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One difference emerges in the very vocabulary used in John’s Gospel. It is instructive to realize that unlike the other three Gospels, the Gospel of John never uses the word “apostle.” Instead, the author of this Gospel employs the word “disciple” exclusively. 13 Given this textual reality, we return once again to the question of fidelity to the intention of the original artist: here, however, the artist is not the woodcarver, but the writer of the gospel text. Why did the author not use the word “apostle” as the other three already-existing Gospels had? According to Brown’s analysis, the Gospel of John was composed near the end of the first century. By this time the early Christian communities, most of whom traced their origins back to one or other of the “twelve apostles,” had evolved into structured communities with authority invested in “bishops.” 14 Brown sees the community that gave birth to the Gospel of John as quite different in its thinking: there appears to be no human authority that structures this community. Rather, there is but one Lord and Master, the exalted Savior, Jesus Christ; all others are equally dignified as “disciples.” There is no hierarchy of priests and bishops that stratifies (or gives order to) the Johannine community. Brown argues that this community differs from the many other early Christian communities because it traces its origins back not to one of the Twelve, but rather to a member of Jesus’ wider circle of friends and acquaintances—to a person the gospel identifies only as “the Beloved Disciple.” 15 How does Brown make his case? Brown explores the passages in the Johannine gospel that refer to the character that he names the “Beloved Disciple” (BD). This phrase is found in five texts, all of which are located in the second major part of the gospel. Brown calls this second ‘half’ of the text (John 13-21) the “Book of Glory,” in contrast to the “Book of Signs” which designates John 1-12. 16 Further, in each of the five scenes, the BD is not alone with Jesus; Peter is also present, or obvious by his absence. Brown effectively argues that the theme of intimacy with Jesus is of vital importance in the composition of these passages. In each of the five, the BD is always in closer proximity—either physically or spiritually—to Jesus than is Peter. In the Last Supper scene (John 13:23-26) it is Peter (evidently at some distance from Jesus) who indicates for the BD (right next to Jesus) to inquire about the betrayer’s identity. What follows is the well-known verse stating that the BD leaned over onto the breast of Jesus to ask “Master, who is it?” This pattern repeats itself in the other four texts in which the BD is found. In the trial scene, the BD is inside the building—closer to Jesus—while Peter is outside in the courtyard (John 18:15-16). (17) At the crucifixion, the BD is at the foot of the cross; Peter is nowhere to be found (John 19:26-27). The resurrection scene (John 20:1-10) finds the BD and Peter running to the tomb together. The BD arrives first, but waits for and allows Peter to enter the tomb first (perhaps an early indication of deference to Peter or to the Twelve in general). Interestingly, the Gospel of John then reports that Peter went in and “saw” that the tomb was empty. The BD, by contrast, both “saw and believed” (John 20:6-8, italics mine). The BD already evidences a faith in the resurrection that is not yet present in Peter. Finally, John 21:1-14 tells the postresurrection story of some of the disciples fishing. A shadowy figure appears on the beach. It is the BD who first recognizes this figure: “It is the Lord.” Only after this does Peter swim toward the shore. The five scenes in which the BD (and Peter) are found all manifest a similar pattern: the BD is always closer to Jesus while Peter is always more distant. This locational pattern is suggestive of a relational, or even spiritual, pattern: the BD has a closer, more intimate, 18
elationship with Jesus than does Peter. Brown argues that this textual data leads to the conclusion that the BD referred to by John’s gospel is more probably not one of the Twelve, but rather an otherwise scripturally unknown, unnamed, intimate friend of Jesus. It is this BD who stands at the origin of the tradition and community that gave to the Christian Church the Gospel that we now refer to as the Gospel of John .18 This exegetical evidence has several implications not only for our understanding of Scripture, but also for our assumptions concerning our interpretation of art. Given the results of Brown’s research, it may be more appropriate to refer to the second figure in Cleveland’s “Christ and St. John the Evangelist” as the “Beloved Disciple.” And, given our earlier study of the first figure in the work, a more theologically and biblically appropriate title for the work as a whole would be “Jesus and the Beloved Disciple.” However, at this point we encounter another critical question that engages both art historians as well as scholarly biblical interpreters. This question is one of hermeneutics, interpretation theory. B. HERMENEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS To be clear, my interest in “Christ and St. John the Evangelist” does not concern aesthetics. I am not concerned with the criteria by which the woodcarving would be considered beautiful or ugly. Rather, I envision the moment of encounter when an individual viewer walking through the Cleveland Museum of Art stops in front of this piece and beholds the work. After this aesthetic moment, I imagine such a viewer approaching the label-card to read its message. It is this moment that attracts my attention. What happens at this moment when the viewer reads the label-card? Broadly speaking, this moment involves the didactic dimension of artwork. This didactic aspect complements art’s aesthetic reality. This educational dimension of art is multifaceted. An aspiring woodcarver can ponder the work and learn about the techniques of the process. An inquisitive religious person might view the work as an object of piety and religious devotion. An art historian will want to learn this piece’s place in the chronological development of woodcarving. There are many ways that art can educate. The educational perspective I wish to pursue is more general. A citizen walking through an art gallery encountering works of art: to what is this experience comparable? Perhaps it is like paging through a dictionary seeking the definition of a word. The label-card which states the work’s title is like the definition of a word found in a dictionary. This dictionary definition is laden with authority because of its context: there is an implied social submission to “Webster’s” definition as authoritative. This same sort of authority is present in the museum label. A typical viewer reads the label and takes its content as authoritative and factually true because of that same social submission to the museum and its agents. My question, then, involves the authority of the museum curator with respect to the content of the label. The words placed on the label-card establish a link among artist, work of art, and viewer. This link is most significant to the viewer in that the label-card informs her verbally about the artwork. This verbal information supplements her aesthetic experience of the piece. The information on the label-card “names” the viewer’s aesthetic experience. 19
Page 1 and 2: SECTION 1: Keynote Address Undoing
Page 3 and 4: THE SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS NATIONAL
Page 5 and 6: [Both please.] There’s another pa
Page 7 and 8: actually this mountain on top is an
Page 9 and 10: detail. This is from a digital high
Page 11 and 12: that those religious mysteries whic
Page 13 and 14: scream into clarity and the effect
Page 15 and 16: a nutshell our conflicted attitude
Page 17 and 18: Dr. Stafford: Well, I’m trying re
Page 19 and 20: CROSS DISCIPLINARY STRATEGIES TO RE
Page 21 and 22: layering of dissonant imagery of th
Page 23 and 24: TRANSLATIONS OF MEMORY: PERSONAL ES
Page 25 and 26: When I asked my students to write p
Page 27 and 28: FACE VALUE: PORTRAITS AND MEMORY Da
Page 29 and 30: emotional expression in the human f
Page 31 and 32: A first step might be a rejection i
Page 33 and 34: THE ART OF THE NAME OR THE NAME OF
Page 35: “ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST,” OR
Page 39 and 40: There are several different philoso
Page 41 and 42: has not been explicitly named by th
Page 43 and 44: THE ROLE OF MEMORY IN CULTURE Rapha
Page 45 and 46: Dreaming without lucidity of any ki
Page 47 and 48: imitative learning. Grazio Fiorito
Page 49 and 50: ain organization, hormone-disruptin
Page 51 and 52: once, but most of the time it is a
Page 53 and 54: species evolving objectivity and lo
Page 55 and 56: institutional frameworks and laws t
Page 57 and 58: Memories of the intellectual past s
Page 59 and 60: But an important variable is being
Page 61 and 62: surfaced again and continues to ass
Page 63 and 64: In an abstract of an article entitl
Page 65 and 66: cognition in more or less dominance
Page 67 and 68: This is a description of some 4 mil
Page 69 and 70: complex semantic and syntax with wh
Page 71 and 72: monkey only correspond to the much
Page 73 and 74: primitive ceremonial burial of some
Page 75 and 76: BOXES OF REMEMBRANCES: THE JEWISH R
Page 77 and 78: are as beautifully and precisely ma
Page 79 and 80: IV. BINDING AND PRAYING: THE TEFILL
Page 81 and 82: Symbolic as these words are, they b
Page 83: 8. The Eternal Present, the Beginni
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Concordance to Tent of Meeting and
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Tefillin of the Head (Shel Rosh) Th
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optimally-sized for processing spee
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movement can be seen to take on ren
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THEIR FACES BRIEF AS PHOTOS (John B
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in the Ghetto’s orphanages and ch
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A small man with glasses with a gen
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Wiesel Elie. Night. New York: Banta
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photographs have helped us to grasp
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only in the degree of ingenious sev
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SEWING PLANTS: THE INTERTWINED HIST
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colleges for women. And there were
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While Grierson’s needlework in pi
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Lang, L. (2001, January/February).
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difficult to find a full reconcilia
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6. COLLABORATION Quite by accident
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and Amsterdam. But the focus is on
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EXHIBITING 9-11: A HISTORIOGRAPHY L
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Batchen also points out that many m
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access to ground zero has not only
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PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGH DOCUMENTATION A
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Representation” in the late 1990s
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MERITORIOUS OR MERETRICIOUS Jacquel
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Images which once glimpsed pierce o
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humans who sometimes against great
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However, when an artist placed the
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national and international exhibiti
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whether a thing is good or bad, ful
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REMEMBERING RABINDRANATH TAGORE Mar
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of curios which mostly are delusion
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Let me conclude with two poems from
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MONUMENTS IN MINIMALISM: SAFELY UNI
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font, in tight grid-like formation,
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At the height of the Minimalist mov
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horribly immediate manner. There is
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ead. 8 Only when the beautiful soul
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Brâncu_i, too, preferred to carve
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(1912, 1913, 1920, 1931), among oth
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10. On Easter Monday, for example,
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47. Women who are menstruating or i
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MOURNING, ABSENCE, AND TRAUMA: REPR
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(1991) is an extended meditation on
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a storm of controversy for its univ
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1938, completed in 1991, includes w
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fan shaped forms; these images are
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The only way out of the building is
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WITH A PEN AS HIS WORD AND ME AS HI
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FROM IDEALISM TO TOTALITARIANISM: T
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embodiment of the age of enlightenm
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Yale University Press, 1986), p. 10
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“yes well, to be sure they all mi
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characterized various ancient civil
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(whichever “them” is most handy
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There are those who would dismiss s
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TEACHING ART EDUCATION IN A STUDIO
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artworks motivate and inspire stude
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VERS COLLAGE: THE REMEMBRANCE WORK
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On that day when the wall is breach
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often enough to become a social tru
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define his identity and function in
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SECTION 1 - via - School of Visual Arts

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