The Grief of God

Between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries images of a wounded and bloody Christ proliferated in England, appearing in sermons, drama, church decorations, and spiritual treatises. Some scholars see these graphic portrayals of suffering as signs of a new emphasis on Jesus’s humanity, while others see renewed emphasis on a terrifying God of vengeance. Ross, however, argues that these explanations have misunderstood the nature of medieval attitudes toward the suffering Christ. Analysing a wide range of textual and pictorial evidence, she finds that in their encounters with the wounded Jesus – the Saviour whose blood nurtures, feeds, and heals human persons – medieval believers found the God of mercy and love.