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This article asks why until the mid-twentieth century both Catholic and Protestant interpretations of the iconoclasm converged on the anonymising of the iconoclasts of 1566. It argues that, while a greater availability of sources, better source criticism and international debates helped eventually to give the iconoclasts a face, the main reason why it has took so long for the image-breakers to lose their anonymity was that it was in no one’s interest to identify the culprits. For centuries, Protestants considered the iconoclasm an embarrassment, and preferred to dismiss its perpetrators as ‘rabble’, while Catholics in the Southern Netherlands tended to dismiss them as foreigers, manipulated by the nobility. Their anonymity was lifted through the intervention of German historian Erich Kuttner, whose main thesis was proven wrong, but at last triggered serious research into the identity of the iconoclasts, as well as alternative explanations of their motives. This article is part of the special issue 'Beeldenstorm'. ‘Iconoclasts Anonymous’. Waarom duurde het zo lang voordat historici de beeldenstormers van 1566 identificeerden?Dit artikel werpt de vraag op waarom zowel katholieke als protestantse geschiedschrijvers tot de tweede helft van de twintigste eeuw zo weinig belangstelling hadden voor de identiteit van de beeldenstormers van 1566. Hoewel bredere beschikbaarheid van bronnenmateriaal, betere bronnenkritiek en internationale debatten uiteindelijk hielpen om de beeldenstormers een gezicht te kunnen geven, betoogt dit artikel dat het eeuwenlang vooral in niemands belang was om de daders te identificeren. Protestanten vonden de herinnering aan de Beeldenstorm erg pijnlijk en maakten daarom anoniem arm ‘gespuis’ tot zondebok, terwijl katholieken in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden ze het liefst wegzetten als de buitenlandse werktuigen van opstandige edellieden. Hun anonimiteit werd opgeheven door de interventie van de Duitse historicus Erich Kuttner, wiens interpretatie weliswaar niet houdbaar bleek, maar wiens werk wel de aanzet werd tot serieus onderzoek naar de beeldenbrekers, en alternatieve verklaringen voor hun motieven. Dit artikel maakt deel uit van het themanummer 'Beeldenstorm'.

On the eve of the Beeldenstorm, a great number of churches in the Low Countries had a sacrament house, a shrine for the Corpus Christi, often metres high. These monstrance-like tabernacles were nearly all destroyed by iconoclasts between 1566 and 1585. This essay discusses the dialectics between the construction and destruction of sacrament houses before and after the Beeldenstorm. It argues against a strict divide between material devotion and spiritual belief by highlighting the intertwining of Catholic and Calvinist embodied pieties. Fuelled by their opposing conceptions of the Eucharist, Catholic devotees and Protestant iconoclasts both engaged with sacrament houses and other expressions of the Corpus Christi devotion (processions, miracle cults et cetera) in a deliberate and intensely physical manner. This article is part of the special issue 'Beeldenstorm'. Aan de vooravond van de Beeldenstorm stond in heel wat kerken in de Nederlanden een sacramentshuis, een vaak metershoge toren met het uiterlijk van een reusachtige monstrans, waarin het Corpus Christi werd tentoongesteld. Deze tabernakels werden haast allemaal vernield door iconoclasten tussen 1566 en 1585. Dit artikel bestudeert het samenspel tussen het optrekken en afbreken van sacramentshuizen voor en na de Beeldenstorm. De centrale stelling luidt dat we af moeten van een strikte scheiding tussen materiële devotie en spiritueel geloof. Zowel katholieken als calvinisten beleefden hun geloof op een belichaamde manier en hun handelingen waren steeds verweven. Vrome katholieke leken en protestantse beeldenstormers hadden sterk conflicterende ideeën over de eucharistie, maar juist daarom gingen ze op een heel bewuste en uiterst lichamelijke manier om met de sacramentshuizen en andere uitingen van sacramentsvroomheid zoals ommegangen en mirakelcultussen. Dit artikel maakt deel uit van het themanummer 'Beeldenstorm'.

Iconoclasm has a particular effect in that it creates an image that is even more powerful than the image it has destroyed. While many physical images might have disappeared due to the iconoclasm, the mental image of all who witnessed this dramatic moment in history was indelible. This article argues that artists made conscious use of the emotional and cognitive power of such mental images to give their work meaning. This article is part of the special issue 'Beeldenstorm'. De kracht van iconisch geheugen. Iconoclasme als een mentale markeringIconoclasme heeft het bijzondere effect dat het een beeld creëert dat nog sterker is dan het beeld dat het vernielt. De vele fysieke beelden mogen dan al verdwenen zijn door de Beeldenstorm, het mentale beeld werd een onuitwisbare herinnering aan een ingrijpend moment in de geschiedenis voor iedereen die er getuige van was. In dit artikel wordt beargumenteerd dat kunstenaars bewust gebruik maakten van de emotionele en cognitieve kracht van dit mentale beeld om hun werk betekenis te geven. Dit artikel maakt deel uit van het themanummer 'Beeldenstorm'.

While the iconoclasm of 1566 has been a popular topic in the historiography of the Low Countries, we know little about the people who endured iconoclasm. Generally, Catholics in the Low Countries were regarded as being rather passive bystanders in the events of this period, but the case of Ghent illustrates that Catholics took various actions when faced with the threat of iconoclasm and the subsequent destruction. Even though religious militancy was lacking, certain aspects of Catholic religion were strengthened throughout the Wonder Year. Parishioners put a lot of effort in the repairs of their parish churches and the interest in traditional devotions and religious knowledge also increased. Rather than rendering them passive, the troubled period seems to have motivated Ghent Catholics to research their faith. This article is part of the special issue 'Beeldenstorm'. De Beeldenstorm van 1566 is een populair thema in de historiografie van de Lage Landen, maar desalniettemin is onze kennis over de mensen die het iconoclasme ondergingen beperkt. De Nederlandse katholieken worden vaak als passieve toeschouwers van de troebelen omschreven, maar de casus van Gent toont aan dat katholieken wel degelijk actief waren in de aanloop naar de Beeldenstorm en tijdens de maanden na de vernielingen. Een religieuze militante houding was inderdaad afwezig, maar andere aspecten van het katholieke geloof werden tijdens het Wonderjaar juist versterkt. Parochianen focusten op een snel herstel van hun parochiekerk en versterkten bepaalde devoties. Ook de aandacht voor religieuze kennis nam toe. In plaats van passief, toonden de Gentse katholieken zich door de ‘troebele tijden’ gemotiveerd om hun geloof nader te onderzoeken. Dit artikel maakt deel uit van het themanummer 'Beeldenstorm'.

Frans Hogenberg’s depiction of the Beeldenstorm is one of the most popular and influential visual accounts of iconoclasm. However, it has been considered controversial in Academia due to the account’s complex visual rhetoric. To tackle this complexity this contribution offers a close reading of Hogenberg’s depiction as an historical source by exploring its various references and allusions. The printed image allows historians to gain insights into the religious and political culture of the second half of the sixteenth century. This essay argues that Hogenberg’s account of the Beeldenstorm is a reflection on the power of images and its limitations. As such, the print was directly involved in the battle of how to understand contemporary religious and political conflicts. Although the account appeals to a heterogeneous audience, it depicts the Beeldenstorm in neither a neutral nor in an objective way, but from a position of religious compromise and secular unanimity. This article is part of the special issue 'Beeldenstorm'.Macht, geloof, en afbeeldingen. Frans Hogenbergs uitbeelding van de BeeldenstormFrans Hogenbergs uitbeelding van de Beeldenstorm is een van bekendste en invloedrijkste visuele weergaven van iconoclasme. Binnen het academisch onderzoek hebben echter verhitte discussies gewoed als gevolg van de gecompliceerde visuele retoriek in de afbeelding. Om deze complexiteit te ontrafelen hanteert dit artikel een nauwkeurige lezing van de afbeelding als historische bron en onderzoekt het de verschillende verwijzingen en zinspelingen er in. De afbeelding verschaft historici de mogelijkheid inzicht te krijgen in de religieuze en politieke cultuur van de tweede helft van de zestiende eeuw. Het artikel stelt dat Hogenbergs weergave van de Beeldenstorm een reflectie is op de kracht van beelden en hun beperkingen. De gravure was als zodanig zelf onderdeel van de strijd over de vraag hoe de religieuze en politieke conflicten van die tijd moesten worden begrepen. Hoewel de afbeelding uiteenlopende toeschouwers wil aanspreken, geeft zij de Beeldenstorm niet op een neutrale of objectieve wijze weer, maar vanuit een stellingname voor een religieus compromis en seculiere eensgezindheid. Dit artikel maakt deel uit van het themanummer 'Beeldenstorm'.

After 450 years the Beeldenstorm of 1566 still deserves our careful historical analysis because it was unquestionably a game changer in Netherlandish politics and culture. More generally, we believe that iconoclasm breaks open cultural codes and thereby helps us to understand past societies. While we must thank the previous generations of historians for taking the iconoclasts seriously, the historians and art historians in this issue go a step further by also taking seriously the targets of iconoclasts – lay Catholic devotion and religious material culture. This theme number analyses the dialectics between iconoclasts and the material objects they targeted, between those who attacked and those who actively or passively defended the traditional community, between those who destroyed and those who restored or reinvented the religious patrimony, and in doing so reveals what was at stake in the sixteenth-century Low Countries. This article is part of the special issue 'Beeldenstorm'. Na 450 jaar verdient de Beeldenstorm van 1566 nog steeds een grondige historische analyse, aangezien er weinig twijfel kan bestaan over de enorme impact op de politiek en cultuur van de Nederlanden. Meer algemeen beschouwen wij iconoclasme als een kraker van culturele codes die ons helpt samenlevingen uit het verleden te begrijpen. Vorige generaties historici hebben zich vooral verdiept in de motieven van de iconoclasten, deze groep historici en kunsthistorici gaat verder door ook de doelwitten van de iconoclasten – de katholieke lekendevotie en de religieuze materiële cultuur – tot object van studie te maken. Dit themanummer ontrafelt de dialectiek tussen iconoclasten en de materiële cultuur die ze viseerden, tussen mannen en vrouwen die de traditionele gemeenschap aanvielen en deze die haar actief of passief verdedigden, tussen zij die het religieuze patrimonium vernielden en zij die het herstelden of herijkten. Op die manier wordt duidelijk waar het om draaide in de zestiende-eeuwse Nederlanden. Dit artikel maakt deel uit van het themanummer 'Beeldenstorm'.

This paper is about iconoclasm in the Pays de Vaud and the transformation of the urban landscape following the Reformation imposed by Bern in 1536. The particular focus of this article is on the future of religious buildings which were either destroyed, deconsecrated, seized, reused or even reconverted for the good of the community. In this way, the Reformation could bring back to the centre the Protestant ethics of work and utility. This led to a decentralization of the place of the dead in religious matters and configuration of the city, where cemeteries ended outside the city walls.It is not only about understanding how the purification of the Church occured, but also to grasp to what extent this urban redevelopment corresponds to a social and political reorganization. To illustrate this process and the various forms it took, Orbe and Lausanne can be used as example: the first one, Orbe, is a small village, part of Fribourg and Bern, accepted the Reformation after a vote, for which the Catholics were outnumbered by the Protestants. The consequences of such a decision appeared very quickly and, as anywhere else affected by the Reformation, religious buildings had new found utility, for example to their arrangement, churches were easily settled as temple. However convents, monasteries, priories – which were left empty by its inhabitants that were no longer welcomed –, served other purposes, which were especially useful to the civic community, for laic and public use.Finally, the place of the dead and the cemeteries crystallized the new aspect of the Protestant cities by pushing them away outside of the city walls and by forbidding the cult of the dead. They lost their importance in religious devotions and rituals, which had lasted for centuries, and were removed from the social organization : the dead are no longer considered as full citizens. Cemeteries are moved, closed, emptied and their sacred aura is destroyed. Thus the years 1530 showed how these reformed issues had a direct repercussion on the urban space layout which could still be seen today.

What is the connection between race and religious diversity? This question has emerged as particularly important in recent times, following heightened discussions on racial justice, equity, and the organization of society with regard to racial oppression. The terms race and religious diversity imply distinct points of contact that have within them diverse perspectives and worldviews, that carry with them assumed foundational understandings of the world and unexamined understandings of how the universe functions. This article explores the connection between race and religious diversity by discussing the physical and intellectual landscape and by raising concerns about the historical and religious-symbolic background of the Atlantic World. This background assumes the fact that the Atlantic World is more than just a historical phenomenon. Instead, the formation and operation of the Atlantic World reveals the construction of a cosmogony that informs racial (social/relational) and religious discourse (imagination/intellectual). The Atlantic World cosmogony arose from the conquest of the Americas by European interests, resulting in a terraforming process that adapted the New World to European sensibilities. The story of the Atlantic World cosmogony and the terraforming of the Americas serve as two points of reflection that call for assessing the connection of race and religious diversity. Concomitantly, considering the foreground of the Atlantic World cosmogony and terraforming opens the possibility of resituating the way we critically approach the discourse on race and religious diversity, allowing for communities to candidly express efforts to move beyond the history of the effects generated by the conquest of the Americas.

This article studies the intersection of religion, materiality and violence. I will argue that pictures of violated bodies can contribute substantially to imageries of religious bonding. By directing attention towards the relation between pictures of violence, religious imagery and materiality, this article contributes to current research on religion-related violence and on material religion, two disciplinary fields that have not yet been clearly related. By focusing on the picturing of (violated) bodies as both sacred and communal objects, I will make clear how pictures of violence relate to social imageries of (religious) communities. Two short case-studies show how pictures of violence are recreated in the imagery of communities, causing new episodes of violence against anonymous representatives of the perpetrators. This article develops a perspective on the role pictures play in framing religious conflicts, which is often neglected in studies of religion-related violence. The study of religious matter, on the other hand, could explore more deeply the possibilities of studying the medialization of contentious pictures of human bodies in the understanding of conflicts as ‘religious’.

The article concerns an iconoclastic definition of the Council of Constantinople of 815, which was proposed by Byzantine Emperor Leo V in the early 9th century. The author returns back to a forgotten discussion that dealt with a reconstruction of the definition made by Paul J. Alexander in 1953. The reconstruction was criticized by other researchers, but hagiography devoted to some contemporaries of the Council makes us to reflect on the Council’s attention to so-called «living images», which were opposed to the pieces of art, and interpretation of Gen. 1, 26. This is an important argument for the image theory, which was emphasized by Alexander. We do not try to make up a fi nal conclusion, but to suggest some reflections for further research.

The author examines the theology of Ignatius the Deacon regarding the holy icons, a Byzantine author who wrote around the cusp of the eighth and ninth centuries. His theological perceptions are found in the lives of George of Amastris, Gregory the Decapolite, and the patriarchs of Constantinople Tarasius and Nicephoros, all of which he composed. These vitae belong to the genre of hagiographies in high style . They are composed using elegant phraseology and are replete with citations and theological argumentations. Thus, they afford the researcher abundant material for refl ection. Ignatius presents a detailed apology for the holy images. He theorizes on the way they act upon those who view them. Most importantly, he introduces the concept of the so called living images of virtue which are created by the saints in their own persons. Ignatius raises various arguments in favor of the veneration of the icons and refers to the imagery employed by the proponents of iconodoulic theology.

Hans-Georg Gadamer has claimed, first, that in religious painting the image does not merely copy its prototype but is in "ontological communion" with it; and second, that in this respect the religious painting is exemplary for painting in general. I examine these claims with specific reference to Eastern Orthodox icons, drawing on both classical and modern Orthodox theological accounts of the icon to support and amplify Gadamer's claim about "ontological communion." I then consider accounts by Jean-Luc Marion and by the theologian Paul Evdokimov of how the icon can be exemplary for painting in general. I argue that Marion's discussion leads to some unacceptable conclusions, and that Evdokimov provides a more convincing account. This commits him to a strong and controversial thesis that all art (consciously or otherwise, and whatever its explicit subject-matter) is in a sense religious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, I argue that the apparent historical inaccuracies contained within Lewis Nordan's Wolf Whistle (Nordan, Lewis. 2003 [1993]. Wolf Whistle. Chapel Hill: Algonquin) represent a systematic repeal of the controversial history surrounding the murder of Emmett Till in 1955. Nordan reconstitutes the principle characters to function as iconoclasms of the historical record. As iconoclasms, these representations undermine our culture's accepted model of history, what Hayden White terms the "historical account" (White, Hayden. 1975. Metahistory: The historical imagination in nineteenth-century Europe. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press: 30). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of XVIIe Siècle is the property of Presses Universitaires de France and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The twenty-first century has witnessed the rise to power of images in every aspect of human endeavour. Speculative financial derivatives have achieved a predominant place in the economy, spin and perception rule the political sphere, and technological media ensure that we spend our lives surrounded by images of all kinds. Reading the works of Shakespeare reveals the roots of this process in the early modern period, when the iconoclasm of the Reformation, popular protests against usury, and the campaign against ritual magic combined to provide an ethically based popular resistance to the power of signs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how Máscaras (1995), the third novel in Cuban author Leonardo Padura's post‐Soviet detective fiction series Las cuatro estaciones, transforms the genre. This article argues that at once using and subverting US tenets of noir, the author successfully transfigures archetypes of form and content, in particular commenting on the figure of the Hombre Nuevo. The article discusses Máscaras as an example of a trans‐genre/transgenericidad: the novel demonstrates how postmodern symptoms such as self‐awareness and metanarrativity, deviant from the archetypal crime genre, reinforce and inform notions of fluid and performative representations of bodies and sexualities in Cuba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the Trier ivory, an artwork in the Trier Cathedral Treasury in Trier, Germany. Dating back to the 4th century, the work is carved of ivory and depicts horses, chariots and workmen. Additional topics discussed include efforts to identify the event depicted in the artwork, the history and work of Byzantine artists and iconoclasm.

This paper looks at iconoclasm and the destruction of art during the Swiss Reformation, particularly under the leadership of Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531), whose career was influential to Martin Luther and other reformers in Europe. It particularly focuses on Zwingli’s “war against the idols” and the proactive destruction of Catholic sacred art. Though some items were returned to donors, everything else in Zurich churches was consigned to oblivion, in a very orderly way. Objects made of wood or cloth went up in smoke, consumed by flames. Precious metals were melted down for the city’s treasury; iron and bronze for other uses. Gold vessels and jewels were carefully recycled too. Objects made of stone, glass, or plaster were smashed to bits, along with the bones of the saints. Murals were scraped away, and the walls whitewashed. At the end of two weeks, not a single “idol” remained in place. Zurich was now a godly city, and its Reformation a stark reality. Zwingli could exult, as Luther never would: “In Zurich the churches truly gleam; the walls are so beautifully white!” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is devoted to the use of political inscriptions in Italy from the Risorgimento to Fascism. More specifically, it addresses the way in which Fascism appropriated and reworked a tradition of civic and patriotic epigraphs established in the nineteenth century, during Italy’s struggle for independence and in its aftermath. By doing so, it aims to correct the common assumption that Fascism’s use of spectacular monumental strategies aimed at the mere dismissal of real political content through its aestheticization, and to clarify the way in which Benito Mussolini’s regime instead engaged in a cunning historiographical reassessment of Italy’s recent past and its material history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Romanica Olomucensia is the property of Palacky University in Olomouc and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Annals of Cultural Studies / Roczniki Kulturoznawcze is the property of John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Institute of Cultural Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper studies how Brajbhāṣā Vaishnava narratives describe the role the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb played in the displacement of Krishna images from the Braj heartland in the 1660s and 1670s. While contemporary discourse frequently suggests that the emperor was a villain persecuting beloved Hindu deities, who in turn are victims forcibly moved from their original homeland, the early-modern vernacular narratives we consider here perceive these peregrinations in rather more complex ways. This article foregrounds the case of the best-known dispersed Krishna image: Śrī Nāthajī, a deity of the Vallabha-Sampradāya, now residing in the Mewar area of Rajasthan. It analyses mostly the discourse of the Śrī Nāthajī kī Prākaṭya-Vārtā, or ‘The story of the Appearance of Śrī Nāthajī’, attributed to Vallabha's descendant, Harirāy. The sectarian logic presents Aurangzeb as an ardent, if uncouth, devotee and Śrī Nāthajī as an autonomous agent, not a victim, but rather a victor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Romanitas: Revista de Estudos Greco-Latinas is the property of Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper puts forward the new analytical framework of ‘Digitally Mediated Iconoclasm’ (DMI) to analyse and interpret iconoclastic acts that are experienced through the propaganda (videos, social media, photographs, and other media) that the actor perpetrating the destruction makes available in global information networks for its consumption, duplication, and distribution. DMI captures three stages of the destruction (before, during and after the event) as both evidence of that destruction and as a perdurable digital archive. To demonstrate the relevance of DMI, we focus on an analysis of the videos and photographs depicting heritage destruction at pre-monotheistic sites targeted by the Islamic State (IS), such as Palmyra in Syria, the Mosul Cultural Museum, Nineveh and Nimrud in Iraq. The analysis focuses on the three stages that DMI comprises, showing the different photographic and audio-visual production techniques that the IS uses to enhance the tension that is built up leading to the destruction of cultural heritage while allocating material and human resources to produce digital propaganda. This analysis demonstrates how the analytical framework of DMI can be used to advance important work in heritage and media studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article traces the social life of Our Lady of Ipswich, a statue taken to be destroyed during the English Reformation, and the possibility of pilgrimage in the context of dramatic urban change and loss of place memory. Arguing that iconoclasm is not an end‐point, we see that the life of the image is not extinguished on the pyre, but is set into motion by conflict surrounding its significance, efficacy, and survival. Indeed, it is not simply the act of iconoclasm that animates the statue; rather, such agonistic animation is an ongoing process which involves both those who reject and those who are devoted to the image. My argument is that the potency of contemporary images of Our Lady of Ipswich relies on an active cultivation of dissonance: the consciousness of religious schism; the disjuncture between Ipswich's historical importance and the perceived failures of twentieth‐century development; and the juxtaposition between devotional pilgrimage destination and disenchanted shopping space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops the conceptual framework of the ritualization of heritage destruction to analyse and interpret the targeting of pre-monotheistic heritage sites and artefacts by the Islamic State. It draws upon anthropological studies of initiation rituals in violent male cults alongside literature on heritage destruction to conduct a systematic analysis of key Islamic State propaganda outlets. The analysis reveals that the heritage destruction wrought by the Islamic State functions as part of a broader process of ritualization that is instrumental in forming bonds between members and ensuring their allegiance. Such rituals serve multiple purposes: they physically and ideologically separate new recruits from existing social norms and laws; they breed a deference to leadership and create a unified identity towards the potentiality of violence; and they situate heritage destruction itself within a complex symbolic kaleidoscope of prescribed actions and specific attire, invoking connections to an imagined past and repeating the actions of their forbearers. The article concludes by noting that such analysis of the ritualization of heritage destruction is not only vital to understanding how groups such as the Islamic State successfully transform ordinary young men into a violent jihadist communitas, but also in further understanding, and responding to, such attacks on heritage sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monument Avenue, a national historic landmark in Richmond, Virginia, has long been famous for its grand portrait monuments honouring local Civil War "heroes." In 1996, the memorial landscape changed radically with the addition of a bronze portrait statue of Arthur Ashe, a black American who was honoured for his accomplishments as an international tennis star, an author, and a humanitarian. The location and the design of Ashe's portrait monument generated heated debate, and its ultimate inclusion on Monument Avenue was an attempt to challenge the traditional meaning of the space as a memorial to the Lost Cause of the Confederacy. In this article I trace how the racialised narrative of Monument Avenue has been constructed, challenged, upheld, and mediated throughout its long and troubled history. I begin by looking to antiquity both as a framework for understanding how statues have historically worked to construct and challenge cultural narratives and as a means of placing viewer reactions to portrait monuments in a broader historical context. Against this background, I argue that the portrait statue of Arthur Ashe ultimately failed to establish an effective counter-narrative to the traditional interpretation of Monument Avenue as a celebration of a white, Confederate past. Finally, I suggest that repeated small-scale interventions, often in the form of graffiti, have been more successful in confronting, mediating, and challenging the visual message Confederate monuments continue to embody. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]