Architecture: religious buildings Books

Book SynopsisThe celebrated Great Mosque of Damascus was built in the early eighth century by the Umayyad caliph al-Walīd b. ‘Abd al-Malik. This book provides a detailed study of this Mosque. Using textual, visual, and archaeological evidence, the author attempts to reconstruct some of the basic formal and decorative features of the Umayyad mosque, to locate it within its broader urban context, and to consider its role within al-Walīd's unprecedented programme of architectural patronage. The work explores the intracultural and intercultural functions of religious architecture within an official visual discourse intended to project a distinctive Muslim identity in a manner determined by Umayyad political aspirations. It will be of particular interest to those concerned with the relationship between the Umayyad caliphate and Byzantium.Trade Review'...a compelling account...a book that will be read with profit by all those concerned with the material culture of the Early Islamic and Byzantine worlds.’ Marcus Milwright, Journal of Islamic Studies. '...this is a superbly informed, enthusiastically written, imaginatively crafted book for the historian of art or culture.' Oleg Grabar, JSAH, 2001.

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Book SynopsisQueen as King traces the origins of San Isidoro in León as a royal monastic complex, following its progress as the site changed from a small eleventh-century palatine chapel housed in a double monastery to a great twelfth-century pilgrimage church served by Augustinian canons. Its most groundbreaking contribution to the history of art is the recovery of the lost patronage of Queen Urraca (reigned 1109-1126). Urraca maintained yet subverted her family’s tradition of patronage on the site: to understand her history is to hold the key to the art and architecture of San Isidoro. This new approach to San Isidoro and its patronage allows a major Romanesque monument to be understood more fully than before.Trade Review'...Thanks to Therese Martin's sweeping and accessible study of the royal family of León and its patronage of a series of monuments in their capital city, Spain's art historical isolation through the early twelfth century has been breached. Informed by the last two decades of feminist scholarship, Martin has shone a very revealing light on a series of, until now, misunderstood monuments, and put in high relief the contributions of Spain's royal women to the development of its artistic, and political, traditions.... This is an astoundingly synthetic work. Martin draws on the evidence of chronicles, inscriptions, manuscript painting, sculptural and architectural style, iconography from sculpture and paintings, archeological remnants, and mason's marks.'... Diane Reilly, Medieval Feminist Forum, 2007. '...Martin's meticulous analysis of the structure of the church and the work of its masons is impressive, and she may be correct in re-assigning the patronage of this important church...' Rose Walker, The Medieval Review, 2007. ...Therese Martin has written a fascinating, intricate study. … With its engaging text, lavish illustrations, informative appendices, and exciting interpretations, Queen as King is a real pleasure to read and savor.... Ernest E. Jenkins, Bulletin of the Society for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies, vol. XXXII, 1 and 2, 2007 “Using a rich mixture of evidence, art historian Therese Martin persuasively makes the case that Queen Urraca of Castilla-León (r. 1109-1126) was one of the most significant patrons of San Isidoro of León. Martin effectively incorporates the technical aspects of architectural history into a larger narrative of political history... Queen as King grapples with the relationship between architecture, gender, and history, and significantly adds to the historiography of Queen Urraca, an important ruler of the Spanish Middle Ages.” Miriam Shadis, American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain, Newsletter: Spring – Supplement "The study of medieval queens as agents in European political life and as patrons of visual culture has mushroomed in the past decade from an obscure subject to a lively field. Therese Martin's book makes valuable contributions to the topic, for her study is at once a comprehensive monograph of a key Romanesque monument, San Isidoro de León, an analysis of the decisive impact of the female patronage in the construction and cultic identity of the church, and a consideration of the rulership of one of the key patrons of San Isidoro... One of the most valuable contributions of Martin's volume is her survey of literature not widely known beyond Hispanic specialists. In addition to a rich bibliography on San Isidro and related monuments, Queen as King offers access to valuable resources for Spanish royal women... " Kathleen Nolan, Speculum, 2008 '...Martin's is the first study to unite the analysis of archaeological data, the study of chronicles and charters, epigraphy, stylistic analysis, the politics of patronage, and a feminist perspective... Looking hard at evidence often skimmed over by previous scholars, she builds a convincing case that the present structure was largely completed under the patronage of Queen Urraca (r. 1109-26), who ruled the unified kingdoms of Spain as an independent monarch, an unprecedented role for a woman in medieval Iberia... An important contribution to both the history of art and the understanding of medieval queenship...' Alexa K. Sand, Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXIX/2 2008Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Chapter One From Patron to Harlot: How Did Queen Urraca Get Here from There? Chapter Two The Establishment of San Isidoro as a Palatine Chapel: Fernando I (d. 1065) and Sancha (d. 1067) Chapter Three The Power of the King’s Sister: The Infanta Urraca (d. 1101) and Alfonso VI (d. 1109) Chapter Four Dynastic Propaganda in a Queen’s Patronage at San Isidoro: Urraca of León-Castilla (reigned 1109–1126) Chapter Five The Painted Cycle of the “Pantheon,” c. 1109 Chapter Six The Infanta Sancha (d. 1159), Alfonso VII (d. 1157), and Construction of the Monastic Complex Chapter Seven Queen as King: Urraca of León-Castilla (d. 1126), Matilda of England (d. 1167), and Melisende of Jerusalem (d. 1161) Appendix A Capitals Appendix B Masons’ Marks Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn Tombs in Early Modern Rome (1400–1600), Jan L. de Jong reveals how funerary monuments, far from simply marking a grave, offered an image of the deceased that was carefully crafted to generate a laudable memory and prompt meditative reflections on life, death, and the hereafter. This leads to such questions as: which image of themselves did cardinals create when they commissioned their own tomb monuments? Why were most popes buried in grandiose tomb monuments that they claimed they did not want? Which memory of their mothers did children create, and what do tombs for children tell about mothers? Were certain couples buried together so as to demonstrate their eternal love, expecting an afterlife in each other’s company?Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Introduction 1 Nos tegimus cineres, spiritus astra tenet: Monuments, Mortal Remains and the Soul  1 Problems Caused by Tombs in Church Buildings  2 Epitaphs: Composing and Carving  3 Functions of Tomb Monuments  4 Beliefs and Convictions  5 Studying Tomb Monuments 2 (Vivens) sibi posuit: Cardinals Planning Their Own Tomb Monument  1 Questions  2 Opulence and Modesty  3 The Role of Inscriptions  4 Pride and Self-Promotion  5 Monuments of Vain Glory?  6 Cardinal Giovanni Ricci  7 Conclusions 3 Qui semper vanos tumuli contempsit honores: Directing the Memory of the Pope  1 Questions  2 The Popes’ Wishes  3 Respectfully Securing the Popes’ Memory  4 Modesty Ignored  5 Conclusions 4 Optima, prudentissima, infelicissima: Mothers and Monuments  1 Questions  2 Tomb Monuments Erected for Mothers  3 Tomb Monuments Erected by Mothers for Their Children  4 Conclusions 5 Concordes et amantissime: Tomb Monuments for Spouses  1 Questions  2 Coniuges viventes fecerunt: Erected by Both Spouses Still Alive  3 Coniugi et sibi: Erected by the Surviving Spouse  4 Suis dulcissimis parentibus: Erected by the Children under Will of Their Parents  5 Conclusions Conclusion Abbreviations of Frequently Mentioned Publications General Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisDespite the recent explosion of research on ancient synagogues, investigators in the field have hitherto been forced to cull relevant evidence from a vast assortment of scholarly publications. This volume gathers for the first time all of the primary source material on the early synagogues up through the Second Century C. E. In the case of literary, epigraphic and papyrological evidence, catalog entries contain the texts in their original language and in English translation. For archaeological remains, entries provide technical descriptions along with plans and photographs. All listings are accompanied by bibliographic citations and interpretative comments. An Introduction frames the current state of synagogue research, while extensive indices and cross-references allow for easy location of specific allusions. An appendix to the catalog contains source materials on Jewish temples outside of Jerusalem.Trade Review'Everyone interested in the ancient synagogue may benefit from all the literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence.' - James H. Charlesworth, Princeton Theological Seminary, in: Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 14 (2016) 'This volume will be extremely helpful for scholars and general readers interested primarily in synagogue buildings prior to the third century C.E [...].this sourcebook serves its purpose admirably. The book is user-friendly due to the numbering system, the detailed and well-organized table of contents, and the various indexes. To my knowledge, the sourcebook is complete, within its stated geographical and chronological parameters [...]. The book is a most welcome addition to the reference shelf of scholars working in the areas of Second Temple Judaism, early Christianity, archaeology, ritual, and many others, particularly now that it is available in paperback and therefore more affordable edition.' - Adele Reinhartz, University of Ottawa, in: RBL 02/2012 'This comprehensive compendium of literary, archaeological, epigraphical, and papyrological sources about the ancient synagogue, accompanied by insightful comments and up-to-date bibliography, is an essential tool for any student of Jewish and Christian life during the first centuries CE. Covering the Diaspora as well as Judaea, the volume is an invaluable reference book for gaining an in-depth picture of this multifaceted institution, which had a profound and lasting effect on the development of many aspects of both church and mosque as well.' - Lee Levine, Professor of Jewish History & Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem "All students of early Judaism and early Christianity will find this volume an essential companion in their efforts to understand the origins and development of both religions. It is unique in that it brings together all the available evidence, both literary and archaeological from the Diaspora and the homeland, dealing with the synagogue as an institution and a building. The authors, experts in the field, introduce a vast amount of information in a user-friendly manner. Each entry, arranged in alphabetical order, has a site description, the relevant literary and inscriptional sources, provided with brief but pointed commentary, introducing the wider discussion about the various sites. A brief introductory chapter helps the reader to enter this relatively new and rapidly developing field of enquriy, as well as outlining the reasons in deciding the parameters of the volume. I can recommend it with enthusiasm." - Sean Freyne, Professor of Theology emeritus, Trinity Colllege, Dublin / Visiting Professor of Early Christian History and Literature, Harvard Divinity School 'One of the frustrating aspects of studying ancient Judaism before the third century ce is the difficulty of assessing the scant evidence for synagogues. The evidence had been dispersed in archaeological reports, ancient literature, and inscriptions, despite the growing availability of evidence through the internet, namely on the website created by one of the authors of the current volume (Binder: http://www.pohick.org/sts/). With the advent of the source book under review, the evidence is now readily available in convenient book form. This is a monumental achievement and should change the face of synagogue studies at all levels of expertise.' - Stephen P. Ahearne-Kroll, in: Biblical Theology Bulletin, 2009 “A key methodological problem in constructing a picture of the development of ancient synagogues arises from the limited and perspectival nature of each of our data-sets: rabbinic rulings, other literary references, inscriptions, and archaeological remains. The Ancient Synagogue is a key resource in overcoming this problem: for the first time we have a comprehensive collection of literary, epigraphical, papyrological, and archaeological sources bearing on ancient synagogues. Each lemma comes with a brief but up-to-date bibliography and short commentary and the editors have supplied both primary texts and English translations, making this an indispensable resource for all who work on ancient synagogues. This is a splendid achievement of scholarship.” - J.S. Kloppenborg, Professor, Trinity College, Toronto “This source book comes at a propitious time in the study of ancient synagogues and their origins. It is an invaluable resource for everyone interested in—and not infrequently puzzled by—the organizational and architectural development of synagogues prior to 200 CE. The combination of textual and archaeological material, with judicious commentaries and some well chosen drawings, are essential features of the book’s usefulness. It will be much referred to in the coming years, and its judgements will help shape the contours of the ongoing debates.” - Peter Richardson, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto “This volume contains ancient texts such as Josephus, the New Testament, and the Mishnah in their original languages and in (often new) translation, but also archaeological evidence and inscriptions—in their language and translated. Each entry features a bibliography and comment on matters that the text or archaeology raises. There is an extensive bibliography and an index. It has been put together by well-known scholars in the field, and their work is exhaustive and impeccable. We could not reasonably ask for more. It is simply an indispensable resource for the serious researcher and the student alike.” - James F. Strange, Distinguished University Professor, the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida "This is an ideal resource. It is comprehensive, well written, concise, thoroughly referenced to both primary literature and the most important secondary literature, and easily used without burdening readers with less important secondary discussions. The book is an essential tool for anyone doing work that intersects with the ancient synagogue." - Daniel M. Gurtner, in: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Dec 2008 "This volume by three well-known experts is a welcome addition to the burgeoning literature on the topic of the ancient synagogue. ...For each synagogue site, text, or inscription, the authors include all relevant literary references, and a bibliography. All entries include a comment section that provides historical and literary background. The primary sources, whether Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, or Latin, are provided in the original languages followed by an English translation. The book is amply illustrated with maps, drawings, and photographs. …Scholars in the fields of New Testament, Classics, Archaeology, Jewish History, and biblical studies will find the present volume an important reference tool. This book is essential for research libraries, and well worth the investment for anyone interested in this fascinating topic." - Kenneth Atkinson, in: Journal for the Study of Judaism 40/1 (2009) 134-135 "The Ancient Synagogue represents a remarkable contribution to what might become a renewed quest for the historical synagogue. For the first time all sources related to the synagogue prior to 200 CE – both literary and archaeological – have been collected together in one place. …[T]he comments provided by the authors have created a work that is much more than simply a compilation of source material… The Ancient Synagogue is an extremely useful compendium. The authors have achieved their goal (p.15) of providing a user-friendly compilation of all known sources related to the synagogue between the 3rd century BCE and 200 CE, and it is clear that this volume will be a required reference for all future synagogue studies." - Justin Winger, University of Michigan [http://www.enochseminar.org/henochjournal/editors/2008/RunessonEtc%20(Winger).doc] "At a time when research on the ancient synagogue is as prolific as ever, Runesson, Binder, and Olsson provide us with a most useful source book on the earliest evidence of the ancient synagogue. …200 C.E. is a well chosen “terminus ante quem” because it allows the authors to include the Mishnah as an important source for the early synagogue (even if, as the authors rightly stress [p. 3 n.5], rabbinic influence on the synagogue became truly important only later). By not choosing the year 70 as a cut-off date, the editors wisely avoid “taking a stance” (p. 15) with respect to the importance of the fall of the temple in Jerusalem for the development of the ancient synagogue. What makes the book unusual and incredibly helpful is that it brings together literary and archaeological sources…The comments, both on archaeological sites and on literary sources, are always sound and well argued…. I recently used this source book for a seminar on the ancient synagogue and I can only recommend it highly." - René Bloch, University of Bern, in: Journal of Hebrew Scriptures Vol. 9 (2009)

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Book SynopsisIn Terracotta and domestic worship. Bestiary of the Graeco-Roman Egypt, Celine Boutantin provides a synthesis of the production workshops figurines and studies personal beliefs and practices in Graeco-Roman Egypt. Dans Terres cuites et culte domestique. Bestiaire de l’Égypte gréco-romaine, Céline Boutantin dresse un bilan sur les ateliers de production de figurines et aborde la question des croyances et des pratiques personnelles en Égypte à l’époque gréco-romaine.

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Book SynopsisIn his richly illustrated Religion and Architecture in Premodern Indonesia Gaudenz Domenig investigates the nature of Indonesian ethnic religions by focusing on land opening rituals, sacred groves, and architectural responses to the custom of presenting offerings. Since deities and spirits were supposed to taste offerings on the spot, it was a task of architecture to attract them and to guide them into houses where offerings were presented. Domenig quotes numerous sources to show that certain material elements of the house were viewed as spirit attractors, spirit ladders or spirit pathways. Various ‘exotic’ features of Indonesian vernacular architecture thus become understandable as relics from times when architecture was still responding to indigenous religions practised in the archipelago.Trade Review"[...] this monograph is remarkable both for its thoroughness and the distinctive perspective its author brings to the topic." – Webb Keane, in Asian Ethnology 75.2 (2016), p. 489-493. "[...] this study is an invaluable contribution to the history of architecture, especially concerning the communities of Western and Eastern Indonesia, and by extension, other parts of Southeast Asia with related cultural linkages." – Hélène Njoto, in Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 172 (2016), p. 384-386. "The idea that vernacular architectures lend concrete form to the worldviews of their creators is certainly not a new one, but it has never been explored in such depth or with such a degree of sophistication as we find in these pages. The originality of Domenig’s discussion marks a real breakthrough in the understanding of indigenous architectures of the archipelago, and his book will go on providing food for thought for both architects and ethnographers for a long time to come." – Roxana Waterson "This is a splendid book in spatial anthropology." – Wolfgang Marschall, in Anthropos 110 (2015).

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Book SynopsisIn Spiritus Loci Bert Daelemans, who graduated as an architect and a theologian, provides an interdisciplinary method for the theological assessment of church architecture. Rather than a theory, this method is based on case studies of contemporary buildings (1995-2015), which are often criticized for lacking theological depth. In a threefold method, the author brings to light the ways in which architecture can be theology – or theotopy – by focusing on topoi (places) rather than logoi (words). Churches reveal our relationship with God by engaging our body, mind, and community. This method proves relevant not only for the way we perceive these buildings, but also for the way we use them, especially in our prophetic engagement for a better world.

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Book SynopsisIn Royal Umbrellas of Stone: Memory, Politics, and Public Identity in Rajput Funerary Art, Melia Belli Bose provides the first analysis of Rajput chatrīs ("umbrellas"; cenotaphs) built between the sixteenth to early-twentieth centuries. New kings constructed chatrīs for their late fathers as statements of legitimacy. During periods of political upheaval patrons introduced new forms and decorations to respond to current events and evoke a particular past. Offering detailed analyses of individual cenotaphs and engaging with art historical and epigraphic evidence, as well as ethnography and ritual, this book locates the chatrīs within their original social, political, and religious milieux. It also compares the chatrīs to other Rajput arts to understand how arts of different media targeted specific audiences.

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Book SynopsisIn Architecture, Power and Religion in Lebanon, Ward Vloeberghs explores Rafiq Hariri’s patronage and his posthumous legacy to demonstrate how religious architecture becomes a site for power struggles in contemporary Beirut. By tracing the 150 year-long history of the Muhammad al-Amin Mosque – Lebanon’s principal Sunni mosque – and the subsequent development of the site as a commemoration venue, this account offers a unique illustration of how architecture, religion and power become discursively and visually entangled. Set in a multi-confessional society marked by social inequalities and political fragmentation, this interdisciplinary study analyses how architectural practice and urban reconfigurations reveal a nascent personality cult, communal mourning, and the consolidation of political territory in relation to constantly shifting circumstances.

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Book SynopsisIn Applied Emblems in the Cathedral of Lugo, Carme López Calderón explores the emblematic programme found in the Chapel of Nuestra Señora de los Ojos Grandes (Galicia, Spain), consisting of fifty-eight emblems painted c. 1735. Making use of a wide range of printed sources, the author delves into the meaning of each emblem and provides an all-encompassing interpretation of this cycle, which can rightly be described as the richest and most complete programme of Marian applied emblematics in the Iberian Peninsula.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Note on Citation and Translation Introduction 1 Emblematics and Mariology 2 Emblematic Sources for the Chapel  1 Pancarpium marianum (Antuerpiae, 1607)  2 Schola cordis (Antuerpiae, 1629)  3 Mundus symbolicus (Coloniae Agrippinae, 1681)  4 Tractatus moralis (Gandavi, 1660) and Rosa laureada entre los santos (Madrid, 1670) 3 The Paintings Inspired by the Pancarpium Marianum  1 The Scriptural Titles of Mary 4 Further Play on Sacred Emblematics  1 The Excellences of Mary  2 The Perfection of the Faithful through the Schola Cordis 5 Suggested Reading: Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in the Service of Marian Devotion Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn Touching the Passion — Seeing Late Medieval Altarpieces through the Eyes of Faith, Donna Sadler explores the manner in which worshipers responded to the carved and polychromed retables adorning the altars of their parish churches. Framed by the symbolic death of Christ re-enacted during the Mass, the historical account of the Passion on the retable situated Christ’s suffering and triumph over death in the present. The dramatic gestures, contemporary garb, and wealth of anecdotal detail on the altarpiece, invited the viewer’s absorption in the narrative. As in the Imitatio Christi, the worshiper imaginatively projected himself into the story like a child before a dollhouse. The five senses, the sculptural medium, the small scale, and the rhetoric of memory foster this immersion.Trade Review“This compact, thorough, well-illustrated book is a reliable indicator of advanced research in its field over the past thirty years.” Robert W. Gaston, University of Melbourne. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 73, No. 1 (Spring 2020), pp. 232–234. “Thought provoking.” Louise Hampson, University of York. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 50, No. 2 (Summer 2019), pp. 541–543. “In tracing the complex relationships formed between altarpieces as objects and loci of memory, and the interior and exterior worlds of the medieval viewer, this book not only fulfils Sadler’s stated intent in demonstrating the importance of the carved altarpieces in late medieval practices of devotion, it also shows their value as evidence for the centrality of the nexus between emotions and the material world in those practices.” Sarah Randles, The University of Melbourne/University of Tasmania. In: Emotions, Vol. 2, No. 2 (2018), pp. 355–356.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Illustrations 1 Coming to Terms with the Late Medieval Altarpiece 2 A Tale of Two Retables from the Benedictine Monastery of Crisenon in the Musée-Abbaye Saint-Germain, Auxerre 3 The Aesthetics of Immersion: The Reception of the Retable by the Worshipers 4 Engagement with the Pathos of the Passion 5 The Role of the Frame Epilogue: The Late Medieval Altarpiece as House of Memory Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisSacred Thresholds. The Door to the Sanctuary in Late Antiquity offers a far-reaching account of boundaries within pagan and Christian sanctuaries: gateways in a precinct, outer doors of a temple or church, inner doors of a cella. The study of these liminal spaces within Late Antiquity – itself a key period of transition during the spread of Christianity, when cultural paradigms were redefined – demands an approach that is both interdisciplinary and diachronic. Emilie van Opstall brings together both upcoming and noted scholars of Greek and Latin literature and epigraphy, archaeology, art history, philosophy, and religion to discuss the experience of those who crossed from the worldly to the divine, both physically and symbolically. What did this passage from the profane to the sacred mean to them, on a sensory, emotive and intellectual level? Who was excluded, and who was admitted? The articles each offer a unique perspective on pagan and Christian sanctuary doors in the Late Antique Mediterranean.Trade Review"The volume has many strengths, not least its examination of a wide variety of sources, with well-known authors such as Gregory of Tours being used alongside lesser known epigrams (...) this is a nicely produced, readable, and interesting collection of essays which researchers interested in concepts of space, transition, and experience, especially in religious contexts, will find useful." - Michael Wuk, University of Nottingham, in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2019.05.09 "Sacred Thresholds is a welcome addition to studies of architectural framing devices, spaces of initiation, and sensory perception in ritual environments (...) an excellent contribution to the burgeoning field of liminality studies." - Nathan S. Dennis, University of San Fransisco, in: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 78.4 (2019) "Insgesamt ist der von van Opstall herausgegebene Sammelband, der durch ein Abbildungsverzeichnis (VII–X), einen Überblick zu den Autoren (XI–XIII), einen Index (371–376) und wenige, dafür aber gut ausgewählte Abbildungen in den einzelnen Beiträgen abgerundet wird, eine sehr willkommene Ergänzung zu verschiedenen Aspekten der Liminalität in der Spätantike. (...) Dennoch wird van Opstalls Publikation vor allem dank einiger ausgezeichneter Einzelstudien für zukünftige Forschungen auf diesem Gebiet unerlässlich sein." - Sabine Feist, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, in: Plekos 22, 2020 "(...) this is an extremely interesting collection of essays that can appeal to art historians, philologists and scholars in religious studies. It fulfills its promise to consider doors and thresholds from different points of view, revealing one important aspect in the dynamics of sacred spaces from ancient Greek temples to early Byzantine churches." - Beatrice Caseau, Université Paris-Sorbonne, in: Arys 18, 2020Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Contributors General Introduction  Emilie M. van Opstall Part 1 
Experiencing Sacred Thresholds 1 On the Threshold Paul the Silentiary’s Ekphrasis of Hagia Sophia  Emilie M. van Opstall 2 Entering the Baptistery Spatial, Identity and Salvific Transitions in Fourth- and Fifth-Century Baptismal Liturgies  Juliette Day 3 From Taboo to Icon The Entrance to and the Exit from the Church in the First Three Greek Liturgical Commentaries (ca 500–730 CE)  Christian Boudignon 4 Bonus Intra, Melior Exi! ‘Inside’ and ‘Outside’ at Greek Incubation Sanctuaries  Ildikó Csepregi Part 2 
Symbolism and Allegory 0f Sanctuary Doors 5 Sanctuary Doors, Vestibules and Adyta in the Works of Neoplatonic Philosophers  Lucia Maddalena Tissi 6 The Paradise of Saint Peter’s  Sible L. de Blaauw 7 Imagining the Entrance to the Afterlife Peter as the Gatekeeper of Heaven in Early Christianity  Roald Dijkstra Part 3 
Messages in Stone 8 The Queen of Inscriptions Contextualized The Presence of Civic Inscriptions in the pronaos of Ancient Temples in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor (Fourth Century BCE—Second Century CE)  Evelien J.J. Roels 9 Versus De Limine and In Limine Displaying Greek paideia at the Entrance of Early Christian Churches  Gianfranco Agosti 10 The Door to the Sanctuary from Paulinus of Nola to Gregory of Tours Enduring Characteristics and Evolutions from the Theodosian to the Merovingian Period    Gaëlle Herbert de la Portbarré-Viard Part 4 
The Presence of the Divine 11 Filters of Light Greek Temple Doors as Portals of Epiphany  Christina G. Williamson 12 The Other Door of the Sanctuary The Apse and Divine Entry in the Early Byzantine Church  Brooke Shilling

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Book SynopsisJewish Religious Architecture explores ways that Jews have expressed their tradition in brick and mortar and wood, in stone and word and spirit, from the biblical Tabernacle to contemporary Judaism. Social historians, cultural historians, art historians and philologists have come together in this volume to explore this extraordinary architectural tradition.  Trade Review"(...) this book of essays fills a needed gap in Jewish art and material culture. It is the first that provides an expansive overlook of Jewish architecture from biblical times to our days, attempting to include side by side known and well-studied monuments with lesser-known chapters of the long history and vast geography of the Jewish experience." - Shalom Sabar, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in: Review of Biblical Literature 08/2021.Table of ContentsPreface List of Figure  Introduction  Steven Fine 1  The Biblical Tabernacle: From Sinai to Jerusalem  Carol Meyers 2  The Temple of Jerusalem in Biblical Israel  Victor Avigdor Hurowitzז״ל 3  The Second Temple of Jerusalem: Center of the Jewish Universe  Joseph L. Angel 4  Herod’s Temple: An Ornament to the Empire  Peter Schertz and Steven Fine 5  Synagogues in the Greco–Roman World  Steven Fine 6  The Ancient Synagogues of Asia Minor and Greece  Mark Wilson 7  Synagogues in the Islamic World  Joshua Holo 8  Synagogues of Spain and Portugal during the Middle Ages  Vivian B. Mann 9 Western Ashkenazi Synagogues in Medieval and Early Modern Europe  Ena Giurescu Heller 10  Synagogues in Central and Eastern Europe in the Early Modern Period  Batsheva Goldman-Ida 11  Christian Perceptions of Jewish Sacred Architecture in Early Modern Europe  Yaacov Deutsch 12  Jewish Sacred Architecture in the Spanish and Portuguese Diaspora  Ronnie Perelis 13  Jewish Sacred Architecture in the Ottoman Empire  Reuven Gafni 14  Synagogues in India and Myanmar  Jay A. Waronker 15  Italian Synagogues from 1492 to the Present  Samuel D. Gruber 16  Reimagining the Synagogue in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries  Jess Olson 17  Modern Synagogue Architecture  Samuel D. Gruber 18  The Sacred Architecture of Contemporary Hasidism  Maya Balakirsky Katz 19  The Sukkah as Sacred Architecture  Shulamit Laderman 20  The Eruv: From the Talmud to Contemporary Art  Margaret Olin

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Book SynopsisIn Glorious Temples or Babylonic Whores, Anne-Françoise Morel offers an account of the intellectual and cultural history of places of worship in Stuart England. Official documents issued by the Church of England rarely addressed issues regarding the status, function, use, and design of churches; but consecration sermons turn time and again to the conditions and qualities befitting a place of worship in Post-Reformation England. Placing the church building directly in the midst of the heated discussions on the polity and ceremonies of the Church of England, this book recovers a vital lost area of architectural discourse. It demonstrates that the religious principles of church building were enhanced by, and contributed to, scientific developments in fields outside the realm of religion, such as epistemology, the theory of sense perception, aesthetics, rhetoric, antiquarianism, and architecture.Trade ReviewShortlisted for the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (SAHGB) Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion 2020Table of ContentsContents AcknowledgmentsI PrefaceI List of IllustrationsV Introduction: The Glorious Jerusalem and the Harlot Babylon  1 Consecration Sermons in the Church of England  2 A Complicated Religious Landscape  3 Labelling Religion  4 Religious Difference and Church Buildings  5 The Structure of the Book 1 What? How? Why?: Church Consecration in England 1549–1715, an Unestablished Ceremony  1 Books of Homilies, 1562–63: on the Use of the Church Building  2 Fading of the Ritual  3 “Forms” of Consecration  4 Conclusion 2 Preaching in and on ‘the Temple’: Types and Models for Church Building  1 Biblical Examples as Divine Inspiration for Holy Places  2 The Foundation of the Church: Patriarchs and Anglo-Saxon Early Christianity  3 Bellarmine, the Voice of a Respected Roman Catholic Opponent  4 Conclusion 3 The Spirit of Holiness  1 The Holiness, in Spirit, and in Truth  2 The Building and the Idol  3 Conclusion 4 Sense Perception and the Performativity of Architecture  1 The Devotee’s Sensory Impressions  2 Senses, Passions and Magnificence in the Seventeenth Century  3 Rhetoric of Architecture  4 Conclusion 5 The Culture of Church Building at the Crossroads of History, Theology, and Architecture  1 Describing the Church Building: from Confessional Interest to Architectural History  2 Building a Historical Lineage  3 The Architectural Debate  4 Conclusion Conclusion 6 Gazetter  Preface List of Case Studies Case Studies Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn Architecture of the World’s Major Religions: An Essay on Themes, Differences, and Similarities, Thomas Barrie presents and explains religious architecture in ways that challenge predominant presumptions regarding its aesthetic, formal, spatial, and scenographic elements. Two positions frame its narrative: religious architecture is an amalgam of aesthetic, social, political, cultural, economic, and doctrinal elements; and these elements are materialized in often very different ways in the world’s principal religions. Central to the work’s theoretical approaches is the communicative and discursive agency of religious architecture, and the multisensory and ritual spaces it provides to create and deliver content. Subsequently, mythical and scriptural foundations, and symbols of ecclesiastical and political power are of equal interest to formal organizations of thresholds, paths, courts, and centers, and celestial and geometric alignments. Moreover, it is equally concerned with the aesthetic, visual and material cultures and the transcendent realms they were designed to evoke, as it is with the kinesthetic, the dynamic and multisensory experience of place and the tangible experiences of the body’s interactions with architecture.Table of ContentsArchitecture of the World’s Major Religions An Essay on Themes, Differences, and Similarities  Thomas Barrie  Abstract  Keywords  1 Introduction  2 Approaches, Reconsiderations, and Contextual Themes and Typologies  3 Judaism  4 Christianity  5 Islam  6 Hinduism  7 Taoism  8 Buddhism  9 Coda  Acknowledgements  Cited Works

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Book SynopsisThis book, the first of three, offers an anthology of Western descriptions of Islamic religious buildings of Spain, Turkey, India and Persia, mostly from the seventeenth to early twentieth centuries, taken from books and ambassadorial reports. As travel became easier and cheaper, thanks to viable roads, steamships, hotels and railways, tourist numbers increased, museums accumulated eastern treasures, illustrated journals proliferated, and photography provided accurate data. The second volume covers some of the religious architecture of Syria, Egypt and North Africa, while the third deals with Islamic palaces around the Mediterranean. All three deal with the impact of Western trade, taste and imports on the East, and examine the encroachment of westernised modernism, judged responsible for the degradation of Islamic styles.Table of ContentsContents Preface for the Three Volumes List of Illustrations 1 Introduction  1 Overview  2 Crusades in East and West  3 Contacts through Trade Trigger Westernised Modernisation  4 Constantinople  5 Arrangement of the Book 2 Churches, Mosques and Travellers  1 Westerners Travel around the East  2 Ambassadors Study the Empire  3 Viewing Mosque Architecture  4 Drawing Mosque Exteriors and Interiors  5 A Conflicting Mix of Ideas and Beliefs  6 Forgotten? Westerners and the Eastern Crusades  7 Dress and Doctors  8 Western Habits and Actions Offend Muslims: Footwear and Spitting  9 The End of Islam? The Empire in Decline?  10 The Various Inhabitants of the Empire  11 Architecture in the Empire: Wood, Maintenance and Competence  12 Advice to Western Travellers from Western Authors  13 East Is East: The Development of Curiosity Travel 3 Spain  1 Christians versus Muslims  2 The Alhambra, Granada (Reconquered 1492)  3 Charles V and Architecture  4 Córdoba: the Great Mosque (Mezquita)  5 Seville (Recaptured in 1248)  6 Girault de Prangey and Arab Architecture 4 Constantinople and Adrianople with a Note on Greece  1 The Imperial Firman  2 The Ottoman Building Programme  3 Collecting Manuscripts in Constantinople  4 Adrianople  5 Constantinople  6 Cityscape: “‘Tis Distance Lends Enchantment to the View”  7 Cityscape: Strolling the Streets  8 Seeing Hagia Sophias Everywhere They Look: Royal Mosques  9 Domes, Minarets, and Dimensions  10 Some Constantinople Mosques Visited by Travellers  11 Topkapi / Seraglio  12 Greece: Athens  13 Tripolitza 5 Asia Minor  1 On and Off the Beaten Track  2 Aleppo  3 Alexandria Troas  4 Ankara  5 Ayasoluk – Selçuk – Ephesus  6 Bursa  7 Cyzicus  8 The Dardanelles and Its Cannon  9 Erzerum  10 Karaman, Mut and Nigde  11 Konya  12 Lampsacus  13 Magnesia / Manisa  14 Miletus  15 Mylasa  16 Nicaea  17 Pergamum  18 Smyrna 6 India and Persia  1 India  2 Persia  3 Collecting Persian Tiles  4 A Miscellany of Mosques 7 Coda: Mecca and Medina Bibliography – Sources Bibliography – Modern Scholars Index Illustrations

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Book SynopsisInside Christian churches, natural light has long been harnessed to underscore theological, symbolic, and ideological statements. In this volume, twenty-four international scholars with various specialties explore how the study of sunlight can reveal essential aspects of the design, decoration, and function of medieval sacred spaces. Themes covered include the interaction between patrons, advisors, architects, and artists, as well as local negotiations among competing traditions that yielded new visual and spatial constructs for which natural light served as a defining and unifying factor. The study of natural light in medieval churches reveals cultural relations, knowledge transfer patterns, processes of translation and adaptation, as well as experiential aspects of sacred spaces in the Middle Ages. Contributors are: Anna Adashinskaya, Jelena Bogdanović, Debanjana Chatterjee, Ljiljana Čavić, Aleksandar Čučaković, Dušan Danilović, Magdalena Dragović, Natalia Figueiras Pimentel, Leslie Forehand, Jacob Gasper, Vera Henkelmann, Gabriel-Dinu Herea, Vladimir Ivanovici, Charles Kerton, Jorge López Quiroga, Anastasija Martinenko, Andrea Mattiello, Rubén G. Mendoza, Dimitris Minasidis, Maria Paschali, Marko Pejić, Iakovos Potamianos, Maria Shevelkina, Alice Isabella Sullivan, Travis Yeager, and Olga Yunak.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Notes on Contributors Introduction  Vladimir Ivanovici and Alice Isabella Sullivan Part 1: Light, Theology, and Aesthetics 1 Illuminated by Divine Presence: Natural Light in the Katholikon at Dečani Monastery  Anna Adashinskaya 2 Natural Darkness and the Transfiguration Church on Il’ina Street in Novgorod (1378)  Olga Yunak 3 Transparency, Color, and Light at Ferapontov Monastery’s Nativity of the Mother of God Church  Maria Shevelkina 4 The Blessed Sacrament Shining in Light: Windowed Niches in Medieval Livonian Churches  Vera Henkelmann 5 Seeing beyond Seeing: Light and Theophanic Contemplation at the Enkleistra of Neophytos, Cyprus  Maria Paschali and Dimitris Minasidis 6 Space and Light: Aesthetics of Light in the Byzantine Church  Iakovos Potamianos Part 2: Lighting Sacred Spaces 7 Light of the East in the West: Natural Light in the Monastic Rupestrian Complex of San Pedro de Rocas (Galicia)  Natalia Figueiras Pimentel and Jorge López Quiroga 8 Sun, Stones, and Saints: On the Orientation of the Church of Sant’Ambrogio alla Rienna (SA)  Andrea Mattiello 9 Natural Light in the Church of the Holy Cross at Pătrăuți Monastery  Vladimir Ivanovici, Alice Isabella Sullivan and Gabriel-Dinu Herea 10 Modeling the Sunlight Illumination of the Church at Studenica Monastery  Travis Yeager, Jelena Bogdanović, Leslie Forehand, Dušan Danilović, Magdalena Dragović, Debanjana Chatterjee, Jacob Gasper, Marko Pejić, Aleksandar Čučaković, Anastasija Martinenko and Charles Kerton 11 Architectural Emptiness and Natural Light: The Church of the Virgin at Studenica Monastery  Ljiljana Čavić 12 Canticle of the Sun: Archaeoastronomy and Solar Eucharistic Worship in the Millennial New World  Rubén G. Mendoza Indexes

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Book SynopsisThis is the only comprehensive account of the Parthenon pediments in English and the first in any language since 1963. It serves as an up-to-date introduction to their study and includes new proposals for the restoration and interpretation of their composition. Debate on the Parthenon pediments has concentrated on the interpretation of individual figures, the restoration of the missing parts and the question of Roman repairs. The present study is based on autopsy and considers the evidence of technical details. It questions the attribution of certain familiar pieces and offers new suggestions for restoring the east pediment. All sculptures are illustrated, some with photographs taken especially for this book, and there are new drawings of the restorations proposed by the author. Chapter 1 is a general introduction to the study of the pediments. It includes an assessment of the documentation and a summary of stylistic and technical characteristics of the sculptures. Chapters 2 and 3 treat each pediment separately. The discussion of individual sculptures is incorporated in a continuous narrative which sets them within the context of the overall composition.Trade Review'Libraries supporting courses or research in these areas should own this book.' Amy L. Wordelman, Religious Studies Review, 1994. '...a useful monograph.' Greece and Rome 1993. '...fine new synthesis...tackles the major issues head-on...' Ian Jenkins, Bvrlington Magazine, 1993. 'Her painstaking efforts have greatly enhanced the accesibility of these difficult sculptures to a wider readership than ever before and will certainly stimulate further research.' Ian Jenkins, Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1994. 'Zusammenfassend darf man festhalten, daß die neue Publikation von Olga Palagia für dei Auseinandersetzung mit den Parthenongiebeln ein zuverlässiges "Handbuch" darstellt. Auch die Auswahl der 120 Bilder ist wohl überlegt und ausgewogen, vermißt man doch selten eine für das Verständnis des Gedankenganges wichtige Abbildung...Bewundernswert ist die signifikante und disziplinierte Auswahl der Gesichtspunkte und die klare und knappe Darlegung der Sachverhalte.' Ernst Berger, Gnomon, 1996.

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Book SynopsisSacred Precincts examines non-Muslim religious sites in the Islamic world, revealing how architecture responds to contextual issues and traditions. It explores urban contexts; issues of identity; design; construction; transformation and the history of sacred sites in the Middle East and Africa from the advent of Islam to the 20th century. The book includes case studies on churches, synagogues and sacred sites in Iran; Turkey; Cyprus; Egypt; Iraq; Tunisia; Morocco; Malta; Nigeria; Mali, and the Gambia.Trade Review"... a timely and sorely needed compilation of essays that accounts for the long-standing history and complexity of pluralism within many Muslim-majority cities and contexts throughout the world... Without question, texts from this vitally important volume should not only be read by specialists, but assigned in every introductory art historical, theological, historical, or anthropological course that even touches on Islam, for these essays are the interlocutors that can simultaneously dismantle the logic of both Islamophobia and radicalism through innumerable historical exemplars of coexistence. Within the existing body of scholarship in architectural history and urban studies, this volume expands our knowledge of the vibrant pluralism and religious and ethnic diversity of cities throughout the Islamic world, while productively obliterating the Orientalist, monolithic conception of the "Islamic city." - Nancy Demerdash-Fatemi, in: H-AMCA, H-Net Reviews, April (2017) "... a volume beautiful enough to adorn my coffee table, yet useful enough to merit a place on my office book-shelf... [...] a fascinating volume for potential courses on World-Christianity, Christian-Muslim relations, or anthropology of religion, among other possibilities." - Lucina Allen Mosher, in: Anglican Theological Review 99/1Table of ContentsCONTENTS List of Figures Acknowledgements Preface: Non-Muslim Sacred Sites in the Muslim World Mohammad Gharipour Introduction PART 1: IDENTITY 1. Churches Attracting Mosques: The Architecture of Mosques in Early Islamic Syria Mattia Guidetti 2. To Condone or To Contest? Ethnic Identity and Religious Architecture in The Gambia Steven Thomson 3. Jigo: The Essence of the Non-Tangible Architecture of Hausa Traditional Religion A.A. Muhammad-Oumar 4. Muslims Viewed as ‘Non-Muslims’: The Alevi Precincts of Anatolia Angela Andersen 5. Identity and Style: Armenian-Ottoman Churches in the Nineteenth Century Alyson Wharton 6. Apportioning Sacred Space in a Moroccan City: The Case of Tangier, 1860–1912 Susan Gilson Miller 7. Politics of Place in the Middle East and World Heritage Status for Jerusalem Elvan Cobb PART 2: DESIGN 8. Devotional and Artistic Responses to Contested Space in Old Cairo: The Case of Al-Mu‘allaqah Erin Maglaque 9. Sacred Geometries: The Dynamics of ‘Islamic’ Ornament in Jewish and Coptic Old Cairo Ann Shafer 10. Synagogues of Isfahan: The Architecture of Resignation and Integration Mohammad Gharipour and Rafael Sedighpour 11. Gothic Portability: The Crimean Memorial Church, Istanbul, and the Threshold of Empire Ayla Lepine 12. A Catholic Church in an Islamic Capital: Historicism and Modernity in the St Antoine Church Ebru Özeke Tökmeci 13. Cultural Horizontality: Auguste Perret in the Middle East Karla Britton PART 3: CONSTRUCTION 14. Through a Glass Brightly: Christian Communities in Palestine and Arabia During the Early Islamic Period Karen C. Britt 15. The Miracle of Muqattam: Moving a Mountain to Build a Church in Fatimid Egypt Jennifer Pruitt 16. The Catholic Consecration of an Islamic House: The St John de Matha Trinitarian Hospital in Tunis Clara Ilham Álvarez Dopico 17. Armenian Merchant Patronage of New Julfa’s Sacred Spaces Amy Landau and Theo Maarten van Lint 18. The Tofre Begadim Synagogue and the Non-Muslim Policy of the Late Ottoman Empire Meltem Özkan Altınöz 19. (Re)Creating a Christian Image Abroad: The Catholic Cathedrals of Protectorate-Era Tunis Daniel Coslett PART 4: RE-USE 20. Khidr and the Politics of Translation in Mosul: Mar Behnam, St George and Khidr Ilyas Ethel Sara Wolper 21. Muslim Influences in Post-Muslim Malta: The Hal Millieri Church David Mallia 22. St Sophia in Nicosia, Cyprus: From a Lusignan Cathedral to an Ottoman Mosque Suna Güven 23. Maribayasa: Negotiating Gold, Spirits, and Islamic Renewal in a Malian Islamic Borderland Esther Kühn 24. Building as Propaganda: A Palimpsest of Faith and Power in the Maghreb Jorge Correia 25. The Cathedral of Ani, Turkey: From Church to Monument Heghnar Watenpaugh APPENDICES Appendix 1: Glossary Appendix 2: Bibliographies Appendix 3: About the Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisWith its reconversion to a mosque in August 2020, the former monastic church of Saint Saviour in Chora entered yet another phase of its long history. The present book examines the Chora/Kariye Camii site from a transcultural perspective, tracing its continuous transformations in form and function from Late Antiquity to the present day. Whereas previous literature has almost exclusively placed emphasis on the Byzantine phase of the building’s history, including the status of its mosaics and paintings as major works of Palaiologan culture, this study is the first to investigate the shifting meanings with which the Chora/Kariye Camii site has been invested over time and across uninterrupted alterations, interventions, and transformations. Bringing together contributions from archaeologists, art historians, philologists, anthroplogists and historians, the volume provides a new framework for understanding not only this building but, more generally, edifices that have undergone interventions and transformations within multicultural societies.

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