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Aim
The
aim of this site is to provide a helpful assistant in the search for
biblical art on the Internet. I hope that my contribution will prove
helpful to people working with preaching, teaching etc.
History
It
started as a Powerpoint presentation for personal use. I made a
chronological division of the Bible into subjects, each subject being a
scene or an episode from the biblical history. Then I downloaded
relevant art from the Web, carefully connecting each artwork to the
correct subject.
Two
main problems halted this project: It was not useful to others than
myself, and it grew very big very fast. To solve the first problem, I
started to consider making an Internet site. As for the second problem,
and also for the risk of copyright violations, I soon realized that
hosting images was out of the question. Then came the idea of collecting
and arranging links to images of biblical artwork hosted by other sites,
using the chronological division already at hand.
I
ended up with my site being about 1000 html-pages linked together, and a
huge maintenance problem! So, I decided to ask my data-expert wife to
make me a database.
Content
The
main content of the present version of my site is a database accompanied
by a collection of thumbnail pictures. I'm building the base scanning
sites hosting images of biblical artwork, registering each work with
title, artist(s), time of execution, technique/material, and location (the
last three only if available; normally no location for prints, like etchings,
woodcuts etc.).
When
registering an artwork found on the Internet, I usually enter the
information given by the host without further investigations. This means
that my base may have errors not originating from me. So, I disclaim
responsibility as to this kind of errors.
The
core of the base is an updated edition of the chronological division
mentioned above. All artworks are connected to one or several subjects,
and to comprise all works in some way related to the Bible, the subject
list includes portraits, and even non-biblical incidents and situations
where biblical characters play a role.
Finally,
the base normally contains links to the registered artworks.
Please
visit the statistics
page for some curiosities!
Broken
Links
As
the base contains thousands of links, some of them will always be "dead"
("broken").
This can be very annoying. I run a link-checker, but some errors may not
be found. If a link does not lead to the desired picture, and the error
persists for more than a month or so, please inform
me.
Sometimes
when an error message appears instead of an image, copying the URL and
pasting it in a new browser window will solve the problem.
Links
to This Site. Reciprocal Links.
Links
to this site are greatly appreciated.
Please use the exact and complete name ("Biblical Art on the
WWW") if convenient. My logo can be found in various sizes here.
To
all you kind people who link to my site: THANK YOU! I
am not always that generous myself. Proposals concerning reciprocal
links are usually turned down. This has nothing to do with the quality
or the content of the proposers' sites. Actually, I link to hundreds of
sites, but only when it suits the purpose of my service. I am very
reluctant to make my system more complicated by building the content
further, e.g. by making a page for links in general.
If
you run a site on which images of biblical art are displayed, and I have
not linked to your site from my database, please inform
me, and I will try to get back to your site as soon as
possible.
Questions
The
questions I receive from around the world suggest that I am an expert of
art, legal matters, and data. This is certainly not so. I indeed enjoy
art, I have sought legal advice to make sure I do not violate any laws,
and I have the minimum knowledge of information technology to be able to
maintain my site. However, I should not be asked for expert opinions or
estimation of the value of art, I do not want to give legal advice
concerning copyright issues (I have, in fact, avoided making these
questions relevant for my own project), and I am not a good solver of
data problems.
Questions
also show that it is difficult to understand that a site can be made
without a commercial intention. Hence, people think that I am engaged in
buying and selling art. I am not. To buy posters, replicas, etc., one
should search for the numerous online stores.
Important:
Since
the links lead to images hosted by other sites than mine, it is
impossible for me to give a general permission for any kind of use of
the pictures. If a permission is wanted, the host must be consulted. Every
image-link is accompanied by a link to the main page of the host. Keep
in mind that the host may have given restrictions in other parts of
their sites than the pages I am linking to!
Browsers
and Screen Resolution
The
pages have been designed to work properly with the latest version of
Internet Explorer, with a 1024 x 768 screen resolution, and
normal text size. Using other browsers or settings, especially old
browser versions, may corrupt the design and/or disable the functions.
Who
Am I?
This
site is created and maintained by me, Rolf E. Stærk. I am a Norwegian
theologian and schoolteacher, born 1967, and member of the Evangelical
Lutheran Free Church of Norway. The database and the asp-files are made
by my wife.
Theology
Is
the evangelist Matthew the same as the apostle? What is the actual order
of the biblical events? Is the woman anointing Jesus at Bethany
identical with Mary Magdalene? The answers to such questions may have
implications as to how I arrange the artwork. Anyway, I have avoided
making theological discussions out of them, because discussions like
that would have missed the aim of this site completely. I just want my
fellow theologians to know that the problems are quite evident to me,
even if I make disputable decisions without further comments.
©
site 2001, database 2003
Rolf
E. Stærk
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