The thief, the Cross, and the wheel

"Christ's Crucifixion is one of the most recognized images in Western visual culture, and it has come to stand as a universal symbol of both suffering and salvation. But often overlooked in this symbolic language is the fact that ultimately the Crucifixion is a scene of capital punishment. In The Thief, the Cross and the Wheel, Mitchell Merback reconstructs the religious, legal, and historical context of the Crucifixion and of other images of public torture. The result is an account of a time when criminal justice and religion were entirely interrelated and punishment was a visual spectacle devoured by a popular audience."--BOOK JACKET.

First sentence: The scene is a place of execution (illus. I).

Year

1999

Language

English

Publisher

Reaktion Books

Editions

2

Pages

325

ISBN

9781861890986

Data source: Wikidata