Man of Sorrows
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Man of Sorrows, a biblical term, is paramount among the prefigurations of the
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
identified by the Bible in the passages of
Isaiah 53 Isaiah 53 is the fifty-third chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah and is one of the Nevi'im. Chapters 40 through 55 a ...
(''
Servant songs The servant songs (also called the servant poems or the Songs of the Suffering Servant) are four songs in the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible, which include Isaiah 42:1– 4; Isaiah 49; ; and –. The songs are four poems written about a cert ...
'') in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
Hebrew: ''Tān ...
. It is also an iconic devotional image that shows
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
, usually naked above the waist, with the wounds of his Passion prominently displayed on his hands and side (the "
ostentatio vulnerum In Catholic tradition, the Five Holy Wounds, also known as the Five Sacred Wounds or the Five Precious Wounds, are the five piercing wounds that Jesus Christ suffered during his crucifixion. The wounds have been the focus of particular devotions, ...
", a feature of other standard types of image), often crowned with the
Crown of Thorns According to the New Testament, a woven crown of thorns ( or grc, ἀκάνθινος στέφανος, akanthinos stephanos, label=none) was placed on the head of Jesus during the events leading up to his crucifixion. It was one of the instru ...
and sometimes attended by angels. It developed in Europe from the 13th century and was especially popular in Northern Europe. The image continued to spread and develop iconographical complexity until well after the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, but the Man of Sorrows in its many artistic forms is the most precise visual expression of the piety of the later
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, which took its character from mystical contemplation rather than from theological speculation. Together with the ''
Pietà The Pietà (; meaning " pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form ...
'', it was the most popular of the
Andachtsbilder ''Andachtsbilder'' (singular ''Andachtsbild'', German for devotional image) is a German term often used in English in art history for Christian devotional images designed as aids for prayer or contemplation. The images "generally show holy fi ...
-type images of the period – devotional images detached from the narrative of Christ's Passion, intended for meditation. The Latin term ''Christus dolens'' ("suffering Christ") is sometimes used for this depiction. The ''
Pensive Christ The Pensive Christ (german: Christus im Elend – 'Christ in Distress' or ''Christus in der Rast''; pl, Chrystus Frasobliwy – 'Worried Christ'; lt, Rūpintojėlis) is a subject in Christian iconography depicting a contemplating Jesus, sitting ...
'' is a similar depiction, and the usual composition of the ''
Mass of Saint Gregory The Mass of Saint Gregory is a subject in Roman Catholic art which first appears in the late Middle Ages and was still found in the Counter-Reformation. Pope Gregory I (c. 540–604) is shown saying Mass just as a vision of Christ as the ''Man of ...
'' includes a vision of the ''Man of Sorrows''.


Biblical narrative

The phrase translated into English as "Man of Sorrows" ("", ''’îš maḵ’ōḇōṯ'' in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
Hebrew: ''Tān ...
, ''vir dolōrum'' in the
Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
) occurs at verse 3 (in Isaiah 53):
3) He is despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4) Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5) But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. 6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.


Development of the image

The image developed from the Byzantine epitaphios image, which possibly dates back to the 8th century. A miraculous Byzantine
mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
of it is known as the ''Imago Pietatis'' or ''Christ of Pity''. The work appears to have been brought to the major pilgrimage church of
Santa Croce in Gerusalemme The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem or Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, ( la, Basilica Sanctae Crucis in Hierusalem) is a Catholic Minor basilica and titular church in rione Esquilino, Rome, Italy. It is one of the Seven Pilgrim ...
in Rome in the 12th century. Only replicas of the original work now survive. By the 13th century it was becoming common in the West as a devotional image for contemplation, in sculpture, painting and manuscripts. It continued to grow in popularity, helped by the
Jubilee Year A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of ...
of 1350, when the Roman image seems to have had, perhaps initially only for the Jubilee, a papal
indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God o ...
of 14,000 years granted for prayers said in its presence. The image formed part of the subject of the
Mass of Saint Gregory The Mass of Saint Gregory is a subject in Roman Catholic art which first appears in the late Middle Ages and was still found in the Counter-Reformation. Pope Gregory I (c. 540–604) is shown saying Mass just as a vision of Christ as the ''Man of ...
; by 1350 the Roman icon was being claimed as a contemporary representation of the vision. In this image the figure of Christ was typical of the Byzantine forerunners of the Man of Sorrows, at half length, with crossed hands and head slumped sideways to the viewer's left. The various versions of the Man of Sorrows image all show a Christ with the wounds of the
Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
, including the spear-wound. Especially in Germany, Christ's eyes are usually open and look out at the viewer; in Italy the closed eyes of the Byzantine epitaphios image, originally intended to show a dead Christ, remained for longer. For some the image represented the two natures of Christ – he was dead as a man, but alive as God. Full-length figures also first appear in southern Germany in wall-paintings in the 13th century, and in sculpture from the beginning of the 14th. Other elements that were sometimes included, in distinct sub-forms of the image, included the ''
Arma Christi Arma Christi ("weapons of Christ"), or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with the Passion of Jesus Christ in Christian symbolism and art. They are seen as arms in the sense of heraldry, and also as the weapons Christ ...
'' or "Instruments of the Passion", the cross, a
chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. Re ...
into which blood poured from Christ's side or other wounds (giving an emphasis on the
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
), angels to hold these objects or support a slumped Christ himself (
Meister Francke Master Francke O.P. (or Meister Francke, Frater Francke, respectively German for "Master Francke" and Latin for "Brother Francke") was a North German Gothic painter and Dominican friar, born ca. 1380 in the Lower Rhine region or possibly Zutphe ...
shows both roles below), and mourners or worshippers.Schiller, 201–219 The ''
Throne of Mercy A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monar ...
'' is an image of the
Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
with Christ, often diminutive, as Man of Sorrows, supported by his Father. Isaiah 53:2 had already been crucial in developing the iconography of the
Tree of Jesse The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a g ...
: "For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground".


Artworks with articles

*
Man of Sorrows (Geertgen tot Sint Jans) ''Man of Sorrows'' is a small Early Netherlandish oil on wood panel painting completed c. 1485–1495. It is attributed to Geertgen tot Sint Jans and in the tradition of the devotional images of the "Man of Sorrows", which typically show Christ ...
, c. 1485–1495, now
Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
* ''Man of Sorrows'' (Maarten van Heemskerck), 1532 * The Man of Sorrows from the New Town Hall in Prague, wood sculpture, c. 1410 * Triptych of the Madonna, Giovanni Bellini and others, 1464–1470, now Venice * The Man of Sorrows,
James Ensor James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic g ...


Gallery

File:Dirk Bouts Christ Crowned With Thorns.jpg,
Dieric Bouts Dieric Bouts (born c. 1415 – 6 May 1475) was an Early Netherlandish painter. Bouts may have studied under Rogier van der Weyden, and his work was influenced by van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. He worked in Leuven from 1457 (or possibly earlier) ...
: ''Christ Crowned with Thorns'' File:Meister Francke 004.jpg, Meister Francke: Man of sorrows, with the
Arma Christi Arma Christi ("weapons of Christ"), or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with the Passion of Jesus Christ in Christian symbolism and art. They are seen as arms in the sense of heraldry, and also as the weapons Christ ...
and angels. File:After Lucas van Leyden 001.jpg, Man of Sorrows - After Lucas van Leyden File:05-Cranach1.jpg, Christ as the Man of Sorrows, Lucas Cranach the Elder File:De Grey Hours f.203.v Christ as the Man of Sorrows.png, 14th-century depiction of the Man of Sorrows File:Albrecht Dürer - Christ as the Man of Sorrows - WGA06911.jpg,
Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...
: ''The Man of Sorrows'', 1493 File:Ensor, De man van smarten, 1891.jpg,
James Ensor James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic g ...
: '' The man of sorrows,'' 1891


See also

* ''Messiah'' (Handel), which sets a version of the passage from Isaiah


Notes


References

* *Parshall, Peter, in David Landau & Peter Parshall, ''The Renaissance Print'', Yale, 1996, *Pattison George, in W. J. Hankey, Douglas Hedley (eds), ''Deconstructing radical orthodoxy: postmodern theology, rhetoric, and truth'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2005, ,
Google books
*G. Schiller, ''Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. II'', 1972 (English translation from German), Lund Humphries, London, figs. 471–75, * Snyder, James; ''Northern Renaissance Art'', 1985, Harry N. Abrams, {{DEFAULTSORT:Man Of Sorrows Iconography of Jesus Christian terminology Biblical phrases Book of Isaiah Passion of Jesus in art by theme