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Martin Kallander




Location: Sweden
Joined: 25 Sep 2018

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PostPosted: Wed 29 Mar, 2023 3:14 am    Post subject: Is Jesus ever depicted wearing armour         Reply with quote

I know that military Saints ie Saints wearing armour and carrying weapons were/are common in Christian art, is this the case for Jesus too? I've seen him brandishing a sword but I cannot recall him ever being armoured.


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Pedro Paulo Gaião




Location: Sioux City, IA
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PostPosted: Wed 29 Mar, 2023 3:41 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

As far as I know only in Byzantine Art. He's often depicted as a Roman emperor alluding to the idea of Christus Victor.
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Martin Kallander




Location: Sweden
Joined: 25 Sep 2018

Posts: 124

PostPosted: Wed 29 Mar, 2023 10:38 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Pedro Paulo Gaião wrote:
As far as I know only in Byzantine Art. He's often depicted as a Roman emperor alluding to the idea of Christus Victor.
do you have any particular examples?
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Dan Howard




Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia
Joined: 08 Dec 2004

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PostPosted: Thu 30 Mar, 2023 12:50 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

You could try looking for Russian icons as well. There are plenty showing him with a sword and there might be a few of him wearing armour.
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Parker D.




Location: US
Joined: 27 Jan 2020

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PostPosted: Thu 30 Mar, 2023 2:56 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Laughing Out Loud I mainly like western European art, 11th to 16th century, particularly concerning knights and saintly figures, there could have been and I'm sure there is somewhere, but in all the time I have seen art pieces I cant recall a time when I have jesus wearing armor from a western point of view. In terms of saintly "inspired" art thats really a st.michael thing or st.george. Michael usually will either be wearing the Greek/Roman style cuirass armor or typically armor of the time the art was made, george I have usually only seen where armor from the time roughly the art piece was made.
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Anthony Clipsom




Location: YORKSHIRE, UK
Joined: 27 Jul 2009

Posts: 341

PostPosted: Thu 30 Mar, 2023 5:55 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Martin Kallander wrote:
Pedro Paulo Gaião wrote:
As far as I know only in Byzantine Art. He's often depicted as a Roman emperor alluding to the idea of Christus Victor.
do you have any particular examples?




This is from the Ravenna mosaics.

Anthony Clipsom
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Sean Manning




Location: Austria
Joined: 23 Mar 2008

Posts: 890

PostPosted: Thu 30 Mar, 2023 8:09 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Yes, aside from the martial saints such as George and Martin of Tours, I think there is something in Revelations about Michael the Archangel battling Satan. So he could be depicted as a knight too.

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Ryan S.




Location: Germany
Joined: 04 May 2012

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PostPosted: Thu 30 Mar, 2023 10:46 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

There are a couple of heraldic depictions of Jesus where he wears a frog-mouth helmet. There are at least two different versions, but they each show him wearing a robe. This suggests to me that the white robe was an important part of the iconography of Jesus, because usually full figure depictions of male figures have them wearing full armour, not just helmet and shield.
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Anthony Clipsom




Location: YORKSHIRE, UK
Joined: 27 Jul 2009

Posts: 341

PostPosted: Fri 31 Mar, 2023 5:26 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Ryan S. wrote:
There are a couple of heraldic depictions of Jesus where he wears a frog-mouth helmet. There are at least two different versions, but they each show him wearing a robe. This suggests to me that the white robe was an important part of the iconography of Jesus, because usually full figure depictions of male figures have them wearing full armour, not just helmet and shield.


You need to know something about background to the iconography here. Jesus as a warrior is often a reference to his appearance leading the heavenly forces in the Book of Revelation. Here, the forces, including Jesus, are wearing white robes. The robe is, therefore, important to the context. Likewise, the reason why Jesus appears elsewhere with a sword is from Revelation also

Quote:
In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.
Revelation 1.16
Quote:
Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.
Revelation 19.15

I have no intention in talking about the theology here but some background is helpful in understanding why Jesus may be depicted in certain ways.

Anthony Clipsom
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Ryan S.




Location: Germany
Joined: 04 May 2012

Posts: 391

PostPosted: Sat 01 Apr, 2023 5:57 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Anthony Clipsom wrote:
Ryan S. wrote:
There are a couple of heraldic depictions of Jesus where he wears a frog-mouth helmet. There are at least two different versions, but they each show him wearing a robe. This suggests to me that the white robe was an important part of the iconography of Jesus, because usually full figure depictions of male figures have them wearing full armour, not just helmet and shield.


You need to know something about background to the iconography here. Jesus as a warrior is often a reference to his appearance leading the heavenly forces in the Book of Revelation. Here, the forces, including Jesus, are wearing white robes. The robe is, therefore, important to the context. Likewise, the reason why Jesus appears elsewhere with a sword is from Revelation also

Quote:
In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.
Revelation 1.16
Quote:
Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.
Revelation 19.15

I have no intention in talking about the theology here but some background is helpful in understanding why Jesus may be depicted in certain ways.


The context that I am talking about is a roll of arms, here are two examples:

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Anthony Clipsom




Location: YORKSHIRE, UK
Joined: 27 Jul 2009

Posts: 341

PostPosted: Sat 01 Apr, 2023 7:35 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Quote:
The context that I am talking about is a roll of arms, here are two examples:


An attempt at Jesus heraldry. A collection of symbolic images associated with Jesus, expressed in heraldic guise - shields, banners, helmet crests. Mostly from the Easter story, though the "Lamb and Flag" is from Revelation. Creating heraldry for historic figures was quite a fashion but I don't think I've seen the heraldry of Jesus before. Interesting.

Anthony Clipsom
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