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The iconography of the Last Judgement had largely formed in Byzantine art by the ninth century. The theme of the Second Coming, however, was so important for Christianity that its depiction in art co...
The composition of the Only Son was formed in the middle of the sixteenth century, in connection with work on a group of icons intended for the private chapel of Ivan the Terrible – the Annunciation ...
The composition incorporates the concept of the mystical union of Christ and the Church. Christ sits on a throne as the King of the World and High Priest, dressed in the robes of the Byzantine empero...
Jerusalem was the ancient capital of the Hebrew kingdom of Judah. The town can be seen from the Mount of Olives, where Christ made his prophecies of its apocalyptic fall. Jesus’ last days on earth ar...
The town of Bethlehem lies five miles to the south of Jerusalem. Two thousand years ago, it was a small settlement inhabited by farmers and shepherds. It was to Bethlehem that Mary and Joseph came to...
The Church of the Nativity of Christ is one of the earliest Christian churches in the Holy Land. It was founded by Empress Helena in 326, at the traditional site of the birth of Jesus Christ. The pla...
A piece of polished red rock lies at the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This is the Stone of Unction or Rock of Anointing, so called because it was on this stone that Jose...
The Mount of Olives is the highest of three peaks rising to the east of the Old City of Jerusalem. Christ delivered his prophecies there and it was from the Mount of Olives that He entered Jerusalem ...
The valley of Jehoshaphat lies outside Jerusalem and is named after King Jehoshaphat of Judah (c. 873–c. 849 BC). The valley has been a Jewish burial ground for centuries and contains the tombs of Je...
Empress Helena (c. 244–327) was the mother of the first Christian emperor, Constantine, and did much to spread Christianity. In 325, she made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with the specific aim of fi...