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contact:
malbon@vt.edu

Dr. Branham is Associate Professor of Art History and teaches Ancient and Medieval Cultures at Providence College. For more information, see http://www.providence.edu/art/history/branham.htm.

Abstract: The Jerusalem Temple’s historic and symbolic value as exemplar of sacred space has been a rich source of architectural and liturgical inspiration for subsequent religious institutions wishing to stage spatial sacrality in their own building designs. Yet at other times, the Jerusalem Temple has surfaced as a burdensome, overshadowing archetype of the sacred, which succeeding religious traditions struggle to compete with or rival. This paper examines a variety of complex spatial configurations at work in the Jerusalem Temple—including sacrificial arenas, gender separation, hierarchical structures, spatial gradation, and evocations of hierophany—before turning to ways in which these spatial systems act as agents of influence and authority on the construction, formulation, and definition of sacred space within late-antique Judaism and Christianity. Specifically, the presentation distinguishes and foregrounds diverse strategies employed by synagogues and churches, on the one hand, to appropriate, imitate, and inherit Jerusalem Temple characteristics, and on the other hand, to displace, reject, or subvert them through visual and spatial evocations of the Jerusalem Temple.

2003, Atlanta


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