This article presents a new contextualization and interpretation of Michelangelo's composition, Christ and the Samaritan Woman, which was made for Vittoria Colonna around 1542. Known only through ...copies, it is an unusual representation of the theme, which eschews commentary on the sexuality or arrogance of the woman and instead includes elements that point to the woman's role in leading others to Christ. By reconsidering Colonna's own statements on the Samaritan woman and parallels found in Bernardino Ochino's comments, I argue that the design reflects the way Colonna positioned herself as a person of incomplete understanding who could still be saved through a direct encounter with Christ's words. The theme had particular resonance around 1542 when Italian reformers like Colonna faced increasing scrutiny from the Church. Indeed Colonna's interest in the subject may be a response to Ochino's flight from Italy in the face of threats from the Church.
Reviews a publication focused on the iconograph program of the paintings from the Sistine Chapel, focusing on 15th-century wall frescoes, "The Sistine Chapel : a new vision," by Heinrich W Pfeiffer ...(Abbeville Publishers, 2007).
In both Europe and China, most of the earliest surviving printed images are religious woodcuts. In the West, these date from the 15th century, but in China we have woodcuts that date to around 700 CE ...– about 700 years earlier. Our knowledge of these prints and how they were used is largely due to their almost miraculous survival in a small cave within the Mogao complex near Dunhuang in western China. The oasis at Dunhuang, located at the point where the northern and southern routes of the Silk Road converge, was a thriving and cosmopolitan city for traders and
