The Crown of Thorns

In this fresh and compelling account of the changing appearance of the Crown of Thorns in Christian Art, Faith Tibble traces the surprising history of one of Christendom’s most recognizable images. In a fluent and readable style, she offers a layered contextualization of the development of this image in consideration of Christian devotion and historical phenomena. This rich study will be of interest to scholars engaging with art history, history and religious studies, as well as to a broader readership of non-specialists and the general public. * Gil Fishhof, University of Haifa, Israel * In the very best sense of the term, Tibble has presented her readers with a detailed iconological survey of the origin and transformation of the Crown of Thorns from earliest Christian art into the 21st century. We may have always assumed we saw the Crown of Thorns embedded on the head of the suffering and/or crucified Christ in images of the Passion until Tibble opened our eyes to its absence before the eleventh century. She carefully traces its origins from the Classical practice of the acanthus and laurel wreaths, especially within the context of military ceremonials. She takes her readers on an extraordinary journey as she intersperses scriptural, apocryphal, patristic, legendary, and theological texts with liturgical and devotional practices in tandem with the larger societal concerns of politics and the nature of kingship. * Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, Georgetown University, USA *