Anyone interested in the history of depictions of Jesus in the graphic and plastic arts will be well-satisfied by this beautifully filmed two-hour program that looks at works from frescoes and sculptures to oil paintings and mosaics, from the catacombs beneath Rome to the Hagia Sophia, in churches, monasteries, public and private collections. Told through eight narrators, including Mel Gibson, Juliet Mills, Bill Moyers and Ricardo Montalban, the story of The Face combines history and art appreciation, taking viewers back to the iconoclastic controversy provoked by Emperor Leo III in 726 A.D. (who banned religious imagery), examining the debate on the nature of Christ that led to the second Council of Nicaea in 787, and pointing out Rembrandt's importance as the first Western artist to remember that Christ was a Jew (and, therefore, probably looked like a Jew from Judea). The survey of art included here is wide ranging--the stylistic variety is so great, in fact, that the documentary also functions as a passable study of technical and stylistic development in Western art--including some unfamiliar depictions of Christ produced by Asian artists during the Early Modern era. A first-rate art history video, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (P. Van Vleck)
The Face: Jesus in Art
(2001) 120 min. VHS: $24.95, DVD: $29.95. Kultur. PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 0-7697-2180-X (vhs), 0-7697-0180-9 (dvd). Volume 16, Issue 6
The Face: Jesus in Art
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