...I LIKE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.....

" My buddies all shun me since I turned to Jesus
   they say I am missing a whole world of fun........."

Having done a BA majoring in Italian Renaissance art I am more than familiar with the
iconography of the painted crucifix , particularly the suspended ones that seem specific to
Italy , mainly due to the altar at that time being in the center , towards the crossing.

This particular example is by Cimabue and is suspended above the altar in the church of San Domenico in Arezzo . Stylistically this format was pretty much of a dead end from a pictorial point of view , as  within the nature of the form there was no room for any visual development or storytelling - the only areas available for embellishment were at the four extremities.........

.......or , as in this example , just the two horizontal extremes ; the format thus remained pretty much inert........................... and then I came across this example.............

......' Maquette for Crucifix ' , an illustration from the book ' Gods of Heaven and Earth ' by
Joel-Peter Witkin ; a radical re-interpretation of the form , stripping in photographs at the four median points .............Saints ? Sinners ?..........Gods ?

The book was published in 1989 and was the second book of his photographs to be published , Was it intended as a maquette ?  Did he intend ever to construct the piece as an artwork ? I have no idea but
I found the re-working of the format interesting enough .........................suspended as the highlight of a photographic exhibition it probably would have courted controversy enough......