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The 15th century Holy Trinity Church was built by the Neuhaus family and was consecrated in 1475. The church stands behind a wall that the local population built to protect itself from Turkish attacks in the 16th century.<br/><br/> The interior is decorated with Gothic frescoes by the artist John of Kastav (Johannes de Castua), the most famous being <i>Danse Macabre</i> (Dance of Death), and completed in 1490.
Christianity in Ethiopia dates to the 1st century AD, and this long tradition makes Ethiopia unique amongst sub-Saharan African countries. Christianity in this country is divided into several groups. The largest and oldest is the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (in Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተክርስትያን Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan) is an Oriental Orthodox church in Ethiopia that was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, when it was granted its own Patriarch by Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa Cyril VI.<br/><br/> The only pre-colonial Christian church of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Ethiopian Orthodox church has a membership of slightly more than 32 million people in Ethiopia, and is thus the largest of all Oriental Orthodox churches. Next in size are the various Protestant congregations, who include 13.7 million Ethiopians. The largest Protestant group is the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, with about 5 million members. Roman Catholicism has been present in Ethiopia since the 16th century, and numbers 536,827 believers. In total, Christians make up about 60% of the total population of the country.
The Hunterian Psalter (or York Psalter) is an illuminated manuscript of the 12th century. It was produced in England some time around 1170, and is considered a striking example of Romanesque book art. The work is part of the collection of the Glasgow University Library, which acquired the book in 1807. It derives its colloquial name, the 'Hunterian Psalter', from having been part of the collection of 18th century Scottish anatomist and book collector William Hunter, who willed his collection to the University. It has also at times been known as the 'York Psalter', owing to its supposed northern English origin in the city of York.
A lubok is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories and popular tales. Lubki prints were used as decoration in houses and inns. Early examples from the late 17th and early 18th centuries were woodcuts, then engravings or etchings were typical, and from the mid-19th century lithography. They sometimes appeared in series, which might be regarded as predecessors of the modern comic strip. Cheap and simple books, similar to chapbooks, which mostly consisted of pictures, are called lubok literature. Both pictures and literature are commonly referred to simply as lubki. The Russian word lubok itself means the inner bark of the linden tree and refers to a technique of woodcut from the bark of the linden tree, which used to be a common material in Russia for manufacturing various items.
Woodcut—formally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges. The areas to show 'white' are cut away with a knife or chisel, leaving the characters or image to show in 'black' at the original surface level. The block is cut along the grain of the wood (unlike wood engraving where the block is cut in the end-grain). In Europe beechwood was most commonly used; in Japan, a special type of cherry wood was preferred. The surface is covered with ink by rolling over the surface with an ink-covered roller (brayer), leaving ink upon the flat surface but not in the non-printing areas.
The Escorial Beatus is a 10th century illuminated manuscript of the Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana. The manuscript was probably created at the monastery at San Millán de la Cogolla. There are 151 extant folios which measure 395mm by 225mm. The manuscript is illustrated with 52 surviving miniatures.
Falnama refers to the book of omens used in the ancient Islamic world to aid in predicting the future. Individuals seeking insight into the future would engage in a series of purification rituals, turn to a random page in the Falnama, and interpret the text and drawings thereon for good or ill. Falnama were primarily created during the 16th and 17th centuries as the approach of the Islamic millennium inspired concern about the future. During this time, the Falnama was likely a common object, used by fortune tellers throughout modern day Iran and Turkey. The book was also appended to copies of the Koran commissioned by rulers and wealthy individuals. Despite its apparent popularity in the ancient world, only four copies of the large 'folio' Falnama are known to remain in existence. Of these, one is in such delicate condition that it is permanently housed in the university library at Dresden, Germany.
The Hunterian Psalter (or York Psalter) is an illuminated manuscript of the 12th century. It was produced in England some time around 1170, and is considered a striking example of Romanesque book art. The work is part of the collection of the Glasgow University Library, which acquired the book in 1807. It derives its colloquial name, the 'Hunterian Psalter', from having been part of the collection of 18th century Scottish anatomist and book collector William Hunter, who willed his collection to the University. It has also at times been known as the 'York Psalter', owing to its supposed northern English origin in the city of York.
According to the Book of Genesis, which is the first book of the Christian Old Testament or Hebrew Bible, God created the universe in seven days. On the sixth day, he created ‘Adam’, the Hebrew word for ‘man’, and placed him in Paradise—the Garden of Eden. From one of Adam’s ribs, God then created a mate for him: Eve, meaning ‘Mother of Life’.<br/><br/> Adam and Eve were permitted to eat all the fruit in the garden except that from the ‘Tree of Knowledge’. However, the devil, disguised as a serpent, persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit—an apple—and she gave in to the temptation. This was considered mankind’s first sin.
According to the Book of Genesis, which is the first book of the Christian Old Testament or Hebrew Bible, God created the universe in seven days. On the sixth day, he created ‘Adam’, the Hebrew word for ‘man’, and placed him in Paradise—the Garden of Eden. From one of Adam’s ribs, God then created a mate for him: Eve, meaning ‘Mother of Life’.<br/><br/> Adam and Eve were permitted to eat all the fruit in the garden except that from the ‘Tree of Knowledge’. However, the devil, disguised as a serpent, persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit—an apple—and she gave in to the temptation.<br/><br/> This was considered mankind’s first sin.
The Nuremberg Chronicle is an illustrated world history. Its structure follows the story of human history as related in the Bible; it includes the histories of a number of important Western cities. Written in Latin by Hartmann Schedel, with a version in German translation by Georg Alt, it appeared in 1493. It is one of the best-documented early printed books - an incunabulum (printed, not hand-written) - and one of the first to successfully integrate illustrations and text.
Manichaeism was one of the major Iranian Gnostic religions, originating in Sassanid Persia. Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani (c. 216–276 CE) have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived.<br/><br/> Manichaeism taught an elaborate cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process which takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light from which it came. Its beliefs can be seen as a synthesis of Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.<br/><br/> Manichaeism thrived between the third and seventh centuries, and at its height was one of the most widespread religions in the world. Manichaean churches and scriptures existed as far east as China and as far west as the Roman Empire. Manichaeism survived longer in the east, and appears to have finally faded away after the 14th century in southern China.<br/><br/>
Abu Said Ubaud Allah Ibn Bakhitshu's Ibn Bakhtishu's Manafi' al-Hayawan is an illustrated bestiary in the Persian language. The Bakhtshooa Gondishapoori (also spelled Bukhtishu and Bukht-Yishu) were Assyrian Nestorian Christian physicians from the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries, spanning 6 generations and 250 years. Some of them served as the personal physicians of Caliphs. Like all physicians in the Abbasid courts, they came from the Academy of Gundishapur in Persia (in modern-day southwestern Iran). They were well versed in the Greek and Hindi sciences, including those of Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and Galen, which they aided in translating while working in Gondeshapur. Yahya al-Barmaki, the vizier and mentor to Harun al-Rashid, provided patronage to the academy and hospital in Gondeshapur helped assure the promotion and growth of astronomy, medicine, and philosophy, not only in Persia but also in the Abbasid empire in general.
Abu Said Ubaud Allah Ibn Bakhitshu's Ibn Bakhtishu's Manafi' al-Hayawan is an illustrated bestiary in the Persian language. The Bakhtshooa Gondishapoori (also spelled Bukhtishu and Bukht-Yishu) were Assyrian Nestorian Christian physicians from the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries, spanning 6 generations and 250 years. Some of them served as the personal physicians of Caliphs. Like all physicians in the Abbasid courts, they came from the Academy of Gundishapur in Persia (in modern-day southwestern Iran). They were well versed in the Greek and Hindi sciences, including those of Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and Galen, which they aided in translating while working in Gondeshapur. Yahya al-Barmaki, the vizier and mentor to Harun al-Rashid, provided patronage to the academy and hospital in Gondeshapur helped assure the promotion and growth of astronomy, medicine, and philosophy, not only in Persia but also in the Abbasid empire in general.
Lucas Cranach the Elder (Lucas Cranach der Ältere, 4 October 1472 – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German princes and those of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, whose cause he embraced with enthusiasm, becoming a close friend of Martin Luther. He also painted religious subjects, first in the Catholic tradition, and later trying to find new ways of conveying Lutheran religious concerns in art. He continued throughout his career to paint nude subjects drawn from mythology and religion. He had a large workshop and many works exist in different versions; his son Lucas Cranach the Younger, and others, continued to create versions of his father's works for decades after his death.
The Dura-Europos church (also known as the Dura-Europos house church) is the earliest identified Christian house church. It is located in Dura-Europos in Syria and dates from 235 CE. The building consists of a house conjoined to a separate hall-like room, which functioned as the meeting room for the church. The surviving frescoes of the baptistry room are probably the most ancient Christian paintings.<br/><br/> Murals include the 'Good Shepherd' the 'Healing of the paralytic' and 'Christ and Peter walking on water'. These are considered the earliest depictions of Jesus Christ. There were also frescoes of Adam and Eve as well as David and Goliath. The frescoes clearly followed the Hellenistic Jewish iconographic tradition, but they are more crudely done than the paintings of the nearby Dura-Europos synagogue.