09 May 2009

Judeo-Christian Gestures

Happy 50th birthday to my mom yesterday, and happy Mother's Day today.

Petula and I saw a lot of Byzantine art while we on our trip, like this:















And we started wondering about this:











We saw some other hand signs too. Any ideas what they mean or where I can find out more?

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9 comments:

  1. AmySunday, May 10, 2009 at 7:27:00 AM PDT

    I have vague memories of something about that from a humanities class, but I don't remember now. Come on, you took art history!

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  2. BlondeInFranceSunday, May 10, 2009 at 8:16:00 AM PDT

    I remember wondering the same thing and asking my (protestant) minister about it, and he had no idea, lol.
    But I think it's just a sign of blessing, you know kinda how they make the cross with two fingers held up. But this is all speculation, it's a terrible embarrassment to my art history degree, but seriously, there's a lot of symbols to remember!!

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  3. Michelle GlauserSunday, May 10, 2009 at 9:39:00 AM PDT

    Amy, I took one art history class (okay, and a modern art history class too, but that doesn't count), and Andromeda studied art history! I think I'm off the hook here.

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  4. AmyMonday, May 11, 2009 at 8:39:00 AM PDT

    No idea...but if you figure it out, write a post about it...I'm totally curious.

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  5. NicoleFriday, May 15, 2009 at 10:53:00 AM PDT

    I'm curious too! That seems crazy to me.. I wonder what it really means. Or if it was just some sort of gesture that was considered Holy back then? Like, maybe he just finished doing crossing himself.. and that's how his hands ended up. But then, Jesus shouldn't really be crossing himself. Right? Or since he led by example.

    LOL. My short answer > not a clue. But tell us if you find out!

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  6. NicoleFriday, May 15, 2009 at 10:59:00 AM PDT

    Weird ~ our mom's have the same Birthday (that they also share with Hilary Reed)

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  7. NicoleFriday, May 15, 2009 at 11:07:00 AM PDT

    Sorry - I'm just going to fill your blog up with comments. But I found an answer, my awesome, former boss, that happens to be Turkish AND a Art History Teacher answered the question for me. She sent me to this website This Website , that explains that its a common sign of benediction. This website: Benediction explains how the benediction is formed. :)

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  8. C. WesleyFriday, May 15, 2009 at 2:54:00 PM PDT

    It's called a mudra, and they are very common in the far eastern tradition. Christiany is a near eastern religion, so they include some of these as well.


    http://theyogaphile.blogspot.com/2007/03/mudras-in-christian-imagery.html

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  9. Michelle GlauserMonday, May 18, 2009 at 10:26:00 AM PDT

    Very interesting. Thanks!

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