From the Rheinau Psalter, circa A.D. 1260
In his book “The Spirit of the Liturgy,” Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, touches upon the difference between the Iconographic art form and the Gothicart form.
“The depiction(in the Gothic) is no longer of the Pantocrator, the Lord of all, leading us into the eighth day. It has been superseded by the image of the crucified Lord in the agony of His passion and death. The story is told of the historical events of the Passion, but the Resurrection is not made visible. The historical and narrative aspect of art comes to the fore.” -The Spirit of the Liturgy. San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2000.
Art and culture respond to and are informed by each other. As the Gothic form developed from around the year 1200 the focus of sacred art shifted to a more didactic one. The faithful needed to see art that taught them about the saints, ”models of Christian life and intercessors before God” (Pope Benedict XVI’s Wednesday Audience Address, 18 November 2009, Vatican City.)
It has been said that the Iconographic form offers us “windows to Heaven.” I would submit that the Gothic form offers us a path to Heaven. The path begins by firmly grounding us in an historical event, in this case Christ is brought before Pilate, and leads us to contemplate the spiritual Truth represented by the event.
The early Gothic carried over many artistic conventions from the Iconographic. (I hesitate to call them “rules” because almost any rule that we formulate can be undermined by examples to the contrary.) And so we have a border that invites to take a breath as we leave our worldly cares behind for a moment and enter the realm of the spiritual.
Jesus is brought before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Jesus is identified by the halo, symbolizing His aura of holiness and more specifically by the three arms within the halo that reference the cross. In traditional iconography we would expect to see letters on each of the three arms representing the divine name “I am.” These are missing here. However what is included, though difficult to discern, is the abbreviation of the Greek form of the name Jesus Christ , IC XC. Also present but difficult to see is the inscription “Pilatus” identifying the Roman governor. The sacred artist does not want there to be any doubt as to who and what is being represented.
Christ is brought to Pilate by a group of Jews, identified by their conical hats. The “Jewish Hat” has an interesting history in itself. Originally worn voluntarily by the Jewish people as a form of distinctive dress, by the 13th century it had fallen from common use. The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 ruled that Jews and Muslims must be distinguishable by their dress to avoid the possibility of a Christian marrying outside their faith due to ignorance of their spouses affiliation. Naturally this edict was not followed universally by all Christian kingdoms leading to tension between the ruler and the Holy See. But the “Jewish hat” remained a common artistic symbol to identify the Jewish people throughout the Medieval period.
This leads us to an interesting question in reviving the Gothic form. Is it still necessary to identify figures in representations of the life, passion, and death of Christ as Jewish? I would say it depends on the circumstances of the art, its context and its meaning. Arguments could be made either way. But that is perhaps a discussion best left for another time.
One of Jesus’ accusers says to Pilate, in the form of a banner, “hic dixit P.D.Te.” In my interpretation of this painting I got as far as “He said…” but could not decipher P.D.T.E.. Presumably these are initials for a phrase in Latin that the reader of the 13th century would be able to identify immediately. I could find no corresponding phrase in the Vulgate that would match the initials but a reader has suggested Matthew 26:61. “Hic dixit: Possum Destrúere Templum Dei,” “He said: ‘It is Possible to Destroy the Temple of God.'” That would seem to fit.
Pilate is seated upon a throne. He is an earthly ruler. He represents the profane facing off against the sacred. An earthy ruler sitting in judgement of the ruler of Heaven and Earth. Christ stands, barefooted whereas Pilate is shod. Christ wears crown of thorns in contrast to Pilate’s headgear, not a crown for he is not a king, but a distinctive head covering of his own.
Here is my interpretation.
I have chosen to keep the “Jewish hats” to recall the political motivations behind Christ’s trial. I also slightly altered the pose of Jesus to give a little more dynamic grace to the figure and to give Him something to stand on. The original, perhaps intentionally, has Jesus appear to be floating in the air. After 700 years, seeing as how we are woefully deficient in our familiarity with Latin and the events of the Gospel, I needed a phrase for the accusation that I could fit on to a banner in its’ entirety, and in english. I chose part of Luke 23:2, “He claims to be Christ the King.” as this seemed to be consistent with the context of the composition,
The Gothic form presents us with events in the physical realm that lead us to contemplate the spiritual that exists alongside. Pilate, representing the profane world, does not understand who it is that stands before him.(What is truth?) The divine King of all creation who has humbled Himself by becoming one of us, allows Himself to be judged and condemned in order to save us all from the wages of sin.
This is the shortsightedness of the worldly. Still prone to sin we are motivated by greed, lust for (political) power, and selfish desires that blind us to the spiritual reality all around us. All of mankind bears the responsibility for the crucified Lord. The question we must all answer is, do we continue to sacrifice Christ at the altar of our own shortsightedness? Or do we accept Him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life? Do we recognize Him as truly the Christ, the anointed King of Al?
Pax vobiscum