Workshop 1: Crucifixions (14th June 2007)
This first workshop combines two sets of materials that focus on one of the central images of the Passion of Christ: the depiction of the Crucifixion. This forms the thematic link between the materials which otherwise offer their own reinterpretation and transformation of this image.
The material for the first theme illustrates how the image of the crucified Christ embracing the Christian believer (in an Amplexus Christi) is established by Bernard of Clairvaux and subsequently transformed and reinterpreted in different media and historical contexts, ranging from post-Reformation music to nineteenth century painting.
In contrast, the second theme traces the reception of the eleventh-century Volto Santo Crucifix from Lucca throughout Europe, and its subsequent gradual transformation from depicting the Crucifixion of Christ to representing new saints in different geographical areas, e.g. Saint Helper in Scandinavia.
In the light of the general questions of the workshop these two themes could be discussed separately and/or with mutual reference to each other.