the last day was simple: Ely then London, unfortunately
Cambridge and Canterbury had to be taken of the list of attractions for the
simple reason of time and distance. We needed to be in London by 4 at the
latest to give the car back, but we wanted to make it to Euston (the car drop
off stop) by 1-3.
We were very lucky with the opening hours at Ely the cathedral was open from
7Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-75667333378831103122012-06-15T10:53:00.001+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.291+01:00Super Epic Cathedral Trip day 3 part 2
From York it was a tedious journey to Lincoln the road took
around 3 hours with nothing but fields and occasional villages, though we had
the beautiful scenery to look at the radio spluttered out only white noise and
occasionally dubstep which to be frank I cannot tell apart. But it was a small price
to pay to see Lincoln.
Lincoln can be seen from far away mostly because of its massive sizeJenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-810110430369592067.post-33878495205454662992012-06-10T21:17:00.000+01:002012-09-08T16:21:49.269+01:00Super Epic Cathedral Trip day 3 part 1
Day 3 Start: in York around 9ish, expected to visit: York, Grimsby, Lincoln, Norwich. Night in Norwich or Ely.
After York everything looks small. Not only is the building huge but the vertical lines are emphasized unlike in Durham where the horizontal lines seem to prevail. Then again it is something that is not really seen on the pictures one has to be there to see/feel it.
Durham
Jenny Judovahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896328856602188844noreply@blogger.com0