What My Project Is All About
Every great city demands a worthy history. This is not less true for the New Jerusalem described at the conclusion of the New Testament book of Revelation, the resplendent ideal city that has inspired countless theological, artistic, and political developments since it was written at the turn to the second century. From Irenaeus to 16th-century English Puritans, from the so-called Montanists to 19th-century liberal, progressive, and communist leaders, from the fourth-century churches of Rome to East Coast hip-hop, the image has shaped, and at times defined, the course of human events and artistic expression throughout the Christian patrimony. Much of the early stage of this story, however, has never been told. In this project, I will seek to understand some of the earliest and most fundamental conceptions of this vivid figure as shown in their textual and visual reception, and further to situate them and their rise within the historical conditions that brought them forth in the formati...
