Tuesdays, September 10, 17, 24 and October 1, 8, 15, 2024
Time: 6 pm - 8 pm ET
Admission: $170 / $150 (Patreon Members)

PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time.

In the mythology of ancient Greece and Rome, there are stories of men, like Hercules, who became gods. But Christianity was the first religion in which God became a human being. Ancient pagan gods and goddesses often looked like humans, but, according to Christian belief, Jesus truly was both fully human and fully divine. 

This course will provide an introduction to the iconography of Jesus Christ through an examination of great paintings, prints, and sculptures spanning over two millennia. We’ll start with a sampling of images of Christ from across the globe will reveal that his appearance varies according to the cultures of the artists and their audiences.  

We’ll get to know the ancestors of Jesus, both spiritual and biological. How far back can we trace Jesus’s earthly family tree? In what ways did Christ fulfill Old Testament prophecies? Then we’ll take a visual trek through Jesus’s biography, from his birth, infancy, and youth, through his preaching and miracles, to his Passion and Resurrection. As we’ll discover, depictions of him vary widely across geography and time, ranging from sweet and beautiful to graphic and grotesque; what can pictures of Jesus teach us about the cultures that generated them?

 As we proceed, we will study the major textual sources for the Life of Christ, including scripture and apocrypha. We’ll go beyond the more familiar scenes, like the Nativity and Crucifixion, and discover some charming forgotten anecdotes that do not appear in the Bible. The art historical record tells us more than the Bible can about how people have understood and pictured their Savior. 

Some of the images of Christ we’ll see, like the Shroud of Turin and the acheiropoieta, are considered miraculous, because they were not created by human hands. These icons often have the power to effect miracles.  There are also likenesses of Jesus that were informed by otherworldly visions, as well as paintings and statues of him that weep, bleed, and speak.

Although the body of Christ itself ascended into Heaven after his Resurrection, there are some relics associated with him. We’ll learn about the Holy Foreskin; vials of his precious Blood and objects stained by it; the True Cross and instruments of the Passion; and other surviving parts of Christ’s body and objects that were touched by him.  How do these sacred items, and their containers and settings, function visually? The Eucharist, a re-enactment of the Last Supper in which bread and wine are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ, has at times been the locus of miracles.  We’ll end the course with an investigation into these posthumous miracles, including bleeding hosts. 

Student participation will be encouraged. Do you have images of Christ in your home now? Were there pictures of him in the house you grew up in?  What do they tell you about Jesus? What do they tell you about your own family and culture? You will also be invited to share with us images of Christ in stained glass, paint, plaster or stone from your own hometown churches or travels.

Topics covered will include:

• Prophets and Ancestors; What does Jesus look like?

• Birth, Infancy, and Youth in Scripture, Apocrypha and Art

• Preaching and Miracles in Scripture, Apocrypha, and Art

• Passion and Resurrection in Scripture, Apocrypha, and Art

• Miraculous Images, Apparitions, and Messages

• Eucharistic Miracles; Relics of Christ

Brenda Edgar is an Art Historian in Louisville, KY.  Her research interests include relics and reliquaries, medieval medical manuscripts and depictions of disease in medieval art, as well as the historical role of altered states of consciousness in the creation of art. 

In addition to her work for Morbid Anatomy, she teaches Art History courses at Indiana University Southeast. Her free monthly public talk series, “Art History Illustrated,” is presented at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana.

Brenda is also a poet whose work has appeared in numerous literary journals.  Her first full-length book of poems, Dead Flowers, is being published in late 2023 through the Main Street Rag publishing company.

When she isn’t reading or writing, Brenda is a New York Times Crossword Puzzle addict as well as a yoga instructor.

Images: 1) The Resurrection of Christ (right wing of the Isenheim Altarpiece), Matthias Grünewald, c.1512 - c.1516 2) Emil Nolde, The Last Supper, 1909.