IMAGO CHRISTI: IMAGE PROJECTION AND COMPARISON DURING THE RENAISSANCE

This study is an historical analysis of the artistic image of Christ. The research focuses on the artists of the Renaissance and their source of inspiration for the image of Christ. A review of the historical background of early Christian art and a review of art works prior to the Renaissance were essential components of this study.;The necessity of having a method of detailed analysis for describing and quantifying images of the depiction of Christ was of critical importance. This was done with a method known as the "polarized image overlay technique," developed by Alan D. Whanger and Mary Whanger for comparing the image on the Shroud of Turin with early images of Christ. Their conclusion was that, "the facial image of the Shroud was well known as early as the sixth century A.D. and was scrupulously copied repeatedly for icons.".;Slides were taken of the works of art during the time of the Renaissance. These slides were used for comparison with the artists' self-portraits to determine areas of similarity. A comparison was also made with the face on the shroud and with the face of the Pantocrator icon of the sixth century. Points of congruence (i.e., identical or very similar features) were identified and compiled as a result of this study and are included as documentation in the dissertation.;Results of this study confirm that it is not uncommon for an artist to project his own image into his work. This factor of the self-projection of the artist in his work is especially true of the Renaissance. Results of image comparison analyses also show that some artists, such as El Greco, Durer, della Francesca and Rembrandt were influenced by icons and by the shroud image thereby following a conventional well-established image of Christ.;In the 20th century the conventional depiction of the bearded Christ is universally recognized. The question to be answered was whether the artists of the Renaissance period projected their own features into the images of Christ, whether they copied from others, or whether they were influenced by the image on the Shroud of Turin.