1.
Immaculate Conception
–
The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was conceived by normal biological means in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne, but God acted upon her soul, keeping it immaculate. The Immaculate Conception is commonly confused with the Virgin Birth of Jesus, jesuss birth is covered by the Doctrine of Incarnation, while the Immaculate Conception deals with the conception of Mary, not that of her son. The defined dogma of the Immaculate Conception regards original sin only, therefore, being always free from original sin, the doctrine teaches that from her conception Mary received the sanctifying grace that would normally come with baptism after birth. The definition makes no declaration about the Churchs belief that the Blessed Virgin was sinless in the sense of freedom from actual or personal sin, however, the Church holds that Mary was also sinless personally, free from all sin, original or personal. The doctrine of the conception is not to be confused with the virginal conception of her son Jesus. This misunderstanding of the immaculate conception is frequently met in the mass media. Catholics believe that Mary was not the product of a virginal conception herself but was the daughter of a father and mother, traditionally known by the names of Saint Joachim. In 1677, the Holy See condemned the belief that Mary was virginally conceived, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December, exactly nine months before celebrating the Nativity of Mary. The feast of the Annunciation is celebrated on 25 March, nine months before Christmas Day, another misunderstanding is that, by her immaculate conception, Mary did not need a saviour. When defining the dogma in Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX explicitly affirmed that Mary was redeemed in a more sublime. He stated that Mary, rather than being cleansed after sin, was prevented from contracting Original Sin in view of the foreseen merits of Jesus Christ. In Luke 1,47, Mary proclaims, My spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour and this is referred to as Marys pre-redemption by Christ. A feast of the Conception of the Most Holy and All Pure Mother of God was celebrated in Syria on 8 December perhaps as early as the 5th century, note that the title of achrantos refers to the holiness of Mary, not specifically to the holiness of her conception. Marys complete sinlessness and concomitant exemption from any taint from the first moment of her existence was a familiar to Greek theologians of Byzantium. Beginning with St. St. Gregory Nazianzen designated Mary as prokathartheisa, gregorys doctrines surrounding Marys purification were likely related to the burgeoning commemoration of the Mother of God in and around Constantinople very close to the date of Christmas. Nazianzens title of Mary at the Annunciation as prepurified was subsequently adopted by all interested in his Mariology to justify the Byzantine equivalent of the Immaculate Conception. This is especially apparent in the Fathers St. Sophronios of Jerusalem and St. John Damascene, about the time of Damascene, the public celebration of the Conception of St. Ann was becoming popular. It is admitted that the doctrine as defined by Pius IX was not explicitly mooted before the 12th century and it is also agreed that no direct or categorical and stringent proof of the dogma can be brought forward from Scripture
2.
Altarpiece
–
An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing behind the altar of a Christian church. Altarpieces were one of the most important products of Christian art especially from the late Middle Ages to the era of the Counter-Reformation. Large number of altarpieces are now removed from their settings, and often their elaborate sculpted frameworks. Altarpieces seem to have begun to be used during the 11th century, the reasons and forces that led to the development of altarpieces are not generally agreed upon. The habit of placing decorated reliquaries of saints on or behind the altar, as well as the tradition of decorating the front of the altar with sculptures or textiles, an elaborate example of such an early altarpiece is the Pala dOro in Venice. The appearance and development of these first altarpieces marked an important turning point both in the history of Christian art and Christian religious practice, the autonomous image now assumed a legitimate position at the centre of Christian worship. Painted panel altars emerged in Italy during the 13th century, in the 13th century, it is not uncommon to find frescoed or mural altarpieces in Italy, mural paintings behind the altar function as visual complements for the liturgy. These altarpieces were influenced by Byzantine art, notably icons, which reached Western Europe in greater numbers following the conquest of Constantinople in 1204. During this time, altarpieces began to be decorated with an outer. Vigoroso da Sienas altarpiece from 1291 display such an altarpiece and this treatment of the altarpiece would eventually pave the way for the emergence, in the 14th century, of the polyptych. The sculpted elements in the emerging polyptychs often took inspiration from contemporary Gothic architecture, in Italy, they were still typically executed in wood and painted, while in northern Europe altarpieces were often made of stone. The early 14th century saw the emergence, in Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, the Baltic region, by hinging the outer panels to the central panel and painting them on both sides, the motif could be regulated by opening or closing the wings. The pictures could thus be changed depending on liturgical demands, the earliest often displayed sculptures on the inner panels, i. e. displayed when open, and paintings on the back of the wings, displayed when closed. With the advent of winged altarpieces, a shift in imagery also occurred, instead of being centred on a single holy figure, altarpieces began to portray more complex narratives linked to the Christian concept of salvation. As the Middle Ages progressed, altarpieces began to be commissioned more frequently, in Northern Europe, initially Lübeck and later Antwerp would develop into veritable export centres for the production of altarpieces, exporting to Scandinavia, Spain and northern France. By the 15th century, altarpieces were often commissioned not only by churches but also by individuals, families, guilds, the 15th century saw the birth of Early Netherlandish painting in the Low Countries, henceforth panel painting would dominate altarpiece production in the area. In Germany, sculpted wooden altarpieces were instead generally preferred, while in England alabaster was used to a large extent, in England, as well as in France, stone retables enjoyed general popularity. In Italy both stone retables and wooden polyptychs were common, with painted panels and often with complex framing in the form of architectural compositions
3.
Altar
–
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes, and by extension the Holy table of post-reformation Anglican churches. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches, today they are used particularly in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism, as well as in Neopaganism and Ceremonial Magic. Judaism used such a structure until the destruction of the Second Temple, many historical faiths also made use of them, including Greek and Norse religion. Altars in the Hebrew Bible were typically made of earth or unwrought stone, altars were generally erected in conspicuous places. The first altar recorded in the Hebrew Bible is that erected by Noah, altars were erected by Abraham, by Isaac, by Jacob, and by Moses. In Catholic and Orthodox Christian theology, the Eucharist is a re-presentation, hence, the table upon which the Eucharist is consecrated is called an altar. The altar plays a role in the celebration of the Eucharist, which takes place at the altar on which the bread. The altar is often on a higher elevation than the rest of the church, in Reformed and Anabaptist churches, a table, often called a Communion table, serves an analogous function. In some colloquial usage, the altar is used to denote the altar rail also. The main altar was also referred to as the high altar, in the earliest days of the Church, the Eucharist appears to have been celebrated on portable altars set up for the purpose. Some historians hold that, during the persecutions, the Eucharist was celebrated among the tombs in the Catacombs of Rome, other historians dispute this, but it is thought to be the origin of the tradition of placing relics beneath the altar. Although in the days of the Jerusalem Temple the High Priest indeed faced east when sacrificing on Yom Kippur, the ministers, celebrated the Eucharist facing east, towards the entrance. Some hold that for the part of the celebration the congregation faced the same way. After the sixth century the contrary orientation prevailed, with the entrance to the west and the altar at the east end. Then the ministers and congregation all faced east during the whole celebration, most rubrics, even in books of the seventeenth century and later, such as the Pontificale Romanum, continued to envisage the altar as free-standing. The rite of the Dedication of the Church continued to presume that the officiating Bishop could circle the altar during the consecration of the church and its altar. Despite this, with the increase in the size and importance of the reredos, most altars were built against the wall or barely separated from it. This diversity was recognized in the rubrics of the Roman Missal from the 1604 typical edition of Pope Clement VIII to the 1962 edition of Pope John XXIII, Si altare sit ad orientem, versus populum
4.
Church (building)
–
A church building, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly worship services. The term in its sense is most often used by Christians to refer to their religious buildings. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is arranged in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle, towers or domes are often added with the intention of directing the eye of the viewer towards the heavens and inspiring church visitors. The earliest identified Christian church was a church founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, a cathedral is a church, usually Roman Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox, housing the seat of a bishop. In standard Greek usage, the word ecclesia was retained to signify both a specific edifice of Christian worship, and the overall community of the faithful. This usage was retained in Latin and the languages derived from Latin, as well as in the Celtic languages. In the Germanic and some Slavic languages, the word kyriak-ós/-ē/-ón was adopted instead, in Old English the sequence of derivation started as cirice, then churche, and eventually church in its current pronunciation. German Kirche, Scottish kirk, Russian церковь, etc. are all similarly derived, according to the New Testament, the earliest Christians did not build church buildings. Instead, they gathered in homes or in Jewish worship places like the Second Temple or synagogues, the earliest archeologically identified Christian church is a house church, the Dura-Europos church, founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, in addition to being a place of worship, the cathedral or parish church was used by the community in other ways. It could serve as a place for guilds or a hall for banquets. Mystery plays were performed in cathedrals, and cathedrals might also be used for fairs. The church could be used as a place to thresh and store grain, a common architecture for churches is the shape of a cross. These churches also often have a dome or other large vaulted space in the interior to represent or draw attention to the heavens. Other common shapes for churches include a circle, to represent eternity, or an octagon or similar star shape, another common feature is the spire, a tall tower on the west end of the church or over the crossing. The Latin word basilica was used to describe a Roman public building
5.
Ivory
–
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks and teeth of animals, that can be used in art or manufacturing. It consists mainly of dentine ), one of the structures of teeth. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is the same and it has been valued since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, and dominoes. Elephant ivory is the most important source, but ivory from mammoth, walrus, hippopotamus, sperm whale, killer whale, narwhal, elk also have two ivory teeth, which are believed to be the remnants of tusks from their ancestors. The national and international trade in ivory of threatened species such as African and Asian elephants is illegal, the word ivory ultimately derives from the ancient Egyptian âb, âbu, through the Latin ebor- or ebur. Both the Greek and Roman civilizations practiced ivory carving to make large quantities of high value works of art, precious religious objects, Ivory was often used to form the white of the eyes of statues. There is some evidence of either whale or walrus ivory used by the ancient Irish, solinus, a Roman writer in the 3rd century claimed that the Celtic peoples in Ireland would decorate their sword-hilts with the teeth of beasts that swim in the sea. Adomnan of Iona wrote a story about St Columba giving a sword decorated with carved ivory as a gift that a penitent would bring to his master so he could redeem himself from slavery. The Syrian and North African elephant populations were reduced to extinction, the Chinese have long valued ivory for both art and utilitarian objects. Southeast Asian kingdoms included tusks of the Indian elephant in their annual tribute caravans to China, Chinese craftsmen carved ivory to make everything from images of deities to the pipe stems and end pieces of opium pipes. The Buddhist cultures of Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, Ivory was prized for containers due to its ability to keep an airtight seal. It was also carved into elaborate seals utilized by officials to sign documents. In Southeast Asian countries, where Muslim Malay peoples live, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, in the Philippines, ivory was also used to craft the faces and hands of Catholic icons and images of saints prevalent in the Santero culture. Tooth and tusk ivory can be carved into a vast variety of shapes, examples of modern carved ivory objects are okimono, netsukes, jewelry, flatware handles, furniture inlays, and piano keys. Additionally, warthog tusks, and teeth from sperm whales, orcas and hippos can also be scrimshawed or superficially carved, Ivory usage in the last thirty years has moved towards mass production of souvenirs and jewelry. In Japan, the increase in wealth sparked consumption of solid ivory hanko – name seals – which before this time had made of wood. Prior to the introduction of plastics, ivory had many ornamental and practical uses and it was formerly used to make cutlery handles, billiard balls, piano keys, Scottish bagpipes, buttons and a wide range of ornamental items. Ivory can be taken from dead animals – however, most ivory came from elephants that were killed for their tusks, for example, in 1930 to acquire 40 tons of ivory required the killing of approximately 700 elephants
6.
Gilding
–
The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as gilt. Where metal is gilded, it was silver in the West, to make silver-gilt objects, but gilt-bronze is commonly used in China. Methods of gilding include hand application and glueing, chemical gilding, and electroplating, parcel-gilt objects are only gilded over part of their surfaces. This may mean that all of the inside, and none of the outside, of a chalice or similar vessel is gilded, herodotus mentions that the Egyptians gilded wood and metals, and many such objects have been excavated. Certain Ancient Greek statues of great prestige were chryselephantine, i. e. made of gold and ivory, extensive ornamental gilding was also used in the ceiling coffers of the Propylaea. But he adds that luxury advanced on them so rapidly that in very little time you see all, even private and poor people, gild the walls, vaults. Owing to the thickness of the gold leaf used in ancient gilding. Fire-gilding of metal goes back at least to the 4th century BC, in Europe, silver-gilt has always been more common than gilt-bronze, but in China the opposite has been the case. The ancient Chinese also developed the gilding of porcelain, which was taken up by the French. Modern gilding is applied to numerous and diverse surfaces and by various processes, mechanical gilding includes all the operations in which gold leaf is prepared, and the processes to mechanically attach the gold onto surfaces. The process is completed by cold burnishing, overlaying or folding or hammering on gold foil or gold leaf is the simplest and most ancient method, and is mentioned in Homers Odyssey and the Old Testament. The Ram in a Thicket of about 2600–2400 BCE from Ur uses this technique on wood, the next advances involved two simple processes. The first involves gold leaf, which is gold that is hammered or cut very thin sheets. If gilding on canvas or on wood, the surface was often first coated with gesso, gesso is a substance made of finely ground gypsum or chalk mixed with glue. Other gilding processes involved using the gold as pigment in paint, then the gold was applied in the same way as with any paint. Sometimes, after either gold-leafing or gold-painting, the artist would heat the piece enough to melt the gold slightly and these techniques remained the only alternatives for materials like wood, leather, and the vellum pages of illuminated manuscripts. Chemical gilding embraces those processes in which the gold is at some stage of chemical combination and these include, In this process the gold is obtained in a state of extremely fine division, and applied by mechanical means
7.
Mosaic
–
A mosaic is a piece of art or image made from the assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It is often used in art or as interior decoration. Most mosaics are made of small, flat, roughly square, pieces of stone or glass of different colors, some, especially floor mosaics, are made of small rounded pieces of stone, and called pebble mosaics. Others are made of other materials, mosaics have a long history, starting in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC. Pebble mosaics were made in Tiryns in Mycenean Greece, mosaics with patterns and pictures became widespread in classical times, Early Christian basilicas from the 4th century onwards were decorated with wall and ceiling mosaics. Mosaic fell out of fashion in the Renaissance, though artists like Raphael continued to practise the old technique, Roman and Byzantine influence led Jews to decorate 5th and 6th century synagogues in the Middle East with floor mosaics. Mosaic was widely used on buildings and palaces in early Islamic art, including Islams first great religious building, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Mosaic went out of fashion in the Islamic world after the 8th century, modern mosaics are made by professional artists, street artists, and as a popular craft. Many materials other than stone and ceramic tesserae may be employed, including shells, glass. The earliest known examples of made of different materials were found at a temple building in Abra, Mesopotamia. They consist of pieces of colored stones, shells and ivory, excavations at Susa and Chogha Zanbil show evidence of the first glazed tiles, dating from around 1500 BC. However, mosaic patterns were not used until the times of Sassanid Empire, mythological subjects, or scenes of hunting or other pursuits of the wealthy, were popular as the centrepieces of a larger geometric design, with strongly emphasized borders. Pliny the Elder mentions the artist Sosus of Pergamon by name, describing his mosaics of the left on a floor after a feast. Both of these themes were widely copied, most recorded names of Roman mosaic workers are Greek, suggesting they dominated high quality work across the empire, no doubt most ordinary craftsmen were slaves. Splendid mosaic floors are found in Roman villas across North Africa, in such as Carthage. The tiny tesserae allowed very fine detail, and an approach to the illusionism of painting, often small panels called emblemata were inserted into walls or as the highlights of larger floor-mosaics in coarser work. The normal technique was opus tessellatum, using larger tesserae, which was laid on site, there was a distinct native Italian style using black on a white background, which was no doubt cheaper than fully coloured work. In Rome, Nero and his architects used mosaics to cover surfaces of walls and ceilings in the Domus Aurea, built 64 AD
8.
Niche (architecture)
–
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. The word derives from the Latin nidus or nest, via the French niche, in Gothic architecture, a niche may be set within a tabernacle framing, like a richly-decorated miniature house, such as might serve for a reliquary. The backings for the altars in churches can be embedded with niches for statues, one of the earliest buildings which uses external niches containing statues is the Church of Orsanmichele in Florence, built between 1380-1404. The Uffizi Palace in Florence modified the concept by setting the niche within the wall so it did not protrude, the Uffizi has two dozen or so such niches containing statues of great historical figures. In England the Uffizi style niches were adopted at Montacute House, in Fra Filippo Lippis Madonna the trompe-loeil niche frames her as with the canopy of estate that was positioned over a personage of importance in the late Middle Ages and Early Modern Europe. At the same time, the Madonna is represented as an iconic sculpture who has come alive with miraculous immediacy, expanding from its primary sense as an architectural recess, a niche can be applied to a rocky hollow, crack, crevice, or foothold. The sense of a niche as a clearly defined narrow space led to its use describing the position of an organisms species. Alcove Grotto Mihrab Wave cut platform Sir John Summerson,1948. in Heavenly Mansions
9.
Statue
–
A statue is a sculpture representing one or more people or animals, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger. A small statue, usually enough to be picked up, is called a statuette or figurine. Statues have been produced in many cultures from prehistory to the present, the worlds tallest statue, Spring Temple Buddha, is 128 metres, and is located in Lushan County, Henan, China. Many statues are built on commission to commemorate a historical event, many statues are intended as public art, exhibited outdoors or in public buildings. Some statues gain fame in their own right, separate from the person or concept they represent, Ancient statues often survive showing the bare surface of the material of which they are made. For example, many people associate Greek classical art with white marble sculpture, most of the colour was weathered off over time, small remnants were removed during cleaning, in some cases small traces remained which could be identified. Richter goes so far as to say of classical Greek sculpture, All stone sculpture, whether limestone or marble, was painted, medieval statues were also usually painted, with some still retaining their original pigments. The colouring of statues ceased during the Renaissance, as excavated classical sculptures, the Löwenmensch figurine from the Swabian Alps in Germany is the oldest known statue in the world, and dates to 30, 000-40,000 years ago. The Venus of Hohle Fels, from the area, is somewhat later. Throughout history, statues have been associated with images in many religious traditions, from Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece. Egyptian statues showing kings as sphinxes have existed since the Old Kingdom, the oldest statue of a striding pharaoh dates from the reign of Senwosret I and is the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. The Middle Kingdom of Egypt witnessed the growth of block statues which then became the most popular form until the Ptolemaic period, the oldest statue of a deity in Rome was the bronze statue of Ceres in 485 BC. The oldest statue in Rome is now the statue of Diana on the Aventine, the wonders of the world include several statues from antiquity, with the Colossus of Rhodes and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. While Byzantine art flourished in various forms, sculpture and statue making witnessed a general decline, an example was the statue of Justinian which stood in the square across from the Hagia Sophia until the fall of Constantinople in the 15th century. While making statues was not subject to a ban, it was hardly encouraged in this period. Starting with the work of Maillol around 1900, the human figures embodied in statues began to move away from the schools of realism that had held them bound for thousands of years. The Futurist and Cubist schools took this even further until statues, often still nominally representing humans, had lost all. By the 1920s and 1930s statues began to appear that were abstract in design
10.
Tapestry
–
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work. In tapestry weaving, weft yarns are typically discontinuous, the artisan interlaces each coloured weft back and it is a plain weft-faced weave having weft threads of different colours worked over portions of the warp to form the design. Most weavers use a warp thread, such as linen or cotton. The weft threads are usually wool or cotton, but may include silk, gold, silver, the earliest attested form of the word is the Mycenaean Greek
