WA
Jesus: Evangiles & Peintures (Gospels & Paintings)

by

BMG Interactive Entertainment

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Published by the same company who did "The Louvre: Palace & Paintings" in 1995, "Jesus: Gospels & Paintings" (JGP) invites people to discover the life of Jesus through a study of the Gospels, and the sight of masterpieces from the Occidental European art painting. Featuring the same refinement in the interface design and image reproductions as the other titles from the "Imagine the World" collection, JGP once again proves the immense value of the French developer, Montparnasse Multimedia (MM), in the multimedia field. Only available in French at the time of this review, JGP will be translated later this year and distributed worldwide through BMG Interactive Entertainment.

Byzantine Art
What previous MM productions have in common is that they can be explored from many different ways, giving a total freedom to the reader rather than imposing an often boring guideline. Straight from the beginning of JGP, two choices will allow you to select between the twelve key scenes of Jesus's life and the exploration of the characters, places, symbols and words found in the Gospels. The twelve scenes, selected from the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John), retrace the prominent episodes of the life of Jesus, from the Annunciation and baptism of the Christ to the Crucifixion. Each scene consists of animations of about one minute in length that figure characters and landscapes from the paintings themselves, and texts from the Gospels, read by actor Jean Rochefort in the French version. Additional comments setting the scene in its context as well as concise explanations of the scene on a religious point of view are available from the same screen. Should you want to read the texts from where the scene was taken from, the Gospels are included in their entirety on the CD-ROM, with the synoptic table of the Gospels allowing you to compare the different texts.

Angel Gabriel
Angel Gabriel
Art amateurs will be delighted by the richness of the paintings contained in JGP that gathers masterpieces from the early ages of Christianity to the Abstract art of the 20th century, through Middle-Ages and Renaissance. Paintings are grouped by subjects, each scene being represented by different artists from various epochs and art movements. Besides the twelve main scenes that stand out as landmarks in Jesus's life, there are several dozens of other events told in the Gospels that are also animated and commented, which brings the total of scenes to 100. As each scene features several paintings, it is not surprising to find over 300 masterpieces of the Occidental art included in JGP. Art works are explained and analyzed, but unlike "The Louvre: Palace & Paintings" which was more attached to the technique, the commentaries here give more importance to the signification and the symbolism of the picture. You can then explore the image yourself, with zooming and panning features to closely view the details of the painting, or read the biography of the painter.

The exploration part allows you to browse among the characters, places, symbols and words mentioned in the sacred texts. Explanations running several paragraphs will provide you with information about the numerous actors of the Gospels, and while they may be a little too short sometimes, the information is in general enough to satisfy your curiosity. What is great about JGP is that you can very easily navigate from one point to another. For example, from the scene about the Birth of Jesus, it is possible to examine one of the paintings that represents the Nativity, listen to the commentaries, jump to another scene, read the Gospels, learn about the actors of the scene, explore the map, and more. Along your exploration, you can organize your own album, in which you will place the paintings you like the most. Later, a presentation of the entire album is then possible to watch the art works again.

With music from Haendel, Verdi, Vivaldi, Mozart, Berlioz and Mahler, JPG immerses users into a spiritual environment, which goes well with the discovery of the Gospels. It is unfortunate though that the music doesn't play in the background while watching the paintings or reading texts. However, considering the extensive amount of data and information contained in the CD-ROM, plus the fact that it is a Hybrid CD-ROM meaning you can use it on an PC or a Macintosh, I think it's fair to say that nothing else could have been done for that matter.

Conclusion:

A brilliant realization that serves a wonderful content, could be the best description of "Jesus: Gospels & Paintings". If you rave for art, or simply would like to know more about the Gospels, try out "Jesus: Gospels & Paintings", you won't be disappointed!

Written by Frederick Claude

Click here for screen shots.

System Requirements

PC Configuration

486 DX2-66MHz or higher processor,
Windows 3.1 or higher,
Min 8 MB RAM (16 MB recommended),
Hard disk,
256 color SVGA Video Graphic Card which supports 640 x 480 mode,
Double speed CD-ROM drive or faster,
Microsoft mouse or 100% compatible,
16-bit sound card compatible with Windows 95.

Macintosh Configuration

68040 (33Mhz or faster) or Power Macintosh,
System 7 or higher,
Min 5.2Mb of RAM available for the program,
Double-speed CD-ROM drive or faster,
640x480 256 color video display with 13" monitor.

Ratings:

Graphics:94%
Sound:85%
Music:80%
Interface:92%
Interest:90%
Overall:90%

Developers

Montparnasse Multimedia,
69, rue de Richelieu,
75002 Paris,
France.

Technical Support:(+33)-1-4703-1909 Seven days a week 10:00am - 7:00pm GMT+1
Fax Support:(+33)-1-4926-0322 ATTN: Technical Support

Web site: Montparnasse Multimedia
Internet support: Montparnasse Multimedia Technical Support

Publishers

In North America:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
1540 Broadway,
New-York, NY 10036-4098.

In Europe:

In UK:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
Bedford House, 69-79 Fulham Hight St,
London, SW6 3JW.

Technical Support:+44-171-384-7864 Monday to Friday 10:00am-4:00pm UK time

In France:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
4-6 Place de la Bourse,
75002 Paris.

In Germany:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
Kastenbauerstrasse 2,
81677 Munchen.

In Switzerland:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
Letzigraben 89,
CH-8047 Zurich.

In Belgium:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
Square Francois Riga 30, Bt 8,
1030 Brussels.

Technical Support:+32-(0)2-240-2811 Monday to Friday 11:00am to 5:00pm GMT-1
Fax Support:+32-(02)-240-2865

In Netherlands:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
Postbus 752,
1200 AT Hilversum.

Technical Support:+31-(035)-6256256
Fax Support:+31-(035)-6233872

In Sweden:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
Starrbackgatan 1,
P.O. Box 1092,
172 21 Sundyberg.

In Norway:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
P.O. Box 7030,
Homansbyen,
0306 Oslo.

In Asia:

In Japan:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
1-3-9 Shibuya,
Shibuya Ku,
Tokyo 150.

In Singapore:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
Alexandra Distripark,
Blk 2, 11-01/04,
Pasir Panjang Rd,
0511 Singapore.

In Pacific:

In Australia:

BMG Interactive Entertainment,
194 Miller St,
North Sydney, NSW 2060.

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