Cross and Crown: Picturing the Death of Jesus in Early Christian Art
03.28.21 | Articles | The Forum
As we mark Palm Sunday, Yale faculty member Felicity Harley-McGowan looks at artistic depictions of Jesus’ crucifixion in early Christianity.

Each week, guest speakers from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines join the Reverend Peter Thompson and other St. Bart's clergy for deep and insightful conversations about topics that matter to our lives as responsible citizens and people of faith. Speakers in recent years have included winners of the Tony Award, the Emmy Award, the MacArthur Fellowship, and the Pulitzer Prize, professors from prominent universities like Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, and journalists from New York, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic.
The Reverend Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes, D.Min., and the Reverend Andrew Wilkes, Ph.D., Co-Pastors of Double Love Experience Church in Brooklyn, lead a conversation on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s critique of the “triple evils” of poverty, racism, and militarism, drawing on their recent books Psalms for Black Lives and Plenty Good Room.
January 25: James L. Ferrara, M.D., Ward-Coleman Chair in Cancer Medicine, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
February 1: Edward Button, Countertenor, The King’s Singers
February 8: Annual Meeting of the Parish
February 15: Melanie Holcomb, Ph.D., Curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Nancy Thebaut, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the History of Art, University of Oxford
February 22: Michael Zuch, LCSW, Clinical Social Worker and Ph.D. student at Rutgers University School of Social Work
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
As we mark Palm Sunday, Yale faculty member Felicity Harley-McGowan looks at artistic depictions of Jesus’ crucifixion in early Christianity.
Author and scholar Diana Butler Bass discusses her new book Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way and Presence about the many dimensions of Jesus.
Duke professor Norman Wirzba examines the relationship between what we eat and what we believe. Norman Wirzba is Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Christian Theology and Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute of Ethics at Duke...
Lauren R. Kerby, who has studied white evangelicals’ relationship with Washington, DC, sheds light on the capitol insurrection we witnessed in January. Dr. Kerby is a lecturer at Harvard Divinity School and the author of Saving History: How...
The Reverend Peter Thompson and Dr. Paolo Bordignon talk with Dr. David Hurd, one of the leading musicians in the Episcopal Church, about his career and compositional work. Dr. Hurd is Organist and Music Director at The Church of St. Mary the...
Renowned historian Stephanie Coontz (https://www.stephaniecoontz.com/) answers questions on how romantic partnerships and family structures continue to evolve. Stephanie Coontz is Professor of History and Family Studies at The Evergreen...
Two of America's leading choral conductors, Dr. Anton Armstrong and Dr. André Thomas, explore the African-American spiritual, a much-beloved art form that emerged from the pain and horror of slavery. Dr. Armstrong...
After a highly contentious 2020 election season, Perry Grossman, Senior Staff Attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union, speaks about the importance of voting rights and the continuing fight to secure them for all Americans.
A panel of medical experts discusses the current vaccine rollout and the ethical issues it raises. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Catherine Belford Budd (https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine...) as moderator and to welcome back Dr. Jamie...
Dan Pinello, Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, explores the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause since World War II, and how constitutional history and language have impeded the full realization of...