Ascension Updates and New Data

Master of Jacques de Luxembourg, Ascension
from a Book of HoursFrench (Paris), 1460-1470
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M1003, fol. 18v

Over the course of the last month, I have revised all of my earlier essays on Holy Week and the Easter season.  Most of these were written in the period between 2008 and 2011.  In the intervening years there has been a huge increase in the amount of art available through the internet and in the quality of the jpeg documents themselves.

Consequently, I have been able to incorporate many new works of art in my commentary and have replaced many of the previous works that were incorporated in my earlier essays with the better, clearer and more detailed images that have become available in the intervening years.  Many museums are making new high-resolution images available for study and for purposes such as this blog.  The difference can be astonishing. 

Since many additional images have been made available as well, some of my earlier statements needed to be modified to account for the new information.  Some of my former essays have had so much new information that I have found it necessary to split some of them into separate sections, often resulting in a series of essays instead of just one.  In addition, among the new images now available, I have found additional examples that suggest new distinctions.  So, I have added some entirely new essays to the list of Holy Week and Easter essays. 

Some of the principal changes are:

• A new essay on the image of Jesus as a Gardener (here).
• The former essay on the Ascension has been split into a series of three and an entirely new essay on the Direct Ascension has been added, making it a series of four essays. 

1. Jesus Striding into Heaven (here)
2. Jesus Lifted by a Mandorla or on a Cloud (here)
3. The Disappearing Feet of Jesus (here)
4. The Direct Approach (here)

• Many more images have been added to all essays.

© M. Duffy, 2017