Picturing the Passion in Late Medieval Italy
Narrative Painting, Franciscan Ideologies, and the Levant

A study of thirteenth-century Italian narrative paintings of the Passion of Christ.

Anne Derbes (Author)

9780521639262, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 February 1998

290 pages, 95 b/w illus.
25.5 x 20.5 x 2 cm, 0.772 kg

'This is a quite admirable example of art history at its best.' The Heythrop Journal

This study examines the narrative paintings of the Passion of Christ created in Italy during the thirteenth century. Demonstrating the radical changes that occurred in the depiction of the Passion cycle during the Duecento, a period that has traditionally been dismissed as artistically stagnant, Anne Derbes analyses the relationship between these new images and similar renderings found in Byzantine sources. She argues that the Franciscan order, which was active in the Levant by the 1230s, was largely responsible for introducing these images into Italy. But Byzantine art was not imported for its irresistible attraction, as has previously been argued. Rather, Derbes contends, Byzantine images served as vital models, providing formal and iconographic solutions that could be adapted to the Franciscans' own spiritual programme.

Introduction: the Passion Cycle in the thirteenth-century painting: Content and context
1. Passion narratives, icons, and ideologies
2. The Betrayal of Christ
3. The trial of Christ
4. The mocking of Christ
5. The way to Calvary
6. The stripping of Christ and the ascent of the cross.

Subject Areas: History of art: Byzantine & Medieval art c 500 CE to c 1400 [ACK]