Pontius Pilate is one of the Bible's best-known villains--but up
until the tenth century, artistic imagery appears to have
consistently portrayed him as a benevolent Christian and holy
symbol of baptism. For the first time, "Pontius Pilate,
Anti-Semitism, and the Passion in Medieval Art" provides a complete
look at the shifting visual and textual representations of Pilate
throughout early Christian and medieval art. Colum Hourihane
examines neglected and sometimes sympathetic portrayals, and shows
how negative characterizations of Pilate, which were developed for
political and religious purposes, reveal the anti-Semitism of the
medieval period.
Hourihane indicates that in some artistic renderings, Pilate may
have been a symbol of good, and in many, a figure of jurisprudence.
Eastern traditions treated Pilate as a saint with his own feast
day, but Western accounts from the tenth century changed him from a
Roman to a Jew. Pilate became a vessel for anti-Semitism--his image
acquired grotesque facial and physical characteristics, and his
role in Christ's Passion grew to mythic proportions. By the
fifteenth century, however, representations of Pilate came full
circle to depict an aged and empathetic administrator.
Combining a wealth of previously unpublished sources with
explorations of art historical developments, "Pontius Pilate,
Anti-Semitism, and the Passion in Medieval Art" puts forth for the
first time an encyclopedic portrait of a complex legend.
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