(AA8) ALTAR/ALTAR LAMB
Artist – Unknown Altar Media – Marble
Artist – Unknown Altar Media – Marble
(AA8) ALTAR/ALTAR LAMB
Artist – Unknown Altar Media – Marble
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and worship are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, temples, churches and other places of worship. Today they are particularly in Christianity, Buddhism, Shinto, Taoism, as well as in Neopaganism and Ceremonial Magic. Many historical faiths also made us of them, including Greek and Norse religions.
Elevated areas of high places were considered as nearer to heaven than the plains and valleys. In almost all ancient cultures they were prevalent as centers of worship. High places in Israelite (Hebrew: Bema or Bama) and Canaanite culture were open-air shrines, usually erected on an elevated site. Prior to the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites in the 12th-11th century BCE, the high places served as shrines of the Canaanite fertility deities, the Baals (Lords) and the Asherot (Semitic Goddesses).
In addition to an altar, matzevot (stone pillars representing the presence of the divine were erected. The practice of worship on these spots became frequent among the Hebrews, though after the Temple was built it was forbidden. Such worship was with difficult to abolish. It was denounced time after time by the prophets as an affront to God. This particular altar with the golden lamb underneath was donated to MOSA by St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, West Chester, Ohio.
Artist – Unknown Altar Media – Marble
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and worship are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, temples, churches and other places of worship. Today they are particularly in Christianity, Buddhism, Shinto, Taoism, as well as in Neopaganism and Ceremonial Magic. Many historical faiths also made us of them, including Greek and Norse religions.
Elevated areas of high places were considered as nearer to heaven than the plains and valleys. In almost all ancient cultures they were prevalent as centers of worship. High places in Israelite (Hebrew: Bema or Bama) and Canaanite culture were open-air shrines, usually erected on an elevated site. Prior to the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites in the 12th-11th century BCE, the high places served as shrines of the Canaanite fertility deities, the Baals (Lords) and the Asherot (Semitic Goddesses).
In addition to an altar, matzevot (stone pillars representing the presence of the divine were erected. The practice of worship on these spots became frequent among the Hebrews, though after the Temple was built it was forbidden. Such worship was with difficult to abolish. It was denounced time after time by the prophets as an affront to God. This particular altar with the golden lamb underneath was donated to MOSA by St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, West Chester, Ohio.
Further notes on the Lamb as a Christian Symbol:
CHRIST AS THE LAMB OF GOD
When John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching he said, "Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Christian art has emphasized the symbolism by which Christ is the lamb sacrificed for the salvation of all, and has related it to Old Testament sacrifices such as Abel's lamb and the lamb of Passover.
Early Christian art used lambs as a substitute for portraying Christ as a human being. Thus in the vault of the Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč, tondos of the saints rise toward the apex, where Christ reigns as a lamb. When the lamb stands in for the person of Christ it will usually have a halo featuring a chi-rho, or the chi-rho may be placed above the lamb. Like the Poreč lamb, some will be seen standing on a hill or rise. From the hill many images show the four rivers of Paradise flowing. For Isidore of Seville the rivers represent "the eternal flow of joy." Later exegetes saw in them the four virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice.1 In the first millennium it is common to see the lamb standing with a cross behind it.
In later Christian art, which had lost the sense that portraying the Deity might be problematic, lambs were still used with some frequency to represent the person of Jesus Christ. Thus the lamb to which John the Baptist points in portraits of that saint may have a cruciform halo. Another example is the lambs in the secondary tympana at the cathedral in Zadar, Croatia.
The lamb is also used to represent Christ in images based on passages from the Book of Revelation such as the lamb among the four beasts and the wedding feast of the lamb.
CHRIST AS THE LAMB OF GOD
When John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching he said, "Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Christian art has emphasized the symbolism by which Christ is the lamb sacrificed for the salvation of all, and has related it to Old Testament sacrifices such as Abel's lamb and the lamb of Passover.
Early Christian art used lambs as a substitute for portraying Christ as a human being. Thus in the vault of the Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč, tondos of the saints rise toward the apex, where Christ reigns as a lamb. When the lamb stands in for the person of Christ it will usually have a halo featuring a chi-rho, or the chi-rho may be placed above the lamb. Like the Poreč lamb, some will be seen standing on a hill or rise. From the hill many images show the four rivers of Paradise flowing. For Isidore of Seville the rivers represent "the eternal flow of joy." Later exegetes saw in them the four virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice.1 In the first millennium it is common to see the lamb standing with a cross behind it.
In later Christian art, which had lost the sense that portraying the Deity might be problematic, lambs were still used with some frequency to represent the person of Jesus Christ. Thus the lamb to which John the Baptist points in portraits of that saint may have a cruciform halo. Another example is the lambs in the secondary tympana at the cathedral in Zadar, Croatia.
The lamb is also used to represent Christ in images based on passages from the Book of Revelation such as the lamb among the four beasts and the wedding feast of the lamb.
