DOI Artikel:
Laskowska-Hinz, Sabina: Who are our gods?: The iconographic, religious and cosmic commentary on William Shakespeare's The Tempest by Wojciech Siudmak (1978)
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.59533#0050
WHO ARE OUR GODS? THE ICONOGRAPHIC, RELIGIOUS AND COSMIC COMMENTARY...
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3. Haregarius, Maiestas Domini from the Vivian Bible, known as
Charles the Bald’s Bible, 844-851, an illustration, 500 mm x 380 mm,
The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei
(DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
ISBN: 3936122202, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?cu-
rid=152562 [accessed: 12.12.2020]
the viewers. His feet are resting on a round object which stands for the globe and depicts three separate con-
tinents. The figure is surrounded with a mandorla, which in contrast to the halo around Jesus’s head, circles
his whole body.26 The decorative semicircles, circles or eight stars placed around the figure are used to ac-
centuate his deity. The figure is entirely clad, and the ornamental clothes divert the attention of viewers from
the human nature of Christ, which is underlined whenever his body is presented as naked or semi-naked. The
arrangement of hands conveys various messages such as blessing or teaching gestures, or an oratorical signal
indicating that the person is either speaking at the moment or has the right to speak.27 One hand holds a book
which is usually interpreted as the New Testament.
Viewed against the background of Christian iconography, Siudmak’s poster articulates still greater anx-
iety about the actual status and prerogatives of Prospero. A master of the island, Prospero also claims certain
spiritual authority and frequently assumes the role of a judge of fellow human and superhuman creatures
such as Ariel (scorn for ingratitude), Caliban (condemned for bestiality), and the whole Neapolitan party
(subject to trial, penance and final absolution). Hence Prospero’s omnipotence apparently extends to spiritual
realm where he examines and judges the attitudes and acts of fellow beings. The religious authority assumed
by Prospero appears transgressive as he himself is frequently portrayed as losing control over his actions or
emotions, squaring accounts rather than nourishing unconditional love. In the picture, Prospero might be
26 In Figure 3 mandorla consists of two parts, one circling the upper part of Jesus’s body and the other the lower part.
27 P. Brown, Church and Leadership, [in:] A History of Private Life, Vol. I: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium, ed. P. Aries and
G. Duby, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1985, p. 272.
49
3. Haregarius, Maiestas Domini from the Vivian Bible, known as
Charles the Bald’s Bible, 844-851, an illustration, 500 mm x 380 mm,
The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei
(DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
ISBN: 3936122202, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?cu-
rid=152562 [accessed: 12.12.2020]
the viewers. His feet are resting on a round object which stands for the globe and depicts three separate con-
tinents. The figure is surrounded with a mandorla, which in contrast to the halo around Jesus’s head, circles
his whole body.26 The decorative semicircles, circles or eight stars placed around the figure are used to ac-
centuate his deity. The figure is entirely clad, and the ornamental clothes divert the attention of viewers from
the human nature of Christ, which is underlined whenever his body is presented as naked or semi-naked. The
arrangement of hands conveys various messages such as blessing or teaching gestures, or an oratorical signal
indicating that the person is either speaking at the moment or has the right to speak.27 One hand holds a book
which is usually interpreted as the New Testament.
Viewed against the background of Christian iconography, Siudmak’s poster articulates still greater anx-
iety about the actual status and prerogatives of Prospero. A master of the island, Prospero also claims certain
spiritual authority and frequently assumes the role of a judge of fellow human and superhuman creatures
such as Ariel (scorn for ingratitude), Caliban (condemned for bestiality), and the whole Neapolitan party
(subject to trial, penance and final absolution). Hence Prospero’s omnipotence apparently extends to spiritual
realm where he examines and judges the attitudes and acts of fellow beings. The religious authority assumed
by Prospero appears transgressive as he himself is frequently portrayed as losing control over his actions or
emotions, squaring accounts rather than nourishing unconditional love. In the picture, Prospero might be
26 In Figure 3 mandorla consists of two parts, one circling the upper part of Jesus’s body and the other the lower part.
27 P. Brown, Church and Leadership, [in:] A History of Private Life, Vol. I: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium, ed. P. Aries and
G. Duby, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1985, p. 272.