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| ==Film and television== | ==Film and television== | ||
| ] crucified on a crystal cross (episode 74). Referring to Western censorship of this image, Patrick Drazen wrote: "It's ironic that a symbol as potent as crucifixion should be edited out precisely because of that potency. After all, the way it's generally used in anime—when it's used at all—is in a manner Westerners can understand. It becomes a form of torture ''for someone who doesn't deserve it.''"<ref name=Drazen>{{cite book |title=] |last=Drazen |first=Patrick |chapter=Faith-Based: Christianity, Shinto, and Other Religions in Anime |publisher=Stone Bridge Press, LLC|year=2003 |pages=142–43|isbn= 978-1880656723|oclc=50898281|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=wkrgvKvsvYAC&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=depiction+of+christianity+in+anime&source=bl&ots=CQWk1NIYKX&sig=6N-s_xPtlilryfmp2I-Fcoyy8rc&hl=en&ei=i0bwSobgOMKMjAf06ogK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CDAQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref>]] | |||
| Numerous movies have been produced which depict the crucifixion of Jesus. Some of these movies depict the crucifixion in its traditional sectarian form, while others intend to show a more historically accurate account.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} For example, '']'' (1959), was probably the first movie to depict the nails being driven through Jesus' wrists, rather than his palms. ]'s controversial '']'' (2004) depicted an extreme level of violence, but showed the nails being driven into Jesus' palms, as is traditional, with ropes supporting the wrists. | Numerous movies have been produced which depict the crucifixion of Jesus. Some of these movies depict the crucifixion in its traditional sectarian form, while others intend to show a more historically accurate account.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} For example, '']'' (1959), was probably the first movie to depict the nails being driven through Jesus' wrists, rather than his palms. ]'s controversial '']'' (2004) depicted an extreme level of violence, but showed the nails being driven into Jesus' palms, as is traditional, with ropes supporting the wrists. | ||
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| Few films depict crucifixion outside of a Christian context. '']'' (1960) depicts the mass crucifixions of rebellious slaves along the ] after the ]. | Few films depict crucifixion outside of a Christian context. '']'' (1960) depicts the mass crucifixions of rebellious slaves along the ] after the ]. | ||
| Crucifixion |
Crucifixion has been a recurrent and prominent motif in ], where it often serves to emphasize the suffering of sympathetic characters, depicting the torture of a character who does not deserve punishment.<ref name=Drazen>{{cite book |title=] |last=Drazen |first=Patrick |chapter=Faith-Based: Christianity, Shinto, and Other Religions in Anime |publisher=Stone Bridge Press, LLC|year=2003 |pages=142–43|isbn= 978-1880656723|oclc=50898281|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=wkrgvKvsvYAC}}</ref> However, due to Christianity's relatively weak presence in Japan, the symbolic value of such scenes is considerably lesser, with one anime producer stating that "(a character) looked good crucified, so we crucified her. Christ is an object of religious fantasy in Japan, so that is how it was used. He is just another character in fantasy to us."<ref>Navok Rudranath, Jay; Jay Navok, Sushil K., Jonathan Mays (2005). ] (2nd ed.). North Charleston, S.C.: Booksurge LLC. pp. 126–27. ISBN 9781419608148. OCLC 61255404. http://books.google.com/books?id=cQ4PGtPYOugC</ref> Some Westerners find anime portrayals of crucifixion offensive, leading to censorship of crucifixion imagery from ] and '']''.<ref name=Drazen/> | ||
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Revision as of 23:57, 8 December 2009
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Crucifixion has appeared in art and popular culture from the era of the pagan Roman Empire. The crucifixion of Christ has been depicted in religious art since the fourth century CE. In more modern times, crucifixion has appeared in film and television as well as fine art, and depictions of other historical crucifixions have appeared as well as the crucifixion of Christ. Modern art and culture has also seen the rise of images of crucifixion being used to make statements unconnected with Christian iconography, or even just used for shock value.
Early depictions
The Alexamenos graffito, currently in the museum in the Palatine Hill, Rome, is a Roman graffito from the second century CE which depicts a man worshiping a crucified donkey. This graffito, though apparently meant an insult, is the earliest known pictorial representation of the crucifixion of Jesus. The text scrawled around the image reads Αλεξαμενος ϲεβετε θεον, which translates to "Alexamenos worshipping God" or some variant of this sentence.
Christian art
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In the first three centuries CE, crucifixion was almost never depicted in art. Constantine I forbade crucifixion as a method of execution, and early church leaders regarded crucifixion with horror, and thus, as an unfit subject for artistic portrayal.
Starting in the fourth century CE, crucifixion imagery began to appear in art. Early paintings tended to show the scene in stylized fashion, minimizing the appearance of suffering, so as to draw attention to the positive message of resurrection and faith, rather than to the physical realities of execution. The first depictions of crucifixion displaying suffering are believed to have arisen in the Russian Orthodox church. By the Renaissance, a trend developed towards increasingly realistic representations of suffering.
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Modern art
Crucifixion has appeared repeatedly as a theme in many forms of modern art.
The surrealist Salvador Dali painted Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus), representing the cross as a hypercube. The 1966 sculpture Construction (Crucifixion): Homage to Mondrian, by Barbara Hepworth, stands on the grounds of Winchester Cathedral. In 1987 photographer Andres Serrano created Piss Christ, a controversial photograph that shows a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist's urine, in which Serrano intended to depict sympathetically the abuse of Jesus by his executioners.
Other artists have used crucifixion imagery as a form of protest. In 1974, Chris Burden had himself crucified to a Volkswagen. Robert Cenedella painted a crucified Santa Claus as a protest against Christmas commercialization, displayed in the window of New York's Art Students League in December 1997. In August 2000, performance artist Sebastian Horsley had himself crucified without the use of any analgesics.
Popular art
Crucifixion in popular art, as with Modern art, is sometimes used for its shock value, as for example in the WWI Liberty bond poster by Fernando Amorsolo, which depicts a German soldier nailing an American soldier, his arms outspread, to the trunk of a tree.
The cover art of Tupac Shakur's album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory features an image of Tupac being crucified on a cross. He stated that the image was not a mockery of Christ; rather, it showed how he was being "crucified" by the media. Multiple Marilyn Manson videos such as "I Don't Like The Drugs But The Drugs Like Me" and "Coma White" feature crucifixion imagery, often oddly staged in surreal modern or near modern day settings. The Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth had several people on stage affixed to crosses to give the appearance of crucifixion at a now infamous concert in Krakow, and repeated this act in the music video for "Carving a Giant."
Crucifixion-type imagery is employed in some video games.
Film and television
Numerous movies have been produced which depict the crucifixion of Jesus. Some of these movies depict the crucifixion in its traditional sectarian form, while others intend to show a more historically accurate account. For example, Ben-Hur (1959), was probably the first movie to depict the nails being driven through Jesus' wrists, rather than his palms. Mel Gibson's controversial The Passion of the Christ (2004) depicted an extreme level of violence, but showed the nails being driven into Jesus' palms, as is traditional, with ropes supporting the wrists.
Monty Python's Life of Brian ends with a sequence in which several of the cast, including Brian, are crucified by the Romans. The film ends with them all singing the song "Always look on the bright side of life". In this sequence, the characters are not nailed to the crosses, but tied at the wrists to the crossbar, and are standing on smaller crosspieces at foot level.
Few films depict crucifixion outside of a Christian context. Spartacus (1960) depicts the mass crucifixions of rebellious slaves along the Appian Way after the Third Servile War.
Crucifixion has been a recurrent and prominent motif in anime, where it often serves to emphasize the suffering of sympathetic characters, depicting the torture of a character who does not deserve punishment. However, due to Christianity's relatively weak presence in Japan, the symbolic value of such scenes is considerably lesser, with one anime producer stating that "(a character) looked good crucified, so we crucified her. Christ is an object of religious fantasy in Japan, so that is how it was used. He is just another character in fantasy to us." Some Westerners find anime portrayals of crucifixion offensive, leading to censorship of crucifixion imagery from Fullmetal Alchemist and Sailor Moon.
Music
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Classical music
Crucifixion has figured prominently in Easter oratorios and requiems.
Popular music
In 2006, singer Madonna caused controversy by opening a concert held near Vatican City with a mock crucifixion, complete with a Crown of Thorns.
See also
References
- ^ Elizabeth A. Dreyer, The Cross in Christian Tradition: From Paul to Bonaventure, Paulist Press, 2001, pp. 21–22.
- R. Kevin Seasoltz ,A Sense Of The Sacred: Theological Foundations Of Christian Architecture And Art, 2005, Continuum International Publishing Group, pp. 99–110.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
- Irene Earls, Renaissance Art: A Topical Dictionary, 1987, Greenwood Press, p. 73.
- Heartney, Eleanor (1998). "A consecrated critic - profile of popular television art critic Sister Wendy Beckett". Art in America. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
{{cite journal}}: More than one of|work=and|journal=specified (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - The agony and the ecstasy. The Observer, 26 May 2002
- ^ Drazen, Patrick (2003). "Faith-Based: Christianity, Shinto, and Other Religions in Anime". [[Anime Explosion]]. Stone Bridge Press, LLC. pp. 142–43. ISBN 978-1880656723. OCLC 50898281.
{{cite book}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - Navok Rudranath, Jay; Jay Navok, Sushil K., Jonathan Mays (2005). Warriors of Legend (2nd ed.). North Charleston, S.C.: Booksurge LLC. pp. 126–27. ISBN 9781419608148. OCLC 61255404. http://books.google.com/books?id=cQ4PGtPYOugC
- Daily Mail