| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation deals with
representations in European art from the Old
Testament Apocrypha. The OT Apocrypha are
books of the Bible which are not part of the
Hebrew Canon. Four Books from the Apocrypha
have been chosen for an in-depth study - The
Book of Tobit, the Book of Judith, Additions to
the Book of Esther and Additions to the Book
of Daniel with the stories of the idol Bel, the
dragon god, Susanna and the Elders, the Three
Men in the Fiery Furnace and Daniel in the Lions’
Den. The main aims are to trace the different
developments of Apocryphal images in both
Roman Catholic and Protestant parts of Europe
from one century to another, beginning with
the catacombs in Rome, and to see to what extent
the biblical and apocryphal texts have influenced
or inspired artists, sculptors, printmakers and
other artisans. This process of change moves
from the typological during the medieval period,
in the case of Judith and Esther to the civic and
historical during the Renaissance, especially in
Florence, and then to the gruesome and horrific
images in the case of Judith during the Baroque
period, the more restrained images during the
Rococo and then finishing with the more realistic
depictions during the nineteenth century when
much of the religious content had been lost.
The main emphasis, however, is on
representations from before, during and after
the Reformation when the greatest number of
images were produced. Consideration is also
given to apocryphal images, especially to wall
paintings, broadsheets, bonader, bonadsmålningar and
dalmålningar in three of the Scandinavian
countries – Norway, Sweden and Denmark,
including an assessment of why there are so few
images from the Apocrypha in Scandinavia,
whereas in the rest of Europe there is a
superfluity of images. These four books have
been chosen because these have attracted the
greatest number of paintings. The main focus
of discussion centres, therefore, in the first
instance, around paintings and then draws on
representations of stained glass, illuminated
manuscripts woodcuts, prints and church
woodcarvings. The reasons for the different
functions of Apocryphal images in both the
Roman Catholic and Protestant worlds are
discussed.
The thesis is made up of seven chapters.
The first chapter gives an explanation of the
Old Testament Apocrypha and sets out an
account of Bibles containing the Apocrypha.
The second chapter looks at prints and illustrated
Bibles and the use which artists might have made
of these in formulating their images. Chapters
three to six discusses representations from the
books outlined above and chapter seven focuses
on the paintings of Dalecarlia (dalmålningar) from
the period 1750-1870. These images are examined
and analysed from a art historical and theological
perspective. | en |
