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Comm Abstract Outline Submission
Comm Abstract Outline Submission
Alex Kollar
Dr. Hill
9 November 2016
COMM CRIT
ABSTRACT
These representations have triggered numerous debates over Christs ethnicity and facial
man, Rembrandt Van Rijns Head of Christ emphasizes Christs Jewishness. In this essay,
I consider Rembrandts work for the particular ideological commitments that his
representation of Christ reveals. This paper argues that ideological criticism reveals
than an artists moment of radical creativity, but acts as a powerful shift towards resisting
I. INTRODUCTION:
a. Christs ethnicity has been the topic of heated debates for centuries, and is
still being disputed within the church, art community, and political circles
around the world.
b. In 1656, Rembrandt van Rijn created a series of paintings that present a
more realistic vision of what, he believed, Jesus could have actually
looked like.
c. To understand the rhetorical elements of the Head of Christ, I will first
offer the use of ideological criticism as a vehicle of analysis.
d. From this exploration I will reveal a larger narrative of Rembrandts
divergent ideology of representing Jesus Jewishness struggling to push
against the widely accepted, Dutch interpretation of Jesus Christ.
II. RATIONALE:
a. Every visual representation of Jesus is a product of a specific context
(including the techniques used, subjects studied, time period, geographic
location, etc.) and by studying the contexts of Rembrandts paintings, we
will understand why and how the artists message was crafted.
b. By comparing Rembrandts work with other representations of Jesus from
different contexts around the world, a basis is provided for showing how
the image of Jesus is a direct representation of a cultures ideology and
experience with Christianity.
III. CONTROBUTION:
a. The Head of Christ portraits have been studied by hundreds of institutions
and art historians for years as beautiful and unique representations of a
humble, realistic Christ.
b. These pieces stand as power visual rhetoric that reveal hidden narratives,
subtle social commentaries, and countercultural ideologies for rhetorical
theorists to discover and study.
IV. THESIS:
a. Ideological criticism reveals Rembrandts controversial portrayal of a
Jewish Jesus in the Head of Christ to be more than an artists moment of
radical creativity, but acts as a powerful shift towards resisting the
hegemonic ideology of a European-featured Christ.
V. BODY:
A. Present ideological criticism as the main tool of analysis.
a. Ideologies map out how we use rhetoric and understanding these
ideologies reveal rhetorical elements.
b. This criticism method will allow a frame of analysis that explores
visual rhetoric represents a cultures beliefs and customs and
provide a foundation to show how Rembrandts work violated a
common ideology.
B. Present the artifact: Head of Christ.
a. Scholars believe that Rembrandts work stemmed from a desire to
honor Jesus ethnic heritage by painting him with realistic, Jewish
features.
Kollar 3