The Black Magi And Other Black Religious Figures In European Christmas Art

theroot.com:

Over the centuries, European artists depicted a variety of religious figures as black, most notably one of the Three Kings, or Magi, bearing gifts for the baby Jesus. The works of art depicted here can be found in The Image of the Black in Western Art, co-edited by David Bindam and Henry Louis Gates Jr., chairman of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University and editor-in-chief of The Root.

Read the whole story: theroot.com

Comments

[Aesthete]

05:57 PM on 01/04/2011

The portrayal of black figures in Northern European art does not surprise. What many don't realize is that Northern Europeans and black Africans had contact with each other for centuries predating the introduction of slavery in the Western hemisphere. There was also trade between Europe and the West African coast, resulting in miscegenation among these populations as well (i.e. the Cape Verde Islands, off the coast of West African, which boasts a mulatto population. This, at least, in part, explains why the African slaves did not die off when coming in contact with European microorganisms, which killed more Native American peoples than guns. There'd been centuries for immunity to develop.

[BannedInBoston]

09:04 PM on 01/02/2011

Black Magus. One MAGUS, three Magi. BTW, the Magi were not simply "Kings" as the Dhristmas song neuters them, and not ONLY "wise men." The Magi were occult practioners ("mages"), whose astrological prognostications ("We have seen His star in the East") led them to the infant Jesus. This is important to note, because it connects Jesus with the entire Eastern and Middle Eastern body of occult lore and practice and, as such, provides a key to the esoteric meaning of the Gospels (and the rest of the NT for that matter --  course, the Magi get _dumbed down in contemporary Western culture). The black Magus in Renaissance paintings also serves as an esoteric alchemical symbol....

[wwoody]

10:28 PM on 01/02/2011

Magi is the root word for magic, it is my understanding they were practitioners of Zoroastrianism,in believing in one God.

[Bob Wood]

03:13 PM on 12/28/2010

According to the gospels Jesus had siblings and cousins. What ever happened to this extended family after the crucifixion and ressurection ? You would think they would have married, had children and been revered as the descendants of the Risen Lord down through history. Just about every church in Europe and the Middle East had holy relics...splinters of the true cross...bones of Saints, etc...but no mention of what should have been one of the most revered families on earth. Why not ? It seems mysterious that no family claimed any kin. I'm posting this question here because I haven't any idea where to search for an answer to the question. I will appreciate any guidance anyone can offer...(sgh)

[Vieux Charles]

09:44 PM on 12/28/2010

It seems to be a rather complex topic that compounds translations of Aramaic (which doesn't have a word for cousin) into Greek, with confusing another Mary (the wife of Clopas, and mother of James and Joseph) with her close relative Mary, mother of Jesus.

The official Catholic stand is that Jesus had no brothers, rather cousins.

http://www.philvaz.com/apologetics/a27.htm
http://www.catholic.com/library/Bad_Aramaic_Made_Easy.asp

[Bob Wood]

06:18 PM on 01/01/2011

Thank you for the links. They offer interesting insight. It seems likely that the Virgin Mary would have had siblings...as well as Joseph. Thus Jesus would have probably had uncles and aunts...and cousins. It seems curious that none of them show up in the history going forward. Any way it seems there's nothing of any family after the resurrection. Curious...(sigh)

[de-meme-ing]

05:20 PM on 01/01/2011

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. Mark 16:8

[dwal1]

11:25 AM on 12/25/2010

Opiates and Mumbo-Jumbo

[BannedInBoston]

09:14 PM on 01/02/2011

Until you outgrow that opinion, your self-development may be stalled....

[Weirdwriter]

04:51 PM on 12/24/2010

My former hometown had a tiny Catholic church that had been for, and by, Chinese immigrants. The humans in all the art, including the Stations of the Cross, were Asian.

Various cultures have always portrayed people as they were most familiar with, regardless of authenticity.

[Weirdwriter]

05:17 PM on 12/24/2010

sorry, "had been built for and by"

[StormWarrior]

08:42 AM on 12/24/2010

The Black Athena (Part1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4maNtzhL9Q

The Black Athena (Part2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRANNv__aNo

The Black Athena (Part3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiOvSiY3yxM

Black Athena Debate part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NjYtELUSFM

The Black Athena (Part6)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdPccoJnX90

The Black Athena (Part7)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBa4p62RkiM

[laurelei23]

08:17 AM on 12/24/2010

Gee, what a shock! Pictures created by European artists have european features!

Take a look at the Nativity scenes of Mexico and South America, they have Latino features. Especially if they were pained / carved by local artists.

Same thing for African, Asian, South Pacific, etc., etc,. etc. People think God looks just like them -- and why not?

[Gregor53]

10:55 PM on 12/27/2010

Well it is said that we are made in his image.  Once can only imagine what that really must look like considering all the diversity on this planet.

[StormWarrior]

08:06 AM on 12/24/2010

100's of BLACK negro Moors Images in Europe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8M1ey6U5io

[scoobynooby]

08:30 PM on 12/23/2010

whats funny is there is weren't three wise men. No where in the bible does it say how many wise(chaldean astronomers) there were.

[Weirdwriter]

02:47 PM on 12/24/2010

True. We don't have an exact number or place of origin.

[BannedInBoston]

09:17 PM on 01/02/2011

The number is derived from the fact that it IS stated in Luke that the Magi brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Assuming one gift per wise man, you get three of 'em....

[Busterman]

03:19 PM on 12/23/2010

It matters not the race of God or Gods people. God lives in spirit not in flesh. All believers exist in Gods Spirit.

[KIVPossum]

02:12 PM on 12/23/2010

Wander around the churches and museums in east Europe. A lot of religious art depicts blacks in certain roles. Very few of the older works used the pure white features found in the west for baby jebus, Mary, the deciples and such

[smolensk-lies]

04:33 AM on 12/27/2010

the Baltic church i was just in on Xmas eve had a big mural of the Son, behind him the bright light of the sun, and there were 12 rays of light streming from behind both. and we had a foot of snow.

[sunshine14]

10:56 AM on 12/23/2010

Read the Ten Commandments in the Book of Moses-Deuteronomy. I the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery-(they carved images, birds, their people on mountains, rocks etc, people) -(Not the chosen People of God did so ever, but left behind their alters of stones only. Their alters in Moses tent, was stone,not carved out either) You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth. You shall not bow down before them or worship them. ( no images of man or beast or 4 leged animals were to be carved period or anything) Those who broke the commandments of God and not obedied.Who does such things?, has painted pictures of what Jesus looked like?. For not even Moses or anyone before Moses Abraham did such things, was a abomination to the Lord. Christ said, I do not come to change 1 Tittle of the laws of Moses. I ask Christianity did not destroy paganism, but did Christianity adopt it?

[laurelei23]

08:01 AM on 12/24/2010

The Bible also okays slavery, indentured servitude, and insists on capital punishment (stoning) for adultery, wearing clothes with blended fibers, and kids that mouth off to their parents. Oh, and it encourages fathers to sell their children, especially their daughters.

I'm not so sure I want to live under 3000 yr old rules of nomadic herders.

Oh, and your rules about "graven images" would pretty much prevent you from being on the net.

[Weirdwriter]

02:49 PM on 12/24/2010

If I cherry-picked texts instead of seeing the Bible in context I could up with as many positives as you have chosen negatives.

For Christians, at least, the whole of the Law as summed up by Jesus is "Love God, and love your neighbor as you do yourself." Everything else is trifles.

[laurelei23]

11:25 PM on 12/24/2010

Talk about missing the point.

My point was that while sunshine14 was railing against idolatry and, more or less, advocating the destruction of all art because it contains "images", s/he is on the internet -- just chock full of images. S/he insists that all the laws from the Torah have to be followed completely, now, today. And ignoring that these rules were laid down over three thousand years ago for nomadic ex-slaves / shepherds / herders.

If you're going to insist that all the Mosaic laws are equally important then you embrace slavery, turning women back into chattel, stoning as capital punishment, etc. Thank heaven the human race has set its sights a little higher. The Dalai Lama said the essence of religion is kindness. I can get behind that.

Weirdwriter, since Catholic Irish were prevented by law from owning land or holding office, I'd say the "Troubles" were very much about theology.

And the victims of the Inquisition were often "foreigners, racial minorities, or non-Christians", especially Jews who were considered all three. And victims of the witch hunts (Inquisition: Part 2) were overwhelmingly women. I have read that in some German towns every female over the age of puberty was slaughtered. Now, anti-Semitism and "rule" over women are making a comeback.

There are some very nasty threads running through American Protestantism: seeing this land as a Christian utopia, triumphalism, and equating wealth as proof of God's favor. Pride goeth...

[sunshine14]

10:32 AM on 12/23/2010

Yes the powers that be, which were white in the time of Jesus, had the power over all that be, at that time, can paint what ever skin tone they wanted, right? . Now to maintain its power wealth control, does one think they paint pictures of a dark skin Jesus or a black Jesus? No no. Iraq was Israel at one time Israel was much much larger then it is now. Abraham lived in Iraq, Babylon is in Iraq, were Abraham's Brother LOT lived, in Babylon. The oldest largest religious books, relics are in Iraq, largest library, massive books. When one conquers do they not gather? Why were massive books burned, hidden, remembr Spain? Prophets handed down scared scripture, hiding their prophecy in caves, not just because they lived in caves either, but to protect them from their enemies. Lost Sea Scrolls just found. What others did not want others to know they destroyed? rewrote? twisted spin words? Now why would they do that the powers that be? interesting.

[sunshine14]

10:22 AM on 12/23/2010

KingTut is the grandfather of Pharah, a black King. Abraham great great great grandfather was Enoch, Abraham came from Ethiopia Africa. Why Ethiopia is mentioned over 3,500 times in Old Testament. There were Black Kings, who had black servants. No white skin human being would of lasted over 40 years in the desert, period. Leprosy was a punishment in Moses time, written and told and what one had to do, confess sins to Priest, for cleansing. Turns one skin white, no punishment for all to see, if one sinned, if one skin is white right? But if ones skin is black, and turned white brought much shame and all community knew they had sin. The oldest church in the world is NOT in Rome or Jersulaem, but is found in Africa and were all churches copied Architecture to build their churches, in Rome and else where.

[c-tom]

10:08 PM on 12/23/2010

I don't know who King Pharah was. The Bible gives two places where Abe was from Ur and/or Haran neither is in Africa. The Moors and Arabs lived in the desert and are as white skinned as Italians, Spaniards, and Greeks. None of this seems that important because it's almost Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas Sunshine.

[NatTurner1]

02:25 PM on 12/26/2010

LOL> The Moors of Mali, Niger and Morrocco were white? Hilarious!

[Vijay from India]

04:42 PM on 12/24/2010

sunshine - no matter what evidence you give, your white christian friends would never give you credit - my only question for you is - why do you want to cling to the fact of your ancestry from Abraham??? - don't you feel proud of being a descendant of the great Sun God worshipping Kings of Egypt.
Infact the celebration of bury, resurrection and celebration of resurrection of Osiris or Egypt is the one that was copied by the romans to tell their lie of bible.
Watch from 2:05 in this youtube for you to believe yourself - told by one of our proud black friend in BBC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaIt2y0Yjwo&feature=related
Why do you want to follow a religion which gave you the black slavery and made the blacks loose their proud roots in Africa??

[moflard]

08:57 AM on 12/23/2010

After reading some of the clap-trap posted here it looks like the next thing will be - the Olmecs were Black Princes from the Saharan Empire who invented telegraphs, helicopters and everything else everywhere but then forgot all about it as sneaky white-folks stole everything.

Yawn!

[Vijay from India]

04:44 PM on 12/24/2010

@moflard - all the whites gave to the world was deforestation, destruction, 2 world wars, civil wars, weapons trading, global warming, nuclear waste and more diseases. The only good thing that the whites gave world according to me was 'smallpox vaccine' - the rest of the so called invention only gave pain and suffering to the entire world as the end result.

[Ngonyama]

12:22 PM on 12/25/2010

At least you do not seem to have taken your racism from us. There is plenty of that in India. Caste systems and such...

[moflard]

06:42 AM on 12/27/2010

Maybe you're not aware of some of the claims that come out of the more extreme forms of Afro-Centrism, that basically are black-supremest - no better than white-supremest claims.

As to your points - deforestation began with agriculture. The earliest centres were the Fertile Crescent in the Near East, China and the Indus Valley.....can I say that last one again, the Indus Valley.

Depictions of warfare predate white "civilization" by millennia - so we can't take the blame on that one. And wherever white people went, warfare already existed so that would seem to be a human invention rather than one limited to a specific group. It was an Indian who invented one of the worlds most famous *martial* arts - Kung Fu.

Weapons trading. Well the chariot, bronze weapons, the composite bow were all introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos - Near Easterners so we didn't invent that either.

Diseases - which ones exactly? The Bubonic Plague spread by rats from Asia, Flu is spread person to person with an Asian origin and Cholera originated in India. Europe believe it or not doesn't have that many nasty diseases.

So yes, white people gave the world a lot of pain, but so would any other group. If the Indians had run the show, they'd have been nasty. If the Kukuyu had run the show, they'd have been nasty and if the Yanomamo had run the show they'd have been nasty. The reason? We're all human and collectively not very nice.