Despite its troubled

history, Judaism ( which

evolved from the religion
of Israelites) and the
millennial tradition of Jews
are destined to become
much more than an
insignificant practice

the ancient knowledge is

going to be renewed by Jesus
Christ, a Jew born in Palestine
around 2-7 A.D., whose
message of peace and love
will be afterward serve as the
foundation of Christianity.
By sacrificing himself on the
cross, Jesus is believed to
have died to achieve
atonement.

Once he rose from

death, an increasing
number of followers of
his message began to
be recognized officially
as a specific religious
group - the Christians.

The words of the Messiah

are preserved and
transmitted primarily thanks
to the Gospels, and quickly
became, together with the
books of Hebrew tradition,
the holy books of Christianity.
But all this written material
spread out all over the world
also thanks to the capability
of the wisest hands of
humankind
 As the Bible was Artists look at
uneasy to find
them with
( print wasnt yet
available), artists new,
are called to inquisitive
represents eyes
figuratively what is
written

the most
relevant and,
episodes are
chosen, but they through their
aren't only style, try to
reproduced
blindly make them
concrete

It is the so-called
"Biblia Pauperum" (
Bible of the poor):
the word of God is
now more
accessible

also for the less

learned acolytes,
also for the illiterates
one. God can talk to
every man

Generations of
faithful people,
pointing with their
fingers to the
figures

enter the
holy pages,
enter the sacred
message that
within on them.
 Trade liks Venezia close to the
One of the places where this cultural
Byzantine society of the east, which
revolution takes place is Venezia, the deeply influence it despite its
fish-shaped city, built on the water. Catholic background.

As a fish, its strong bond with the sea has

made Venezia one of the most powerful
and rich maritime republics.

Its merchant
community
took home
much more
than their
monetary Byzantine style in
earnings. biblical representation
enchanted them so
much, that they
wanted to reflect what
they have seen there
in their hometown.

What beauties have

seen their eyes?
So magnificent that
they wanted to
have one too

The main result of the private

this symbiosis - church of the
between western
catholic and
Doge, the
eastern Byzantine ruler of the
culture - is Republic.
undoubtedly the
Basilica di San
Marco
 Take a look over its magnificent
faade, the best example of Italo-
Byzantine architecture, completely
covered with shining golden mosaics
and precious marbles. The church
might also be seen as a collection of
theft - from the four bronze horses,
on the balcony, to the porphyry
sculpture group of the Four Tetrarchs,
on the bottom right hand -.

and the
subsequent
celebration
held in
Venezia

Also,on some of
the main lunettes,
another famous
theft is After entering the
represented - the main entrance,
robbery of the we actually don't
corpse of St Mark immediately enter
from Byzantium the main space.

Instead, we find ourselves in

this smaller space - the atrium -
in which episodes from the Old
Testament are depicted all over
the surfaces of the walls and
ceiling.Symbolically, as Old
Testament is considered by
Christians to foreshadow the
New, you have to pass through
it to get inside, where you can
find representation of the New
one.
 The Old Testament
The Old collects several books, The first one is
mostly named with the covenant
Testament Proverbs Greek titles despite with Abram
Ecclesiastes being in ancient Semitic ( who became
Abraham), in
languages. The books of
Genesis Song of the Pentateuch, or the which it is said
that as long as
Exodus Solomon Jewish Torah, mainly
deal with the mythical he and his
Leviticus Isaiah past of the humankind descendants will
( Genesis) and of the circumcise their
Numbers Jeremiah Israelites' ancestors male children
Deuter. Lamentations ( Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers,
Joshua Ezekiel Deuteronomy).
Judges Daniel
Ruth Hosea
1 Samuel Joel
2 Samuel Amos
1 Kings Obadiah
2 Kings Jonah
We see a God that
1 Chronicles Micah doesn't only make God will provide
them with a huge
2 Chronicles Nahum and create humans,
but also tries to built a
inheritance; the
biological identity of
Ezra Habakkuk relationship with the tribe is now
them. As His way to granted to the
Nehemiah Zephaniah relate with humans Israelites who
Esther Haggai changes, we see practice
circumcision.
human and God
Job Zechariah making new
covenants
Psalms Malachi

The second
covenant is made From now on, the
writing and law replace
with Moses, who
the biological identity,
acquires the providing a new one.
commandments Now, the Israelites who
and gives them to follow the law are part
Israelites. of the Chosen People.

The third one was

made later, in a
period of
weakness of the
David,one of
Israelites, that the messiahs
have returned to ("anointed one"),
Canaan and need became King of
a king that can rule Israel, the man
over them. who thought God
spoke to the
Israelites.

David and his son

Solomon imagine and
later built the Temple
of Jerusalem, the
foundation of the
Israelite religious
practice.
 Once the Temple is
destroyed by Babylonians
in ca. 570 b.C ca, and with
the subsequent deportation
of the Israelites, the new
temple became the book.
Judaism is born.
Jews are still waiting for the
Messiah, who will free them
another time and will give
them back their promised
land.

Entering the main

room, we see stories of
the Messiah that the
Christians consider to
have already arrived,
Jesus, as represented
in the New Testament.

Almost all of the church

has been decorated with
these extraordinary
mosaics, depicting the
main events of his life
( also taken from the
Apocrypha)

,

,

<< And I say also unto thee,That
thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church; and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against
it.>> Mt 16, 18
 Jesus was able to
renew the Judaic
approach to the law - of
which the
commandments
represent the best
expression - but
incorporating another
element: the grace.

Through the grace, even if

out of the law, every man
can be saved.
Grace is a gift that Christ
has given to the mankind,
by sacrificing himself on
the cross.

This way, he has

purified mankind
from the original
sin and reversed
the course of
history, from a
time of decadence
to a new era of
human revival.

This era is
supposed to come
to an end when
also Time will come
to its ultimate end:
it is what Christians
depict as the Final
Judgement.
 During the
centuries, artists
find the way to
continuously
adapt the
biblical writings
into something
closely related
to the everyday
life of the faithful
customers.
Jesus is taken from
This way the holy
the contemporary
stories start not only
cribs of the mob, as
to refer to the holy
well as the Virgin
texts but also
Mary often portrays -
incorporate
for instance - specific
elements from
woman and damsels
everyday life.
of the time.

But the representation of these holy

scenes is not so free as we might
think: Paolo Veronese, for instance,
was called to answer for his Last
Supper, charged as indecorous
because it contained "Germans,
dwarfs, and other such scurrilities".
The solution? He changed the title
into Christ in the House of Levi, a
less important scene, and the case
was resolved.

This episode shows us how

important resourcefulness is in
the industry of holy
representation during the
Venetian Renaissance: talent, on
its own, is not the only thing that
mattered.
Tintoretto might be considered as
another example of that series of
great artist-entrepreneurs that
Venezia has forged.
 corrupted one of the guards
and put the painting on the
ceiling, where it was supposed
According to a legend, when the Scuola di San Rocco
has launched the contest for the decoration of the to be settled once the winner
inside, the main painters of Venezia were involved. would have been chosen.

Among them Tiziano, Palma il Giovane

and - of course - Tintoretto himself.The
artist had only to present a holy
representation of San Rocco, but
Tintoretto, who finished the
commission faster than the other

The committee surprized

and embarrassed finally
assigned him the job: for
that reason Tintoretto was
blamed by the other
painters of cheating.

These magnificent art

masterpieces are the
outcome of that world,
dominated by the faith,
but also by money,
pride, and struggles.

So, artistic biblical

representations are no
longer a simple
expression of faith,
neither are they only a
way to instruct the mob:
they are symbols of the
power of leadership.
The most important is
the consumer - who
requires the work to The Palazzo Ducale, for
be evermore instance, does not only
enchanting and collect several canvases
magnificent has to be - and also the one
the product. believed to be the
biggest one on earth -
Leadership will need
from the best painters of
to clarify who is in
Venetian art history for
charge. aesthetic reasons.

Beauty served as a
material, visible,
objective emblem of the
Serenissima, and of the
oligarchy that ruled over
its territories.

But if the
bond between
art and power
is ancient

<< La penna In these cases,

ferisce pi della 'The brush is another
spada. >> , the mightier than one might
pen is mightier the be found
than the sword'. that is just
sword'. as old
 The political power seems to
have made an alliance with
the religion powers since the
beginning of civilization. Even
the secular Venice does not
seem to reject religion,
especially when you can use
it to legitimate and maintain
control over your territory.

Referring to the Bible, in the history of

the Israelites only after centuries
Royals become the intermediaries -
true or alleged - between God and His
As the ancient kings, people. One of the ancestors of that
baby has been the head of that social
that were anointed by and anthropological revolution.
the prophets, also the
Doges might be seen
as a new king, sent
by God.

Because of their
Once the Israelites
have entered Canaan,
insistence, God, at last,
they live a time of allows them to have a
turbulence and King; Samuel is the
anarchy, mostly due to
the inability of the prophet intended to
tribes to get rid of choose the one.
Philistines, a people
that settled down quite
near Judah and
Benjamin.

As Philistines were
expanding their lands,
the southern tribes were
afraid of a possible
attack, whereas the
northern ones did not
seem to worry about it.

The first king of Israel,

Saul ( as suggested by
the meaning of its name,
"prayed for" ) is a
charismatic man who is
strongly asked to
become king: he is
chosen by Samuel and
secretly anointed.
 At first, Saul conducts
military campaigns against
many foreign populations
living near the tribes,
including Philistines.
However, quite soon Saul's
behavior annoys Samuel.
Also, God seems to has
been interested in a boy...

Fill your horn with God talks to Samuel,

oil and set out; I will and order to him to find
send you to Jesse the the new king out in the
Bethlehemite, for I house of Jesse of
have provided for Bethlehem, and anoint
myself a king among him as the new, true
his sons! *
king of Israel.

*Samuel 1, 16:1
Mmh
Are all
Jesse?
your sons
here?
When Samuel get to
the house of Jesse,
he asks to the father
to show his sons, but
There remains
he can't find the one yet the youngest,
but he is keeping
he is looking for. the sheep..**

**Samuel 1, 16:11

Jesse recalls David,

the youngest of his
sons, and so
apparently
meaningless.

Yes,
<< Rise
father? and anoint
him; for
this is the
one. >>
 As the Chosen One, David
is supposed to be the king,
but the problem is that Saul
wouldn't allow him to get
the throne, and being
replaced by a boy.

So, he is anointed secretly by Samuel and both

keep the truth hidden for the moment.

David quickly
becomes one His fame is mostly due to the
of the most episode of Ephes Dammim, when
important men
he faces Goliath from Gath, the
of Saul's army.
unbeatable giant.

The Bible says << His height

was six cubits and a span. He
had a bronze helmet on his
head and wore a coat of scale
armor of bronze weighing five
thousand shekels: on his legs,
he wore bronze greaves, and
a bronze javelin was slung on
his back.>> ( Samuel 1,
17:4-6)

David purposed himself

as the fighter: and Goliath
makes fun over this little
boy, who is actually going
to kill him

<< Goliath stood and shouted

to the ranks of Israel, Why do
you come out and line up for
battle? Am I not a Philistine,
and are you not the servants of
Saul? Choose a man and have
him come down to me. >>
( Samuel 1, 17:8)
 with just
one
powerful
shot.

Once David
defeated the giant,
his the fame
increase among the
Israelites.

Moreover, he marries
one of Saul's daughter,
Merab, in order to be
part of the royal family.
Saul becomes more
and more suspicious
and attempts to the life
of David many times.

David continues to
score numerous war
victories against
Philistines, and also to
accumulate more
power and wealth from
them. He prepares to
be a king.
 But unfortunately,
he dies soon
during a battle with
his sons.

David becomes at The Holy Kingdom of Israel is

first king in Jericho, finally reached, and Jerusalem
becomes its capital city:
and after a tough between the north and the
war, he conquers south, it links both the areas in
Jerusalem. one bigger reign.

As Jerusalem means "The City

of Peace" ( Shalom), the sons of
David born after the conquest
are called with names that
etymologically reflect this new
era of peace in the history of the
Israelites.

In order to enforce the holy

bondage between the royal
family and God, David
transfers the Arch of the
Covenant in Jerusalem,
projecting the construction of
a Temple to contain and
preserve it.

This first temple is finished by Solomon approximately in ca. 930 b.c: and we can wonder if the two place,
the spiritual and the secular one, would have been linked together also on the architecture side
 An example of how deep the power is connected
with religious items is still Saint Mark Cathedral;
infact, the Dukes palace is connected directly
with the church, which has to be seen as the
private chapel of the Doge.

The idea of a holy kingdom - or of a

leadership guided and chosen by God
- evocated in the Bible has crossed
the centuries and has revealed to be
successful in many different cultures
and societies, once that it was
adapted to the current necessities.

Modern history teaches us

that western societies have
tried to divide policy and law
from the ubiquitous presence
of religion: however, holy-
kingdom models still can be
found today, mainly claimed
by extremist groups.

The need to legitimate

power by referring to God
is so diffused that its
hardly possible to
enumerate all the time that
holy kings have been
anointed by priests.

How many the head

crowned by the will of God?
 However, there is only
one woman that can
be crowned as Queen
of Heavens

The Virgin Mary, many

times represented
as crowned by Christ, is
for many reasons one of
the most appriciated
figures of the Christian
pantheon, especially
from the ones who suffer
from diseases and ask
the Blessed Mother for
help.

One of the most

extraordinary examples of
devotion to the Virgin Mary is
related to such a kind of
tragedy. After the terrible
plague that affected the
Serenissima in 1630 ( over
80.000 people died only in
Venezia) Venetian decides to
build a church as tribute to
Mary.

The plan was developed by a

follower of Palladio, of which
architecture the church is a
reflection.

Among the various

elements that make it so
particular there the fact it
is an octagonal church
which is quite unusual both
because it is in Venezia and
because of the function the church
has ( many often baptistries has
octagonal plants)
 Of course, because of the
fact it is dedicated to the
Queen of Heavens, the
shape of the church has
been designed as a
Crown, the holy crown
dedicated as tribute from
Venice to Mary.

Entering the main

hall, and looking
around the wall, we
find many
canvases by Luca
Giordano and
others, depicting
the main episodes
of Marys life

such as her birth,

the presentation to
the temple, and the
assumption.

The architecture, sculptures,

paintings, the music of organs, all the
various forms that Art has taken are
put at the service of the Virgin Mary
 However, in the sacristy we
may have a look at
something a little different: except St Mark,
for instance, is curious to
see how the painter, Tiziano,
who looks more like a
have depicted all the modest fisherman.
evangelists as scholars

The evangelists, with other four figures

( fathers of the church), frame three
biblical scene, still by Tiziano: Cain kills
Abel, the sacrifice of Isaac and Goliath
killed by David. It seems like the subtle
bond that ties all the scenes is violence,
and the cruelty of the events are smartly
enhanced by bold prospectives.

Because of the strange

form of the Church
itself, to enter and the
sacristy you have to
pass through this
curved passage: it
seems like you are
visiting the inside of a
snail.
 In 1516 the
Serenissima finally
granted to the Jews
to live on the island,
in Cannaregio, near From that 500-years
But biblical representations of the founderies, in a old path between the
ancient figures, such as the zone known as Jews and Venezia
gheto ( from the
evangelists, arent the only place comes the modern
verb gettare,to
where we may find the presence of throw). word for ghetto.
the Jews in Venezia

Today, the ghetto is

one of the most
peculiar and
meaningful areas of
Venezia, full of history,
memory and tradition, Among the other
both of the Venetian things, there are five
and of the Jewish synagougues, a
people that have lived yeshivah and the
there. Jewish Museum of
Venezia.

In the exact same place

William Shakespeare has set
one of his most famous play -
The Merchant of Venice.

Probably Shakespeare has

never visited the ghetto,
neither has he met any Jew;
hence, what is intersting to
notice is the way he depicts
the Jewish character,
Shylock.
 Shylock embodies the stereotype of
the Jew who slavishly follows the path,
without the Christians perspective of
forgiveness. He is only interested in
a following the law, and satisfying his
thirsty of justice- and of blood. Jews
pound of are considered to be too focused on
flesh the words instead of considering the
hidden, methaporical meaning of the
Bible.

From the unfavorable

Christian point of view was
later developed the deformed
perspective of Jewish people,
that eventually landed to the
modern antisemitism, with its
own specific and iconic
references

One of the main reasons often used

to justify their persecutions is the
deicide: Jews are considered to be
responsible for the murder of Jesus
Christ.

Despite the intolerance, however, many

catholic scholars have often connected
the Judaic world of the Old Testament
with the Christian one of the New ( for
ex., they noticed that the names Joshua
and Jesus are namesakes, and it
connects the two figures together).

For instance, the episode of

Moses striking water from the
stone is connected with the
one of Jesus on the cross,
bleeding blood and water.
 Christ is the main As we saw at the Salute, the
figure of the cult of the Virgin is widespread
Christian world, but as well
its not the only one
beloved and
adored

so artists started to draw

on non-canonical sources to
describe the life of this
woman.

One of the most common

scenes depicted is the
presentation to the temple.
From the age of three to the
age of twelve, Mary is
supposed to have lived in the
Temple, as a sort of vestal
virgin.

Among non-canonical
iconic representations
there is the Pietas -
Mary holding the
corpse of Christ. Many
others have been taken
from the apocryphal.

New testament apocryphal, instead,

They are included in the Holy Bible
arent admitted both in the Catholic and
of the Anglican church, but not in Anglican biblical canon.
the Catholic one, for instance.

The Old Testament ones

cover a huge period of time,
approximately from 500 .C to
60 a.D.
However, what all the
Christian confessions
share is the belief that but a collection
the Bible isnt only of many
a pseudo- methaporical
historical stories. All of them,
chronicle of course,
conveying not only a
message, but an
entire universe of
meaning!

Old Testament
shows us the various steps
that God seems to have
taken in order to establish a
durable realtionship with the
Israelites- corresponding to
the various covenants.

Later,
evangelists, in order to
document the history of
Christ, his words and his
message, referred to
the Old Testament, thus linking
Jesus to the previous Judaic
tradition.

The real head of

Christianity will be Paul,
that transforms the
words of these mostly
unknown jew, Jesus,
into a huge and wide-
spreading
religion.
 Now, the real Is it a
question is: how close continuation of
Judaism and Judaism?
Christianity are? Or a break with it?
What does the New May it be consider as a
Testament represent? new covenant?

Jesus
doesnt seem to have
rejected the Law
and Judaic tradition: he
might have added
something new to it.

He enriched
the Law with other
concepts, such as grace
and forgivness,
focusing on love and
respect between
all humans.

One of the
most important issues of
his revolution is that the
God becomes the God of
everyone, not only of
the Chosen People.

Maybe, this sort of

new covenant of inclusion
has to be consider, at
once, as the continuation
of Judaism and a break
with the the previous
covenants.
 Nowadays,
Christianity is one of
the biggest religions of
the
world, with more than
2.4 billion
adherents.

It is followed
by Islam, that
have reached the number
of 1.8 billion adherents,
and that is consider to
become the biggest one by
2050.

Among with
Judaism,
Christianity and
Islam
share a common
birthplace, the
ancient Near East.

This small
area has been the
<< at once the centre and
circumference >>
of half of human
history and culture.
 By experiencing how
So, as part of Western world, we
men have looked at
may consider ourselves as the result the Bible, we experience
of the social and cultural translation how they might have looked
of these far events. at their world.

At the same time, we are part

of a complex and unlimited
process of translation of them into
our contemporaneity.

It is a travel through
time and space, through
abstract ideas and their
concrete
representations,
through words and
events.

Definitely, a
travel through
belief and
thought.