Darrelyn Gunzburg

University of Bristol, UK

Abstract

Sky-Horizon-Earth : The tripartite division of space reflected in art

The tripartite division of space emerged as part of Babylonian cosmology in the second millennium BCE in the Enuma Elish, where the Babylonians envisaged the night sky divided into three belts named after three divinities: Anu, the god of the sky; Ea, the god of waters (horizon); and Enlil, god of the earth.  It was reiterated in Genesis when the continents were divided between the three sons of Noah, and continued into the work of Aristotle in his De Caelo, where he noted that ‘the three dimensions are all that there are, and that which is divisible in three directions is divisible in all’. The concept of the tripartite division of the world was also reflected in the New Testament in the form of the Trinity. This paper considers the many and varied ways that this sky-horizon-earth threefold division of space is reflected in art and architecture, from secular buildings and cathedrals, to stained glass and sculpture.

Biographical Details

Darrelyn Gunzburg is a part-time tutor for the MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology at The University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, UK.  She holds a BA (Hons) from the Open University majoring in the art historical exploration of religious art produced in Italy 1280-1500. Her BA (Hons) dissertation was short-listed for the AAH Bulletin 2006 BA Dissertation Prize. Darrelyn has presented papers at Contestations, AAH Conference, University of Ulster, Belfast (2007), Kent Symposium, University of Canterbury (2008), Sophia Centre Conference, University of Wales, Lampeter (2008), Traditional and Renewal Medieval Conference, University of Bristol (2009), Leeds International Medieval Conference, University of Leeds (2009), Language and Silence Medieval Conference, University of Bristol (2010), and is co-convenor of Imagining Astrology: Painted Schemes and Threads of the Soul, University of Bristol (2010). Since 2008 she has been a regular writer for The Art Book (Wiley-Blackwell). Her published books and plays are in the playwriting and astrological fields. She is currently reading for her doctorate in art history and astrology at the University of Bristol, UK.