Pontius Pilate Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====High and late medieval and renaissance art==== [[File:Christ before Pilate Bible moralisee Oxford-Paris-London BNF Lat11560 f183v.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|A depiction of Christ before Pilate, from a thirteenth-century [[Bible moralisée]]]] In the thirteenth century, depictions of the events of Christ's passion came to dominate all visual art forms—these depictions of the "Passion cycle" do not always include Pilate, but they often do so; when he is included, he is often given stereotyped Jewish features.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=227–228}} One of the earliest examples of Pilate rendered as a Jew is from the eleventh century on the [[Bernward Doors|Hildesheim cathedral doors]] (see image, above right). This is the first known usage of the motif of Pilate being influenced and corrupted by the Devil in Medieval Art. Pilate is typically represented in fourteen different scenes from his life;{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=238}} however, more than half of all thirteenth-century representations of Pilate show the trial of Jesus.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=255}} Pilate also comes to be frequently depicted as present at the crucifixion, by the fifteenth century being a standard element of crucifixion artwork.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=240–243}} While many images still draw from the ''Acts of Pilate'', the ''[[Golden Legend]]'' of [[Jacobus de Voragine]] is the primary source for depictions of Pilate from the second half of the thirteenth century onward.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=234–235}} Pilate now frequently appears in illuminations for [[Book of hours|books of hours]],{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=228–232, 238}} as well as in the richly illuminated [[Bible moralisée|''Bibles moralisées'']], which include many biographical scenes adopted from the legendary material, although Pilate's washing of hands remains the most frequently depicted scene.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=245–249}} In the {{lang|fr|Bible moralisée|italics=yes}}, Pilate is generally depicted as a Jew.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=252}} In many other images, however, he is depicted as a king or with a mixture of attributes of a Jew and a king.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=293}} [[File:Obilman Ecce Homo.jpg|thumb|''Ecce Homo'' from the Legnica Polyptych by Nikolaus Obilman, [[Silesia]], 1466 CE. Pilate stands beside Christ in a [[Jewish hat]] and golden robes.]] The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries see fewer depictions of Pilate, although he generally appears in cycles of artwork on the passion. He is sometimes replaced by Herod, Annas, and Caiaphas in the trial scene.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=296–297}} Depictions of Pilate in this period are mostly found in private devotional settings such as on ivory or in books; he is also a major subject in a number of panel-paintings, mostly German, and frescoes, mostly Scandinavian.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=303}} The most frequent scene to include Pilate is his washing of his hands; Pilate is typically portrayed similarly to the high priests as an old, bearded man, often wearing a Jewish hat but sometimes a crown, and typically carrying a scepter.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=297}} Images of Pilate were especially popular in Italy, where, however, he was almost always portrayed as a Roman,{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=303–304}} and often appears in the new medium of large-scale church paintings.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=305}} Pilate continued to be represented in various manuscript picture bibles and devotional works as well, often with innovative iconography, sometimes depicting scenes from the Pilate legends.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=312–321}} Many, mostly German, engravings and woodcuts of Pilate were created in the fifteenth century.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=321–323}} Images of Pilate were printed in the ''[[Biblia pauperum]]'' ("Bibles of the Poor"), picture bibles focusing on the life of Christ, as well as the ''[[Speculum Humanae Salvationis]]'' ("Mirror of Human Salvation"), which continued to be printed into the sixteenth century.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=308–311}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page