bleeding hosts, anyone?

first of all, doesn’t this look like a drawing by amy wilson?

ha!

no really, this was on my exam today (and i totally rocked the answer, by the way, so what’s up now). but seriously, this object has some severe anti-semitism attached to it.

the host itself was originally given by Pope Eugenius IV to Philip the Good in 1433 as a gift of gratitude, and it was housed in Sainte-Chapelle. this image is actually an addition to the Book of Hours of Mary of Burgundy, ca. 1505-an illustration of the actual thing.

the text beside it in Mary’s book tells of a story of a Jew, dubbed a “non-believer”, striking the host and causing it to “bleed profusely”. a reinaction of the crucifixtion, kind of. this sort of emphasized the split between old religion and new (Christianity and Judaism) and serves as evidence of the reports of supposed brutality and agression from the Jews towards Christians and their objects.

not to bore everyone, but i keep staring at this thing. i mean, i can’t really imagine having this added to my prayer book after having it for twenty years, and really believing that a Jewish person manhandled it and caused it to bleed the blood of Christ. the power of images is much different now, obviously. but what a creepy way of reminding yourself that Jewish people are supposedly out to get your religion.

please, i’m not judging, i’m only stunned. the fifteenth century mind worked so differently, at least in the spiritual sense, than mine. after i finished my answer, i stared at my blue book for a second, then at the screen, and temporarily left my academic realm of memorized dates and practiced answers and was like, “what the fuck?” i thought of other pictures that i’ve seen recently, pertaining to modern unrest in the Holy Land, and saw a disheartening, less beautiful continuation.

i’m not going to cite the page i found these on; i’m not trying to be a plaigerist, it’s that the site has a ton of really gruesome photos and i also don’t want to be misread as promoting it. i don’t think i can really feel one way or the other about it, 100%, because i have no involvement in it and no experience, and therefore find it really problematic to claim my position in the matter. my purpose here is to comment on the way the propaghanda has developed.

think: host vs structure

obviously: blood, bleeding.

ok,  no more grim posts for a while.

i think it has to do with all the crucifixtion wounds and flagellations and church divisions i’ve been reading about all semester.

hey, at least i’m not  drawing bloody-eyed self-portraits or anything.