Divine Figures – On the physical representation of the divine

Thematic field of the exhibition "Body. Cult. Religion."

The ideas of deities or superhuman beings are often human-like, but not always. The concrete physical image of the divine makes it easier to access and understand something higher and invisible. However, perceptions of the divine are diverse in every religion and sometimes differ considerably.

In Christianity, God is considered to be unimageable on the one hand and human on the other. In ancient Egypt or Asia, the divine figures can also take the forms of animals or appear as hybrid beings between humans and animals, while in Islam and Judaism the earthly representation of God is usually consistently rejected.

The divine does not only refer to the individual deities in the narrowest sense, but also a multitude of invisible powers that are attributed with superhuman abilities and asked for support. In certain African societies and also in Afro-Brazilian Candomblé, embodiment practices such as possession and dance are used to pay homage to these invisible powers and to liaise with them. There are also certain animals, attributes, symbols or writings that are often associated with the divine.

The different conceptions of the divine provide information about the cultural, spiritual and artistic aspects of each religious practice and are therefore indispensable for the study of these religions.

Selected exhibits

The following texts are based on the exhibition catalogue:

Erhardt, S.; Graefe, J.; Lichtenberger, A.; Lohwasser, A.; Nieswandt, H.-H.; Strutwolf, H. (eds.): Body. Cult. Religion. Perspectives from Antiquity to the Present. Münster 2024. (only available in german)

 

• Photograph "Trance in Candomblé" by Pierre Verger (Cat. No. 32)

  

  The black and white photo shows a so-called filha de santo ("daughter of the saint") of the Brazilian religion Candomblé in a trance. The sea goddess Iemanjá has taken over her body. In the Candomblé world of imagination, every person has a connection to certain so-called orixá – deities of African origin – even before they are born. In the course of life, this connection is ritually strengthened and a part of the orixá is permanently in the body of each person. If this part is ritually activated accordingly, the filhas and filhos de santo temporarily surrender their body (and mind) entirely to the orixás: they ‘fall’ into a trance. (exc/fbu)

• Three works of Jewish art: Wall painting with Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones, 244–245 AD (Cat. no. 20); Pictorial representation of an initiation ritual, ca. 1310 (Cat. no. 21); Leaf from a prayer book, ca.1270 (Cat. no. 22)

  The three works of art show how God is depicted and visualized in Jewish art: In Israelite monotheism, God is not conceivable as a human-like figure. The wall painting from the synagogue of Dura Europos in Damascus with a depiction of Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones shows how God reveals to the prophet the future of Israel after the Babylonian exile. God's hand can be seen intervening in events on earth. It represents the communication between God and Ezekiel.

  God is depicted differently in two other works of Jewish art: The two pages of the book, which deal with an initiation ritual for Jewish children (Cat. no. 21) and the institution of the Israelite sacrificial service (Cat. no. 22), each show God by means of golden lettering with the word Adon “Lord”. (exc/fbu)

• Cast of the demon Pazuzu as a hybrid creature (Cat. No. 6)

  

  Pazuzu is the king of the evil wind demons associated with illness. He can be both harmful and protective, especially when he brings his demons under control due to the hospitality of humans. Unlike gods, who have human form in the Ancient Near East, demons are regarded as hybrid beings, which shows their lower rank. In addition to the human body with clawed hands, Pazuzu's head is also a mixture of human and animal. He is the adversary of the child-eating demoness Lamashtu, who is associated with childbed fever, and is worshipped as a guardian spirit against such disease demons. In Mesopotamian medicine and magic, representations of Pazuzu were used as protective amulets to ward off evil influences. These representations were widespread in ancient Mesopotamia and the surrounding area. Today, Pazuzu is known from the film ‘The Exorcist’. (exc/tst)

• Bronze reconstruction of Athena ‘Lemnia’ (Cat. no. 13)

  The bronze reconstruction of the Greek goddess Athena ‘Lemnia’ shows that Greek antiquity seldom gave its gods any visible divinity, representing them instead with a human body. Deities thus belonged to the reality of people’s lives and were much more tangible, something also reflected in how people gave practical expression to their beliefs. This is marked in the case of Athena ‘Lemnia’ in her typical helmet and aegis, the latter an ambiguous object from Greek mythology that is usually shown as a shield or a kind of cloak. (exc/tst)

• Wooden image of a manifesting spirit being (Kwakwaka’wakw) (Cat. no. 36)

  

  This painted wooden image is a stylized depiction of several spirit beings and mythical figures, all embodied in animal form: raven with raven chick, bear, seal and salmon. The handcrafted carving comes from the Kwakwaka’wakw culture, which, like other First Nations of Canada’s Northwest Coast, believes that the world is inhabited by numerous spirit beings that manifest in various forms. Some are ancestral spirits, while others are associated with certain natural forces such as wind and rain or animals. For example, the raven is a creator hero, the bear symbolizes willpower and family ties, and the seal represents among other things wealth and abundance. These spirit beings can give shamans special powers to connect with the invisible world and influence how the spirit beings behave. (exc/tst)

• Page from prayer book with institution of Israelite service of sacrifice (Cat. no. 22)

  

  This Jewish prayer book (Laud Mahzor) from the 13th century shows the beginning of the cycle of prayers for the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), which, taking place in June, commemorates the giving of the law to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. This event is depicted at the top of the page, while the focus is on the institution of the priesthood, which is commissioned by God to perform the daily temple sacrifice. The divine presence is visualized not, as is often the case in Jewish art, by the anthropomorphic hand of God, but by the initial golden word Adon in the middle of the page – ‘Lord’ (the first word of this hymn). The title of the hymn is ‘The Lord has trained me’ and is placed in the mouth of a personified Torah, the latter thus being the heavenly ‘instrument’ ordained by God that makes Israel the chosen people. The initial golden word ‘Lord’ therefore stands for God, who gives Israel this ‘instrument’. (exc/pie)

To the next thematic field: "Gender Roles?"