Aniconism and Iconoclasm: 400-word essay Arts Essay

Essay Instructions:

- Please carefully read the assignment handout！(In the attachment files)
- Especially the red highlight part! You must do the reading and don't use any outside resources. Carefully read all the sources(attach files) I give u and remember cite please.
You must read the sources which are: (In the attachment files)
1. God’s Commandments to the Israelites
2. Caroline Books
3. Andreas Karlstadt, “On the Removal of Images” (1521) (pp. 21-25)
4.Virtual Textbook: Icons and Iconoclasm in Byzantium https://www(dot)metmuseum(dot)org/toah/hd/icon/hd_icon.htm
5. Panofsky_Iconography and Iconology
Those are the sources that you can use in the essay, and u better apply or connect the idea in the essay to show the understanding of the sources. You can search other resources to help you understanding but please don't cite in my essay. Thanks!

Aniconism and Iconoclasm: 400-word essay

Due: Friday October 23 @11:00am

Up until now we have encountered three moments in which the use of images has been debated within the monotheistic religions. Judaism was profoundly aniconic, without images of its God, and banned images entirely, as did Islam. Christianity ultimately embraced images of its God (and other holy figures, the Virgin and Saints above all), but not without extensive debate, with a strong opposition party supporting a ban on images in the 8^th century. In the 16^th century, the Lutheran and Calvinist Reformation reopened that debate. Calvinists removed all images from their churches, while Lutherans settled on a lesser role of images. The Roman church, henceforth Catholicism, however completely embraced the use of images. This assignment asks you to look at one side of the debates (the position taken AGAINST images), primarily in Christianity.

Iconoclasm is the destruction of images. Therefore, iconoclasm was the enactment of a policy against images, many, many of which populated the altars and walls of Christian churches since the time the Western Church officially embraced images. Iconoclasm, or the destruction of images, is an action that often followed the debates over the question: should there be images of the Christian God and Saints, or should there be no images?

The primary sources that you are reading for this assignment discuss their aniconic policies, not the iconoclasm that arose from them.

To Do List:

Read: （Please Please you must read before writing/ only use the sources I gave u ）

The Torah (Old Testament): selected passages of God’s Commandments to the Israelites (this was assigned reading in Week 4)
Iconoclasm debates of the 8^th-9^th centuries CE in the Christian Church: excerpt from the Caroline Books
Debates of the 16^th century that divided the Roman Church into Reformed and Catholic confessions: excerpt from Andreas Karlstadt, “On the Removal of Images” (1521) (pp. 21-25). Karlstadt was a Reform theologian of the early 16^th century who advocated the extreme position of disallowing images in the churches.

Write: 400 words

In your essay analyze the different reasons the writers of the three texts give to reject images of the Jewish God (in the case of the Torah, or Old Testament) and the Christian God( in the case of the Caroline Books and in the treatise of Karlstadt); further, discuss the overlap and distinctions between the concepts of damnatio memoriae and iconoclasm.
Proofread, read out loud

Format: 12 point type, Times Roman Font, Double-spaced. Chicago Style citations.

Submit:

On Quercus “Writing Assignment #2 Iconoclasm”. Attach the completed and signed Academic Integrity form. Note: Acceptable file formats: doc, docx, pdf.

Also helpful:

Virtual Textbook: Icons and Iconoclasm in Byzantium https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/icon/hd_icon.htm

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Aniconism and Iconoclasm
Your Name
Subject and Section
Professor’s Name
October 23, 2020
In religion, aniconism is the absence or lack of material representations of the world, both natural and supernatural. When enforced through physical destruction, this system of religious belief transforms into iconoclasm. Iconoclasm is the destruction of religious idols, images, and icons.
As has been discussed, iconoclasm has appeared in the history of different religions throughout the world. In this paper, the focus will be given particularly to aniconism and iconoclasm, and the general idea of the rejection of material representations through idols and icons, in the context of the Jewish religion, according to the Old Testament, and the Christian religion, according to critical authors on the topic.
“God’s commandments to the Israelites.”
The Old Testament in the passages of Exodus 20:4, Deuteronomy 5:9, Leviticus 19:4, and Leviticus 26:1 lays down a clear, unqualified statement that those who seek to worship the Lord, whether Jewish or otherwise, should worship the Lord alone and not any physical representation of Him. Neither should any worship or praise be given unto those things that are carved or made out of the likeness of human beings.
It is interesting to note that the prohibition on the use of physical icons is limited to representations of God himself and any icon in general.
“Carolingian Controversy about Religious Art”
In this essay, the analysis is about the essence of icons and images made by painters. The author’s primary thesis is the inevitable bias of painters about their religious beliefs in their works of art. The author says that it is not correct to state that “painters do not contradict scripture and whatever scripture treats, they can represent,” as it is in this statement where the essential flaw can be found. Works of art and representations of Scripture are precisely that—representations. They carry with them the natural bias based on the eye of the painter. The author states ...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Aniconism and Iconoclasm: 400-word essay Arts Essay

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