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Medieval Period Religion

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Religion and the Bible itself was a prevalent aspect of the medieval period. Literature, theatre, and art sought to translate the biblical stories and breath new life into them. This collection of biblical retellings and medieval reimaginings created a wiki-bible for the masses. This wiki-bible acted as the Bible for those poor and illiterate within the medieval society. By simplifying, summarizing, and contemporizing the Bible, it was made more accessible to the common man. Besides literature, art was the main medium of translating and depicting the Bible. Paintings and sculptures brought to life major scenes within the Bible. Some depicted the crucifixion of Christ, Mary the mother of Christ, various events of the Old Testament, and so on. One such work within the medieval period focused on Jesus' birth. The Nativity, by Rogier van der Weyden, depicts the visitation between Mary and Elizabeth, the annunciation to both Augustus and the Magi, the birth of Christ, and the Magi's visit. This painting was created in Brussels, Belgium during the mid-15th century. Brussels was known as "the capital city of the …show more content…
Jesus is often imagined as many things. He is a king, a shepherd, and a savior. Different social classes were sure to latch onto and incorporate these different images into their own artwork. That is why there are so many different iterations of Christ in the wiki-bible. Christ is supposed to be a figure for everyone. Royals and aristocrats favored the image of a Christ-king to match their idea of power. The shepherds seem to be an image for the common folk to rally around. As such, they have a more prominent image in modern culture when retelling the Nativity story. The image of a Christ-king is not as prominent due to the idea of Christ as more human. Because of the many images of Christ, everyone forms their own ideal version of Christ to understand him more

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