Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art
Today, November 18th, 2007, sees the opening of the extraordinary exhibition Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, TX. Among the pieces of art are some of the earliest Christian and “magical” gems depicting the Crucifixion of Jesus, which are of particular interest to me, and for the first time brought together in a single exhibit. These gems are particularly striking in light of some recent research by Felicity Harley who argues in her PhD dissertation that they should be dated prior to the fifth century CE, undermining the traditional view that depictions of the crucifixion only begin in that century. These gems are, of course, notoriously difficult to date, but present some fascinating early evidence and if you can make it to the exhibit (which I hopefully will see before it finishes March 30th, 2008) I fully encourage you to do so.