The Footprint of Mani’s Book of Pictures in Late Antique Sources: An Assessment of Social & Geographical Data about Teaching with Images During the 3rd and 4th Centuries
Zsuzsanna Gulácsi, Professor of Art History at Northern Arizona University
Unlike other religions, Manichaeism had canonical images, not just canonical texts. Primary and secondary textual sources document that the Manichaean canon included a solely pictorial volume—a picture book—that was authored by Mani, circulated in multiple copies already during Mani’s life, and issued in many later editions. From late antiquity, 13 passages mention the Book of Pictures (Copt. Hikōn, Syr. Yuqnā, Parth. Ārdhang, MPers. Nigār). They convey that Mani commissioned its images to be painted as visual aids for teaching. The goal of this study is to assess who had access to this pictorial volume of the canon and where it was used during the first 120 years of Manichaean history. Mapping this data reveals the geographic footprint of teaching with images among the followers of Mani.
Citation
Gulácsi, Zsuzsanna. "The Footprint of Mani’s Book of Pictures in Late Antique Sources: An Assessment of Social & Geographical Data about Teaching with Images During the 3rd and 4th Centuries," Pourdavoud Center Workshop - Current Trends in Manichaeism Studies. March 1, 2021
About the Speaker
Zsuzsanna Gulacsi
Northern Arizona University
Gulacsi is a historian of Asian religious art specializing in the contextualized art historical study of pan-Asiatic religions that adapted their arts to a variety of cultures as they spread throughout the continent. She received a double major Ph.D. degree (1998) from Indiana University, Bloomington, in Central Eurasian studies (Old Uygur) and art history (Asian Art); and the equivalent of a double major MA degree (1990) from Loránd Eötvös University, Budapest, in historical ethnography and Turkic studies. Her teaching career began at Sophia University in Tokyo in Japan, where she was a tenured assistant professor of Central Asian and Buddhist Art history (1999-2003). Since 2003, she has been teaching at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, where she was tenured in 2006 and promoted to the rank of a professor in 2012. Besides teaching courses on Buddhist art, Islamic Art, Arts of China, and Arts of Japan, she maintains an active research agenda, which involves giving conference papers at national and international forums and invited lectures at prestigious universities and museums worldwide.