Always Among Us: Images of the Poor in Zwingli's Zurich
"The perception of the poor as living images of God was given visual expression in the title-page prints of Zwingli's pamphlets, where the words were given more direct and powerful meaning. Wandel reminds us that the poor were not a usual subject in the art of the Zurich churches. Beggars in most fifteenth- and sixteenth-century representations were depicted as passive recipients of alms, whereas in the Zwingli title-pages, Christ and the poor were linked in an active, responsive relationship. In two of these, Christ reached out to a group of the poor. They, in turn, reached out to him. The ideal relationship between God and men was clearly portrayed; God's grace and love flowed out to those ready to receive it. 'By mirroring Christ's gesture, the poor made visible the presence of God's love among them.'" (p. II9), Miriam Chrisman review in Renaissance Quarterly 45(1992): 842.