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Jan 1, 1445
The Crucifixion with St. Jerome and St. Francis
Artist: Francesco Pesellino
Painting tempera on panel The sun and moon in the darkened sky refer to nature's upheaval on the day of the crucifixion; the pelican, pecking at its breast to feed its young, symbolizes the Savior’s sacrifice. -
Jan 1, 1450
The Entombment of Christ
The crown of thorns and other elements of torture set out on the white cloth in the center foreground symbolize the suffering of Christ during the Passion. Subtle lines in the clothing draw the viewers eyes to the open gate and the view of the vacant cross on the hillside. The rocky tomb at the right not only points to Christ’s imminent burial, but also suggests his resurrection three days later -
Jan 1, 1452
Adam and Eve Relief
Artist: Lorenzo Ghiberti For this creation, Ghiberti combined four major episodes from the story of Adam and Eve. The creation of Adam, illustrated in the foreground on the far left, shows Adam in a state of semi-consciousness, rising in response to God’s life-giving touch. In the center, as angels look on, God forms Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. The temptation of Adam and Eve by the serpent is shown in the background on the left. The couple’s expulsion from Eden is also shown. -
Aug 10, 1455
Mary Magdeline
Artist: Donatello Mary Magdalen as sculpted by Donatello is portrayed as she may have appeared in her later years; worn down by penitence and fasting. One prominent theory of the purpose of this sculpture is to provide hope and inspiration to the repentant prostitutes at the convent of Santa Maria Maddalena de Cestello. -
Jan 1, 1460
Donatello's David
Artist: Donatello
Bronze Statue Many experts believe that this effeminate composition was intended to signal that only with God’s help could this boy have vanquished a foe like Goliath. Others believe that the statue symbolizes that civic virtues overcome brutality and irrationality. -
Jan 1, 1460
Saint Apollonia
Artist: Piero della Francesca Apollonia stands erect, as a pillar of the Christian faith. A virgin martyr, she suffered at the hands of persecutors who broke her teeth, one of which is clamped firmly in Apollonia’s tongs. -
Jan 1, 1461
The Feast of Herod and the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
By Benozzo Gozzoli
This picture tells the story of the beheading of John the Baptist. The left shows the executioner preparing to behead John. The halo glow signifies the connection to diety of John. In the center one can see Salome presenting the head of John on a platter to her mother. The right scene depicts Herod promising Salome that he would honor any request she made. -
Aug 10, 1470
Consecration of Basilica of San Lorenzo
The Cathedral is built on high ground and its ground footprint is (in design, at least) shaped like a Roman cross. The entrance stairs provide further uplift toward the heavenly plane, and more stairs within the Cathedral elevate the Great Choir and chapels, and above them the High Altar. This holiest part of the church is traditionally found in the eastern end of the building, closest to the rising sun, a symbol of renewal and resurrection. -
Jan 1, 1475
Ave Maria by Josquin des Prez
The expressive grace of Josquin's music flowed from the attention he gave to the the relationship between words and music. He tailered the musical lines so that they followed the natural flow of the words. The unity of musical sound, representing the spiritual unity of prayer, completes the act of worship which has been the rhetorical goal of the text. The final lines are sung in homophony, as if the four, once separate voices have aligned under the grace of God. -
Aug 11, 1478
Canterbury Tales by Gregory Chaucer
Chaucer uses the tales and the descriptions of characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the Church. Religion is a significant theme of the work, but often the symbolism of the characters is critical of the Church at the time of Chaucer. -
Jan 1, 1480
Madonna and Child
Artist: Crivelli The apples and fly are symbols of sin and evil and are opposed to the cucumber and the goldfinch, symbols of redemption. The apples are reminders of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. The antidote to the poisonous apples is the gourd which is a symbol of resurrection. The fly is associated with Satan, the great Tempter. The fly is bearer of evil or pestilence, a symbol of sin. The fly and the goldfinch are shown together as the goldfinch is the eater of flies. -
Jan 1, 1485
Mary Queen of Heaven
Artist: Master of the St. Lucy Legend
Oil on Panel
This painting combines three sacred events from the legend of the Virgin: The Immaculate Conception, representing Mary's freedom from Original Sin, The Assumption, representing her journey to heaven born by seraphim, and the Coronation of the Virgin. Above her head the clouds roll back to reveal heaven, with God the Father and Christ the Son holding a crown, above which hovers the dove of the Holy Spirit. Mary's coronation is only implied here -
Jan 1, 1490
Madonna Della
By Carlo Crevelli
The halo of light around Mary’s head signifies a holy being. The swallow on top left of Mary’s throne is symbolic of Jesus who was buried, then rose again, because swallows were believed to hibernate in hole in the muddy banks of rivers during the winter and went there for the whole season before coming back in the spring. The apple Jesus holds is a reference to the fruit of the garden of Eden. Christ holds the apple, symbolically taking original sin upon himself as redeemer -
Jan 1, 1498
Pieta
Sculptor: Michelangelo
Notice in this marble sculpture, the Virgin Mary’s hand does not directly contact the flesh of Christ, but instead contacts the cloth which touches his side. This signifies the holiness and sacredness of Christ’s body. Even after unbearable intense suffering, both figures are beautiful and idealized. This symbolizes the belief that beauty of earth reflects God’s beauty, so these figures were echoing the beauty of the divine. -
Jan 1, 1500
The Adoration of the Christ child
Artist: Alessandro Botticelli Two shepherds at right approach to offer Christ a sacrificial lamb,symbolic that Christ would offer his own life as a sacrificial lamb. The Holy Family's subsequent Flight into Egypt is depicted in the background at left. -
Jan 1, 1505
Madonna of the Goldfinch by Raphael the Divine
Symbolism In Madonna Del Cardellino: the goldfinch represents Christ’s crucifixion. Mary is clothed in red and blue—the red is a reference to the love shared between family members, the most natural of them all being the unyielding bond between mother and child. It may also connote the blood that was to be shed by Jesus, linking the crown of thorns reference from the goldfinch. The blue denotes a sense of calm and stability as well as royalty. -
Jan 1, 1520
The judgement
Artist: Pieter Huys
Hell is pictured as a wasteland of torment. Christ, surrounded by angels and the apostles sits as a judge in the heavens. Angels and demons battle for souls risen from the dead. At the lower left, a glutton is force-fed food and drink so that his stomach is about to burst. Demons are half-human, half-animal. -
Jan 1, 1530
Madonna with Rabbit
Artist: Titian
The white rabbit symbolizes purity and the virgin birth. It was believed that the female rabbit could conceive and give birth without contact with a male rabbit. White rabbits as symbols of virginal birth of Christ began to appear in paintings following the dark ages. -
Jan 1, 1563
TheTower of Babel
Artist: Pieter Bruegel the Elder The tower is based on the Roman Colosseum which was regarded at the time as a symbol of persecution. The destruction of Rome, which was assumed to be eternal, symbolized the vanity and transience of Man’s earthly ambitions and efforts. The detailed illustration of the efforts of the engineers, masons, and laborers, suggests the moral idea of the pointlessness of human endeavor. -
MacBeth
Shakespeare's writing are replete with references to the Bible
Example:
Sergeant: Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorise another Golgotha
A reference to Christ's death upon Mount Calvary, as reported in Matthew 27.33: "And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull."
