In Principio
erat Verbum
“In the beginning was the Word.” — John 1:1
The Annunciation
Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1472–1476 →Gabriel kneels in a Tuscan garden; Mary raises a hand from her reading in calm assent.
Chi-Rho
The first two Greek letters of Christos; Constantine's emblem before the Milvian Bridge (312).
Catholic
Latin rite centred on Rome; from Romanesque to Baroque, art as instruction and splendour, affirmed at Trent.
Orthodox
The Byzantine inheritance: icons as theology in colour, venerated after the Second Council of Nicaea (787).
Protestant
From 1517: an art of the Word — Bach's cantatas, Rembrandt's biblical etchings, luminous whitewashed churches.
The Illuminated Word
In monastic scriptoria from Iona to Monte Cassino, monks copied the Gospels on calfskin with pigments of lapis, orpiment and gold leaf. A single Gospel book could require the hides of 185 calves. The Book of Kells, Lindisfarne Gospels and Codex Aureus are the cathedrals of the page.
Study folio 32v →9th c. onward
Gregorian Chant
Monophonic Latin plainchant of the Roman rite, notated in neumes; the root of Western notation.
1098–1179
Hildegard of Bingen
Abbess, mystic and composer of soaring antiphons in the Symphonia.
1525–1594
Palestrina
Missa Papae Marcelli became the model of clear Counter-Reformation polyphony.
c. 1638
Allegri — Miserere
Guarded by the Sistine choir; the 14-year-old Mozart transcribed it from memory.
4th c. onward
Byzantine Chant
The Orthodox tradition sung over an ison drone in eight modes, the Octoechos.
Faith made visible
A closer encounter with the image, the book and the sacred space: three ways Christianity shaped the European imagination.
Byzantium · Orthodox tradition
The icon and the Incarnation
Christian images rest on a theological question: how can the invisible be represented? The Incarnation gave the image a new significance. The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 affirmed the veneration of icons, distinguishing it from worship offered to God.
Curator’s observation
In Rublev's Trinity, the open side of the table draws the viewer into an encounter. Its circular rhythm is as important as its narrative.
Images: Wikimedia Commons. Historical works and architectural photographs; source and attribution are available through the original image.
Image source