From our text: ART: A Brief History by Stokstad and Cothren
Students will complete a 1,000 word essay around the image above found in Chapter #7 on page 177
Details of this image ONLY to be used:
A selected page from the Chludov Psalter (sometimes spelled Khludov)
( NOTE: your paper needs only to speak of this page, not the WHOLE book)
Mid 9th CE
Tempera on vellum
7 3/4" x 6"
Currently in the Collection of State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russia
What does this page visually describes:
The Christian Crucifixion and Iconoclasts
Research on the Internet - besides all the information from our text, there is a great deal of information on this particular page on the web.
Helpful Links > Iconoclastic Controversies: Kahn Academy essay
The Rijks Museum Amsterdam
Research on the Internet - besides all the information from our text, there is a great deal of information on this particular page on the web.
Helpful Links > Iconoclastic Controversies: Kahn Academy essay
The Rijks Museum Amsterdam
DUE: WK #14 TUE APR 28 @ 6 PM
DRAFTS to me no later than APR 18th @ 6 PM
DRAFTS to me no later than APR 18th @ 6 PM
An excellent paper meriting an A will exhibit the below researched attributes and will thorough describe them in an organized way, clearly and accurately:
- It is 1,000 word essay, minimum
- The essay should fully describe the cultural context of this 9th century work (what is going on during this period of the Byzantine Empire of the Early Christian world? )
- What purpose was this book written? By whom? And, for whom?
- The essay should fully describe what this particular page is describing visually
- The essay should fully describe the materials used in this work, how the artists got them, how were they applied to the substrate?
- The essay should thoroughly describe the overall composition of the page. For example, the relationship between text and image, the illusion of space, the visual movement the work exhibits
- The essay should speak about SEQUENTIAL ART and how it is happening in this work
- The essay should thoroughly describe the symbolism evident in the work of art
- The essay should fully describe what the Byzantine Iconoclastic controversies are and why are the iconoclasts evident on this particular page?
- The essay should bring in excellent descriptive support of how the formal elements are operating in this particular work of art. INCLUDING: Line, Space, Color, Repetition
- As well as any other vital information discovered in student's research regarding the cultural context surrounding the work of art or the work of art itself.
- The essay should be double spaced and embed the image of the work of art within the essay
- The essay will include a work cited page (please don’t forget to include our class text!)
Standards of Grading
ESSAY # 2 / 2
Essay contains performance accomplishment:
A Quality = Surpasses Standards. A stellar performance
B Quality = Meets standards appropriately, a good performance
C Quality = Approaches and meets some standards adequately, an average performance
D Quality = May meet some standards, however, not near enough to meet them adequately
F Quality = Does not meet the standards
Grade assessment distribution
Goes towards content description of how the formal elements of the above work of art are operating in the work of art being discussed.
The author (YOU!) should be able to provide historical and cultural context and how / why the work was created.
Grade distribution worth 20%
1. Historical and cultural context the work was produced in. See above criteria #1 through 9 above
Grade distribution worth 20%
2. The artistic form
- How was it created?
- What materials were used?
- What was the process the arts used in creating it?
Grade distribution worth 20%
3. What is the symbolic / concept significance of the form?
Explain thoroughly
How would the form be used?
Grade distribution worth 6 points each x 5 = 30%
4. Thoroughly discuss the principles and elements of design including:
i. OVERALL COMPOSITIONAL BALANCE
ii. LINE
iii. SPACE
iv. COLOR
v. REPETITION and PATTERN
10% of overall grade towards the essay's mechanics of writing. The essay's structure is well organized, transitions are smooth, grammar is excellent, and includes the addition of image with proper labeling. Essay is coherent and illustrates excellent technical control of the author.
Prof. Pepper
Art History I
April 28, 2020
Iconoclasts and the Chludov Psalter
In the 8th century in Byzantium, Emperor Leo III made the startling decision to condemn the use of religious icons. The decision was met with great upheaval that troubled the Roman pope and many Christians in Byzantium at the time (Kaegi 92). As Cothren and Stokstad point out, the icon had played a special role in Byzantine art and was the staple form of religious artistic expression. Icons were everywhere: they adorned church walls, altars, homes and public spaces. When the Iconoclasts (those who believed icons were graven images and therefore offensive to God) took over, it led to a great and violent dispute, with some who resisted the Emperor’s edict being killed. Eventually, the Iconoclasts were defeated, although they eventually reemerged in Europe during the Protestant Reformation some seven centuries later. But for the time, their frenzy had passed and would be remembered in art like that represented in the pages of the Chludov Psalter.
The Chludov Psalter, figure 1, is an illuminated Psalter from the 9th century and contains the Psalms of the Septuagint with responses to be chanted in the plainchant style of the era (Anderson 555). It is not known who wrote the Psalter, but it was revised over the centuries, with some of the lines touched up with fresh ink to preserve the Psalms. It is likely that the work was not produced until the Iconophiles returned to power in Constantinople in 843 (Tkacz).
Figure 1 (Stakstad and Cothren 177)
Crucifixion and Iconoclasts
Mid 9th CE
Tempera on vellum
7 3/4" x 6"
State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russia
The selected page from the Chludov Psalter presents two images that essentially play off one another. The upper image is of the Crucifixion of Christ and the moment when Christ says that he thirsts and yet continues to be scorned by the Roman soldiers, one of whom offers him gall to drink—a sponge soaked in vinegar, stuck on the point of a spear and thrust into the Christ’s face as a form of abuse (Anderson). The bottom image is of John the Grammarian, the Iconoclast Patriarch of Constantinople, where a furious debate had erupted over whether the use of icons in the Christian religion should be permitted and honored or viewed as the use of graven images and condemned (Anderson). John the Grammarian incited many Catholics by banning the use of icons in churches and the image at the bottom of the page shows him destroying an icon of Christ by using a sponge on a pole to rub it out. Therefore, the artist reflects the abuse of Christ by the Roman soldier in the abusive orientation towards the icon of Christ by John the Grammarian. The image of John the Grammarian as a ridiculous figure is further evident in the disheveled nature of his hair, which ran against Byzantine tastes for elegant decorum and fastidious appearance. The image in the Psalter is evidently one that was produced by an artist vehemently antagonistic to the Iconoclast movement.
The materials used to create the work consisted of typical 9th century paper and ink, though gold and silver were commonly used in illuminated manuscripts to emphasize their value and the worth of the subject matter (Stokstad and Cothren 176). What the page in the Chludov Psalter shows does contain gold in the halo around Christ on the Cross and the Christian icon below. Gold was commonly found among the Christian churches of the time, which is one reason the Iconoclasts viewed the use of icons with suspicion: they were alarmed by the considerable wealth of the Church, and as Mango notes many of the Iconoclasts were poor and came from outside Greek culture (Mango 679).
The art in the Chludov Psalter is also a good example of sequential art, which is art that tells a story through a series of panels or pictures that one can “read” logically. Here, the art “story” begins on the right side of the page and continues in the image at the bottom of the page. It reminds me of a modern comic book, in which the second image comments on the first or follows the first in a typical narrative structure. Here, the bottom image is commenting and playing upon the first image in that John the Grammarian is likened to the Roman Soldier abusing Christ on the cross.
The art work’s use of line, space, color and repetition are also worth commenting on as they all work together to move the eye from the top image down to the bottom in a fluid motion that keeps the mind engaged and the eye involved without ever wandering off or becoming bored due to a lack of connectivity. The boldness of the gold color set against the reddish-brown of the cross and the soldiers’ cloaks immediately catches and holds the eye first of all. Then the arms of the Cross reach out from the Christ where they are met by the soldiers’ spears. The eye follows these spears down to the soldiers and to the foot of the cross, which leads to the Christ icon of the bottom image and a spear slanted upward to the image. The icon and spear catch the eye from the foot of the cross and allows the viewer to connect what is happening in the bottom image with what is happening in the top image and to complete the narrative: the Iconoclast Emperor at the bottom is the spitting image of the Roman soldier above. The form of the work is subtle, but straightforward and full of the kind of Byzantine symbolism commonplace among all iconic works of the period.
In conclusion, the artwork in the Chludov Psalter is a work of Iconophile genius and serves to both mock the memory of the Iconoclast Emperor and to show the ridiculousness of the Iconoclast argument. Icons were never viewed as graven images because they were not created to be worshiped and nor did they represent false gods. Rather, they were meant to be tools of devotion and religious piety—just as the Psalter itself was used for the purpose of piety. By including the artwork in the Psalter meant for religious devotion, the artist was showing how insane it was for any Christian to truly believe in the message of the Iconoclasts when it was the Iconoclasts who were literally casting themselves in the role of the Roman soldiers who persecuted Christ—at least according to the artist of the Chludov Psalter (Tkacz).
Works Cited
Anderson, Jeffrey C. “On the Nature of the Theodore Psalter.” The Art Bulletin, vol. 70, no. 4,
1988. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3051102. Accessed 19 Apr. 2020. pp. 550-568
Cothren, Michael W. and Marilyn Stokstad. Art: A Brief History. 6th ed. Pearson, 2016. Print. pp. 176-178.
Kaegi, Walter E. Review of A History of the Byzantine State and Society, by Warren Treadgold.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 315, 1999, JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/1357541. Accessed 21 Apr. 2020. pp. 90–92.
Mango, Cyril. Review of Writing in Gold, Byzantine Society and its Icons, by Robin Cormack.
The Burlington Magazine, vol. 128, no. 1002, 1986, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/882749. Accessed 20 Apr. 2020. p. 679
Tkacz, Catherine Brown. Studies in Iconography, vol. 17, 1996. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/23923649. Accessed 19 Apr. 2020. pp. 413-416.------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Professor Jen Pepper
April 26, 2020
Research paper #2/2
(Pepper)
Chludov Psalter
Mid 9th CE
Tempera on Vellum
73/4”x 6’
This image above, is a small manuscript, depicting a segment from a scripture from the books of Psalters. The book of Psalms can be found within the Christian bible. This specific work is one derived from Iconoclasts. The Iconoclast was a reaction against the use of religious images. The defiance that came with that movement is where the true parallel begins to develop. It is one of three remaining of byzantine psalters to surpass the 9th century. With all the conflict during that time a lot of the history from that time was lost. Buildings were burned and demolished specifically religious items and places were being sentenced to be destroyed. A lot of history was lost but this specific piece was not, and people got to learn a lot from it.
The imagery of this piece pertains to the ideology behind Christianity and is used as a visual representation derived from their religious scripture. One of the materials that is used to execute this piece is one that makes it what it is, is parchment. The piece is navigating downward with the acknowledgment of placement of information in mind. Navigating the viewer to read first and then see what is happening. Making this a physical narrative pertaining to sequential art. This is a graphic of storytelling, that pertains to history whether you are religious or not.
The parchment paper this piece is illustrated on allows for the viewer to see light and view through the piece of paper. The parchment and colored painted is used with text to compose the overall page. There is negative space framing the text with the far bottom right edge side by side with a soldier who is participating in the crucifixion of Christ. There is Christ on a cross, towards the middle of the right side of the page and just before the page ends there is another soldier antagonist. Then it continues with more imagery down the page, consisting of more transparent writing and another scene of the torment of Christ.
This piece projects and depicts the crucifixion of Christ, that pertains and relates back to the Christian Bible through the piece of parchment. The purpose of the Bible is a reference point for the followers of the Christian religion depicting what they believe and how to navigate their belief system. It is a physical text, that is a holy scripture. The Bible had 40 main contributors that compiled and composed the overall writings that people still follow today. The piece is also composed using color paint. The colored paint gives a lively visualization to emphasize the meaning of the piece. The meaning of this piece is significant and contributes to the overall weight this depiction holds within history.
Seemingly between the two scenes that are going on within this one manuscript Christ, the symbol for all things Christianity is being defeated by the Iconoclasts. This imagery depicts an epic and large defeat that can trigger a sense of uncertainty and chaos for some of the viewers from the Byzantine Empire. This image represents the greater conflict going on between the Byzantine Empire and the Early Christian world that affected history and changed Christianity.
The cultural context of this piece shows the symbol and leader of Christianity being taken down by people who had an extreme reaction to him and what he stood for. Putting an idea into a vision is something to cause and invoke feelings in a lot of people. This piece specifically can trigger the heart for some who are of the following. There was a conflict between what people believed from the Old Testament. Claiming “it was impossible to depict the invisible God.” Ultimately though those ideologies were not supported with much evidence. All conflicts were eventually subsided and ended to a solution that worked out in a way that is still celebrated today.
This piece applies to sequential art by being a critical piece in a narrative for history and specifically for Christianity. The parallel this piece holds within history and from where it comes from in the Bible, is in between the fine lines. It shows that different people took to change within their environment differently. As more Christian beliefs got integrated into society, the Byzantine Empire and its people reacted all, very differently. And within the piece it is an Extreme reaction people had to Christ, that ended up killing him within the Bible. Christianity can use this piece to look back and reflect for their own archives and teachings. This piece changed history, it got documented and it continues to influence and teach into today and has led modern Christianity to where it is today. It changed the potential of everything seemingly by just existing in history.
The symbolism that the materials address is very beautiful and delicate. It is very much used to an advantage to the overall composition of this piece. The transparency of the parchment paper is moving and allows you to see into a really sensitive moment for a belief system, it invokes curiosity as to what was going on with people during that time. The way the expression on Christ’s face is depicted is absolutely heart wrenching.
This piece is monumentally influential and has a lot of different varieties of potential. It has contributed to the overall development of a belief system still followed and practiced today. The world has learned a great deal from archived pieces like this one, and if it was burned or destroyed maybe history would’ve gone a completely different way. Overall, this was a very interesting piece to research.
Word Count: 1018
Work cited:
“Crucifixion and Iconoclasts.” Omeka RSS, projects.leadr.msu.edu/medievalart/exhibits/show/crucifixion-objects/crucifixion-and-iconoclasts.
“A History of the Bible: Who Wrote It and When?” HistoryExtra, 8 Apr. 2020, www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-history/history-bible-origins-who-wrote-when-how-reliable-historical-record/.
“Iconoclastic Controversies (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/medieval-world/byzantine1/beginners-guide-byzantine/a/iconoclastic-controversies.
Pepper, Jen. “Research Paper #2/2 DUE WEEK #14.” Research Paper #2/2 DUE WEEK #14, 2020, sp2020cazfa111.blogspot.com/2020/03/research-paper-22-due-week.html.
Stokstad, Marilyn and Cothren Michael. Art a Brief History. Pearson, 2016.
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Prof. Jen Pepper
FA-111
4/21/2020
Chludov Psalter
19.5 x 15 cm
Tempera on Vellum
Moscow, Russia: State Historical Museum
An In-Site on Chludov Psalter
The Chludov Psalter was a page made in Constantinople by various illustrators who remained anonymous. This was due to the iconoclasm that was happening in the eighth century, many Christian and religious icons and picture were destroyed no matter who made them. This also meant that artists who created these religious images no longer had a job or duty they felt they had towards their god to depict them and share it with their people. However, the name of the piece comes from its last owner who goes by the name of Alexei Chludov (Facsmile 1). While the illustrators remain unnamed, the things they used to create this piece are known. They used certain materials like tempera on vellum, which is made from calf skin which was stretched over a wooden frame. (Stokstad 177). Tempera is made by painting with materials pigments while using water or even egg yolk, mostly the substance used with water or egg yolk was powder from the Earth in the case of Chludov Psalter (Dictionary.com 1). Together they made the book and the page we are looking at in this essay.
During the eighth century the Byzantine Empire began to use an iconoclasm way of dealing with Christian art like pictures of saints and destroying them. They did this because in a version of the Second Commandment God forbid the creation of an image of any living thing. However, some scholars believed this rule meant that any icons of pagan idols while some included all depiction of creatures (Levendig 1). In a way of following that rule, Emperor Leo the Third began this ideal of destroying Christian art, and this continued until Empress Theodora reversed the rule and no longer destroyed Christian art and instead allowed its use in Byzantine royal practice (Stokstad 177). While the law was active some people, known as iconophiles, began to resist this rule and continue to make icons of their religious beliefs. This also gave way to the creation of the Chludov Psalter. However, there is much controversy on the topic of Iconoclasm, some believe that it was just to remove the imagery surrounded in religion as to integrate Muslims and Jewish, others believe it was a way to restrain wealth and power of monasteries (Dzalto 1). This specific image however was a depiction of the destruction of religious images and harsh judgements made by iconoclasts (Stokstad 177).
This page was used to show what the strict iconoclasm was doing to religious art pieces and how they treated these images. This specific image was showing the crucifixion of Christ which is an important point of Christian culture. The image depicts a soldier tormenting Christ with a vinegar-soaked sponge attached to a pole. This is similar to the piece lower down of John The Grammarian, who was a iconoclast Patriarch, erasing a Christian icon, which is mimicking the vinegar-soaked sponge above (Stokstad 177). These images, so clearly similar, show that iconoclasts are tormentors of Christ (Levendig 1). The text paired with this image reads, “They gave me gall to eat, and when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink” (Levendig 1). This describes the torture that Christ went through and that the people of the Christian religion were going through during the removal of religious icons. The two are symbolic of each other when the Romans tried to kill Christ and during the byzantine era where they tried to get rid of the image of Christ. While not completely the same, getting rid of icons of Christianity is destroying a part of the religion that is important to the people’s worship.
The image, like most art pieces, uses intricate elements to give power to the message that it is trying to convey to the people of Ancient Byzantine. Overall, the compositional balance of the piece is very well put together on the page. With the writing in the upper left corner, where it is natural to start reading from, and the image in the lower right corner gives visual hierarchy that works very well similar to the textbook style we use today. The way that Christ upon the cross is positioned on top of a rock and the image of Christ is right next to it helps guide our eye over to John The Grammarian who is erasing the image of Christ. This shows comparison to the soldiers next to Christ higher up who are tormenting Christ in another way.
Line is also a very well put together part of the piece as the direction the piece flows is from the top right of the art, swinging down and to the left. This mimics the passage of time from what first happened to Christ to what he, and his religion are going through in the time of iconoclasm. The line also used in outlining the people depicted in the art is very realistic and shows movement and tension of the cloth on John the Grammarian, as well as Christ and the shine and rigidness of the metal on the soldiers. There is also a natural feel to the lines on the rock which contrasts the humans in the painting. These lines are also affected by the space within the piece and gives more depth to it.
The space in the piece is created by the thickness and thinness of the lines which creates depth. This is also aided by the overlapping of the vase upon the rocks and the size difference between Christ on the cross and John the Grammarian. Space is also used in the positioning of the two parts of the piece where Christ is placed higher up as to represent his holiness, contrasting John the Grammarian who is trying to wash away Christ’s image which could be symbolized as a hellish act.
Color, while very slim on this piece is also a major part. The egg wash color, which is the yellowish color, helps represent earth depiction of the rock and the naturalistic nature of the soldiers and John the Grammarian. Christ, however, has blue cloth on him and a bright golden yellow halo around his head. Both signify his importance and difference from the people on Earth to his holy status.
Repetition and Pattern are both show in the piece in small walls. Repetition is shown in the two pots, one which holds vinegar and the other holding whitewash. Both are ways to scrub or remove the image of Christ. Another set of repetition is in the sticks the soldiers hold and John the Grammarian in the lower left hold. Both consist of a long pole and a sponge soaked in two different substances. Once against they are both used to scrub away the image of Christ and his beliefs. There is pattern in the piece, but it is shown on the icon of Christ on the bottom of the page and around the halo of Christ on the cross. Little bead like circles go around both these images giving off an ornate feel. This attention to detail around Christ’s icons is to show respect to the religion and to Christ himself.
Overall, this page of the Chludov Psalter is meant to both celebrate Christ in a time of iconoclasm and removal of religious icons, as well as rebel against an unjust rule the Roman Emperors had put forth. It also shows that even in a time of strict rulings, people will take time to work hard and properly create art that respect the religion and religious icons.
Work Cited
Dictionary.com, “tempera”, dictionary.com, 2012, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/tempera.
Dzalto, Davor. “Iconoclastic Controversies”, Khan Academy, 2013, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/medieval-world/byzantine1/beginners-guide-byzantine/a/iconoclastic-controversies.
Facsmile. “Chludov Psalter”, Facsmile, https://www.ziereisfacsimiles.com/chludov-psalter.
Levendig, Maarten, “Anonymous: Chludov Psalter (9th Century); Historical Mueseum, Moscow”, blogspot, September 8, 2012, http://rijksmuseumamsterdam.blogspot.com/2012/09/anonymous-chludov-psalter-9th-century.html.
Stokstad, Marilyn. “Jewish, Early Christian, and Byzantine Art”, Art a Brief History, Sixth Edition, United States of America, 2011, 177-178.
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Professor Pepper
28 Apr. 2020
Research Paper #2
Figure 1. Unknown. “A selected page from the Chludov Psalter”
Mid 9th Century CE
Tempera on vellum
7 3/4” x 6”
Collection of State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russia
During the 9th century a lot of things were happening for Christians in the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire, otherwise known as the Eastern Roman Empire, existed from 330 to 1453 CE. The Roman Emperor Constantine (r. 306-337 CCE) decided to move the capital to Constantinople, now known as Istanbul, where it became a Christian state with Greek as the official language. Constantine’s decision changed Roman history forever and brought upon a new time period with Christianity as the main focus. According to ancient.eu, “Christianity, then, became an important common denominator which helped bind together diverse cultures into a single empire which included Christian Greeks, Armenians, Slavs, Georgians, and many other minorities, and those of other faiths such as Jews and Muslims who were permitted to freely practice their religion.” This new empire allowed freedom to almost every religion which was a major deal at the time. Constantine created his dream empire while providing a safe haven for everyone. Even though this time seemed peaceful it didn’t take too long for problems to arise during the Byzantine Empire.
This period, known as the Byzantine Iconoclastic controversies, caused major controversies and changed art forever for religion. It began in 726 CE and lasted for over 100 years. Iconoclasm is where the use of religious images or icons were strongly opposed by the church and state. Icons ranged from miniature to monumental figures in religion. According to byzconf.org, “The word “iconoclasm” itself, having Greek origins, means ‘breaker of icons,’ and the period itself was wrought with the destruction of religious imagery and persecution of those who might revere such images and oppose their destruction or prohibition.” There has been a lot of speculation on why icons where prohibited during a time where religion was accepted and embraced. Some historians believed that it was to integrate Muslim and Jewish populations into the empire or that it was enacted the power and wealth of the monasteries. No matter how many theories there are there is a backstory on how this started. In 726 Emperor Leo III publicly took a position against icons which resulted in their removal from churches and their destruction. According to khanacademy.org, “The trigger for Leo III’s prohibition may have even been the huge volcanic eruption in 726 in the Aegean Sea interpreted as a sign of God’s anger over the veneration of icons. There is no one simple answer to this complex event. What we do know is that the prohibition essentially caused a civil war which shook the political, social and religious spheres of the empire.” This constant battle went on throughout the 9th century. The Byzantine Iconoclastic controversies shaped a lot of artwork and literature which showed the effects of iconoclasm and how religion was shaped by it.
The most popular creation that was created around the start iconoclasm is an illuminated manuscript know as Chludov Psalter. Illuminated manuscripts are hand-written books with paintings on each page. Chludov Psalter was created between 829 and 837 CE which was in the start/middle of the iconoclastic struggle within the Byzantine Empire. It was created by anonymous writers and artists and takes its name from its last owner, Alexei Chuldov. The production of this manuscript revolutionized the medium of books because of how unique it was. The style of this work shows the struggle of the Byzantine Empire and discusses the iconoclasm happening. The creation of this manuscript and the materials used is quite interesting. The pages were created on vellum, by stretched calf skin, and the tempera used is quite special because they had to collect metals such as silver and gold to help add to the paint. There is a particular page that stands out in this manuscript and that is Figure 1. This particular page has very interesting visuals that goes along with the scripture of the page. The main imagery involved on this page was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ along with the destruction of his icon. The person holding said icon it’s supposed to be a caricature of a patriarch of Constantinople, John VII Gammatikos. Gammatikos is pictured with wild hair that goes everywhere to mock him for his dictation of iconoclasm. According to ziereisfacsimlies.com, ““A miniature in the psalter illustrates Psalm 69:21, ‘They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.’ In the background, the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ at Golgotha is depicted. A soldier reaches Christ with a sponge soaked in vinegar on a pole. In the foreground a depiction of the Patriarch is found, who is erasing an image of Christ with a similar sponge.” There is so much symbolism in this one page that it speaks volumes to religion and iconoclasm. The crucifixion has become a symbol of Christianity and is so influential that the crucifix we came as distinctive feature of Christian faith. It underlines the fact that Jesus Christ shed blood for to rescue his people. The image of John VII Gammatikos destroying the icon of Jesus symbolized how iconoclasm took away the representation of religion, especially Christianity and its imagery. This image from Chludov Psalter really encapsulates the backlash of iconoclasm and how it can be caricatured for comical/rebel purposes.
The overall composition of this page really shows how talented the anonymous creators were. The visual imagery really connects with each other even though they are two separate scenes. It combines realism and symbolism along with the text of the manuscript. This page from Chludov Psalter is a good example of sequential art. According to yourdictionary.com, “Sequential art is a form of art where the content is presented in a series of artistic items positioned in a specific order to convey its message or effect.” The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is placed perfectly to create a linear line towards the patriarch John who is going to do destroy his icon. The way that these two pictures collide creates a message that you can’t get rid of imagery in religion and that Jesus is always watching over you. There are a lot of elements and principles of design that really stand out in this page. The element line can be seen with how the viewers eyes go from the crucifixion to the destroying of Jesus’s icon, this is implied line instead of actual. There is actual line work throughout the piece with the images being painted. The spears used to cut Jesus Christ and to destroy his icon are all actual line. Working with line, space is also very apparent in this piece. Space is the distance around, between, and within components of a piece. On this page there’s a lot of positive space where the images take up the page. The little space between the two paintings shows the correlation between them, that they are connected. Another major element is color, which is produced when light strikes an object and is reflected back to the eye. The color is used here are to show the contrast between Jesus and the people. Jesus is wearing blue, which is symbolic of loyalty in the Christian faith, while everyone else who is harming him is wearing red, which symbolic of anger. The blue is very striking on this page so the eye is drawn towards it first which makes it very intriguing. There also are a few principles present on this page in Chludov Psalter. A major principle is pattern, the repeating of an object or symbol all over the work of art. A major pattern in this work is the golden halo that is around Christ’s head, it is in the shields and the icon. Another pattern is the two pots, one being used to collect Christ’s blood while the other is used to destroy his icon. A principal that works with pattern is repetition, the repetition of the elements of design creates unity within the work of art. The pattern of the halo, the spears, the vases, and the people all show connections within the work. The imagery balances out the written text and creates a sense of unity on the page; the static text to the left, and the visual movement of the visual story moving upward on the right hand side of the page.
Overall, this page from Chludov Psalter pave the way for the creation of books and showed the evolution of iconoclasm. During the 9th century a lot of things were happening for Christians in the Byzantine Empire. The period of Byzantine Iconoclastic controversies really shaped history and how religion is shown around the world. This period in time caused imagery to evolve and shaped the way of creating manuscripts and images forever. Chludov Psalter it’s just an example of the many influential creations of the Byzantine Empire.
Works Cited
Byzantine Conference, 14 July 2017, www.byzconf.org/byzantine-iconoclasm/.
Cartwright, Mark. “Byzantine Empire.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 23 Apr. 2020, www.ancient.eu/Byzantine_Empire/.
“Chludov Psalter.” Facsimile, www.ziereisfacsimiles.com/chludov-psalter.
“Iconoclastic Controversies (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/medieval-world/byzantine1/beginners-guide-byzantine/a/iconoclastic-controversies.
“Sequential-Art.” Sequential-Art Dictionary Definition | Sequential-Art Defined, www.yourdictionary.com/sequential-art.
Stokstad, Marilyn and Cothren, Michael W. “Art: A Brief History.” 6th edition, Pearson, 2016.
Unknown Artist(s). A selected page from the Chludov Psalter. Mid 9th c. CE , Moscow, Russia.
Retrieved from https://www.ziereisfacsimiles.com/chludov-psalter.
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Art History
Pepper
4/27/2020
The Chludov Psalter was made during the Byzantine era (Mid 9th CE) and is currently in collection of the State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russia. The Byzantine Period was a "period of crisis for the arts called the Iconoclastic Controversy, when the use of religious images was continually contested. Iconoclasts are those who worried that the use of images was idolatrous, destroyed images, leaving few surviving images from the Early Byzantine period. The Khan Academy mentions an alternative theory “the prohibition was an attempt to restrain the growing wealth and power of the monasteries. They produced the icons and were a primary target of the violence of the Iconoclastic Controversy”. Fortunately for art history, those in favor of images won the fight and hundreds of years of Byzantine artist production followed” (smarthistory.org). One of the surviving images of this period is the Chludov Psalter. During the years 875-877 CE, rulers used a “Psalter” to teach and learn the skills of Christian leadership. “Charlemagne’s grandson, Charles the Bald, the emperor of the west, may well have commissioned this Psalter containing a full-page front piece portrait of himself with the blessing hand of God poised above his head with this purpose in mind” (Gresham.ac.uk). Christianity became an important feature in the Byzantine culture. There was no separation between church and state in the Byzantine era (ancient.eu).
The Chludov Psalter is a manuscript that measures 7 ¾ inches by 6 inches. The illuminated manuscript’s pages were made from velum. Vellum was made from animal skins, mostly from lambs and calves. The makes of these important pages would have to dry and stretch the skin to make the paper. The pens they used to make the book were goose or swan quills. The black ink that they used for the pens was made from charcoal mixed with gum. The illustrators where the monks who got their paint from an apothecaries, similar to a pharmacy today. The color of the paint they used was made from all different things. Purple was made from the madder plant, red was made from the dragon blood plant, blue was made from azurite, violet came from a sunflower, green came from malachite, and yellow came from saffron. The illustrators, usually monks and nuns, mixed their own paints to get the color they wanted. When gold and silver was used, they applied it and buffed it with a cloth to make it shiny before any color was used. Finally, the illuminator, used gum Arabic or egg white to protect it and make it shine. They applied the egg white or gum Arabic with a cloth. They used a leather covered to put the codex book together. A board was covered in leather to make the book cover (visual-arts-cork.com).
The page has two illustrated sections and there is also a section which contains words, a that narrates a message of the story. The first illustrated page is an image of the crucifixion of Christ on a cross. Behind his head there is a halo. It represents his divinity. Next to the part of the static text block that translates, “They gave me gall to eat, when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink” (Khan Academy), there is a second image of two men whitewashing the image of Christ. One man is an iconoclast and one is Constantinople’s iconoclast Patriarch, John the Grammarian. The artist compared the Roman soldiers to the iconoclasts in the image. “Both of the images are wearing similar red robes and the iconoclast holds a brush very similar to the spears the Roman soldiers used” (CProjects.leadr.msu.edu). The spears that the soldiers use, and the iconoclasts use of whitewashing symbolize that they all wanted to destroy Christ’s image. The red robes, a visually hot, primary color can be symbolic of anger. The blue robes of Christ are a sign of a calmer emotion as well as heavenly representation in Christian symbolism. The soldiers in the image represent the torture Christ suffered through. The man spearing Jesus picture has wildly tussled hair that is symbolic of the the unrest of the time. (projects.leadr.msu.edu).
The Chludov Psalter is an early example of sequential art. Sequential art is a form of art where “the art content is a series of artistic items positioned in a specific order to convey its message or effect, such as a comic strip” (yourdictionary.com). There are two parts of the Chludov Psalter that make it an example of sequential art. One part shows the iconoclast pointing a sponge at the icon of Jesus. Then the second part shows two soldiers pointing two spears at Jesus on the cross, thus having two separate times of the story within one image. The story that the artists are telling is that the Byzantine church made it a law to not have paintings of Christ because they wanted people to worship him in their head. They were not allowed to worship physical objects like paintings and sculptures. Therefore, they created small books, psalters, for people to worship in secret.
The formal elements of art are used to make a piece of artwork. Line, space, color and repetition are formal elements used in the Chludov Psalter. “They are often used together, and how they are organized in a piece of art determines what the finished work will look like” (hardleyart.worldpress.com). Lines are important to art. Art is made up of lines created in different ways to make the art. It’s sometimes the number one thing in art you notice. The artist uses lines, both actual and implied, in the iconoclast’s messy hair. It shows the confusion of the time. Space in the Chludov Psalter is shown by the artist’s use of three different sections. One side of the page is showing an iconoclast with a sponge covering the picture of Jesus with whitewash. The other section shows two soldiers pointing spears at Jesus while he is on the cross. Repetition means repeating, a formal element of art. In the Chludov Psalter we can see repetition in the use of spears, in Jesus’s head, and the pot being in both images. Color can show the emotions in an image. Red, as a visually hot primary color, sometimes means anger and blue sometimes means calm or regal depending on the context of the subject matter. There is repetition of red in the robes that the soldiers and iconoclasts are wearing which is symbolic of the anger both groups feel. Christ is wearing blue in both sections and the blue is repeating the feeling of calmness and\or that he is regal, king of kings, depending on how you want to look at it. (projects.leadr.msu.edu).
In conclusion, when you study historical art you can learn a lot about the society and time period that the piece was made in. When studying the Chludov Psalter we learned about the Byzantine era and the Iconoclastic Controversy. The Chludov Psalter was made for people to worship secretly. We have learned about how they made the Chludov Psalter and what it was used for.