Religious and ceremonial arts Books

Book SynopsisThe Bible and Western Christian Literature is a 5-volume, 1.5 million word reference resource on the impact and influence of the bible upon the development of literature, charting this relationship from the classical period to the modern day. The international spread of the biblical text is reflected in a structure that considers the broader geographical, philosophical, and theological factors that crop up when the bible's role in culture and society is considered. The work reflects a broader cultural narrative that is dependent upon the bible for its relevance and yet also contributes to the bible's own continuing relevance in modern society.Each volume is edited by a leading specialist in the period, and begins with a set of introductory materials including a chapter on how the biblical text is mediated in the given period. Ten thematic essays then introduce the key thinkers, works, events and themes of the period. Extracts from primary materials are then pre

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the iconography of Islamic art, presenting a diverse range of approaches to the subject.Trade Review"The reader will be delighted with this study, which as been produced by a group of experts in an exquisitely and extensively illustrated book." British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies "The reader will be delighted with this study, which as been produced by a group of experts in an exquisitely and extensively illustrated book."Table of ContentsPreface List of Illustrations 1. Birds and Blessings: A Kohl-Pot from Jerusalem Sylvia Auld 2. Remarks on the Iconography of the Medieval Capitals of Cairo: Form and Emplacement Marianne Barrucand 3. A Mongol Envoy Sheila S. Blair 4. Almoravid Geometric Designs in the Pavement of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo Jonathan M. Bloom 5. A Kingly Posture: The Iconography of Sultan Husayn Bayqara Barbara Brend 6. Musical Beasts: The Swan-Pheonix in the Ibn Bakhtishu' Bestiaries Anna Contadini 7. Cup, Branch, Bird and Fish: An Iconographical Study of the Figure Holding a Cup and a Branch Flanked by a Bird and a Fish Abbas Daneshvari 8. Islamic Incense Burners and the Influence of Buddhist Art Geza Fehervari 9. Vine Ornament and Pomegranates as Palace Decoration in 'Anjar Barbara Finster 10. Persianate Trends in Sultanate Architecture: The Great Mosque of Bada'un Finbarr Barry Flood 11. Silks, Pots and Jugs: Al-Jahiz and Objects of Common Use Oleg Grabar 12. Khusrau Parviz as Champion of Shi'ism? A Closer Look at Early Safavid Miniature Painting in the Royal Museum of Edinburgh Ulrike al-Khamis 13. 'Waves of the Sea': Responses to Marble in Written Sources (9th-15th Century) Marcus Milwright 14. The Arboreal Aesthetic: Landscape, Painting and Architecture from Mongol Iran to Mamluk Egypt Bernard O'Kane 15. The Vicissitudes of Rustam B. W. Robinson 16. Made for the Show: The Medieval Treasury of the Ka'ba in Mecca Avinoam Shalem 17. A Pictorial Representation of the Hadith al-Thaqalayn in an Ilkhanid Copy of Bal'ami's Tarjuma-yi Tabari in the Freer Gallery Raya Y. Shani 18. Style versus Substance: the Christian Iconography on Two Vessels Made for the Ayyubid Sultan al-Salih Ayyub Rachel Ward Bibliography of Robert Hillenbrand's works

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Book SynopsisPresents original and authoritative assessments of the changing relationship between the Bible and the artsIn this unique Companion, 35 scholars, from world-famous to just beginning, explore the role of the Bible in art and of artistic motifs in the Bible. The specially commissioned chapters demonstrate that just as the arts have portrayed biblical stories in a variety of ways and media over the centuries, so what we call ''the'' Bible is not actually a single entity but has been composed of fiercely contested translations of texts in many languages, whose selection has depended historically on a variety of cultural pressures, theological, social, and, not least, aesthetic.Divided into 3 sections, Inspiration and Theory, Art and Architecture, and Literature, this generously illustrated collection includes a wide spectrum of thoughtful essays on aesthetic interpretations of specific biblical books; of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles as a whole; the transmission of biblical texts; various bindings and illustrations of Bibles - in response to pressures as diverse as Islamic craftsmanship and the English Reformation; as well as biblical influences on poetry, painting, church architecture, decoration, and stained glass; on poetry, hymns, novels, plays, and fantasy literature from the earliest days of the Christian era to the present.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements; List of Illustrations; List of Contributors; 1. Introduction, Stephen Prickett; INSPIRATION AND THEORY; 2. 'What has Athens to do with Jerusalem ?' The Biblical Chain-Gang, Stephen Prickett; 3. Hebrew Aesthetics and Jewish Biblical Exegesis, Mordechai Z. Cohen; 4. Migne's Achievement and the Modern Transmission of Ancient Manuscripts, Dan Williams; 5. Augustine on Beauty: a Biblical Aesthetics, David Lyle Jeffrey; 6. Sublimity and Resistance to Form in the Early Modern Bible, Anthony Ossa-Richardson; 7. 'A Babel of Bibles': Aesthetics, Translation and Interpretation since 1885, Nicholas Bielby; m8. Lest the Story be Lost: Biblical Fiction, David Dickinson; 9. The Bible and Phenomenology, Kevin Hart; ART AND ARCHITECTURE; 10. The Gospel of John in Early Christian Art, Robin Margaret Jensen; 11. Images of Conflict: the art of Anti-Judaism in Fifth Century Rome, Geri Parlby; 12. A Shared Tradition: The Decorated Pages of Medieval Bibles and Qur'ans, Vivian B. Mann; 13. Speaking Pictures: Mediaeval Religious Art and its Viewers, Charles Moseley; 14. The Iconography of the Cross as the Tree of Life, Christopher Irvine; 15. Art and the Resurrection Narrative, Christopher Herbert; 16. Covenants and Connections: the Sassetti Chapel at Santa Trinita, Chloe Reddaway; 17. Who Framed Bathsheba? Vivianne Westbrook; 18. The Fresco Decoration in the Sistine Chapel: Biblical Authority and the Church of Rome, Shirley Smith; 19. The Materiality and Iconography of the Coverdale Bible (1535), Mark Rankin and Guido Latre; 20. Moses in Eighteenth Century Art, Nigel Aston; 21. Blake: Text and Image, Christopher Rowland; 22. The Angel in the Detail: Pre-Raphaelite Stained Glass, Christopher Rogers; 23. Framing the Vision: Biblical Imagery in the Work of Van Gogh, Daphne Lawson; 24. Coventry Cathedral: Conception and Reality, Sarah Hosking; HYMNS; 25. Hymns of the Wesleys, J.R. Watson; 26. The Bible Interpreted by Hymns, Robin Gill; LITERATURE; 27. The Art of Unveiling: Biblical Apocalypse, Christopher Burdon; 28. The Divine Comedy as the Word of God, Patricia Erskine-Hill; 29. The Mediaeval Bible as Literature, Alastair Minnis & Andrew Kraebel; 30. Homer Writes Back: Rhetorical Art and Biblical Epic Justice in Paradise Lost, Book 1, Phillip Donnelly; 31. Heart-Deep: The Psalms and George Herbert, Christopher Hodgkins; 32. From Virtue to Goodness: Biblical Values in Victorian Literature, Jan-Melissa Schramm; 33. The Mirror of the Law of Liberty: Reflecting the Hidden Christ in George Macdonald's Lilith, Bethany Bear; 34. Images of the Creator/Creation from Frankenstein to Nietzsche, Norbert Lennartz; 35. Eliot Among the Theologians, Jan Gorak; 36. Imitatio Pilati et Christi in Modern Historical Drama, James Alexander.

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Book SynopsisFully illustrated in colour and black and white, Images of the Mother of God complements the successful exhibition catalogue of the ''Mother of God'' exhibition at the Benaki Museum in Athens. It brings together the work of leading international authorities and younger scholars to provide a wide-ranging survey of how the Theotokos was perceived in the Byzantine world. It embraces the disciplines of art historians, archaeologists, traditional and feminist historians, as well as theologians, philologists and social anthropologists. Images of the Mother of God will appeal not just to those interested in Byzantine art and culture, but also to scholars of Western Europe in the Middle Ages who are looking for comparative materials in their own work.Trade Review’...a largely stimulating volume on a (perhaps ’the’) central figure in Byzantine art...Recommended.’ Choice 'Le résultat en est particulièrement satisfaisant.... C'est un beau et passionnant livre qui devrait donner l'impulsion à de nouvelles études sur la Theotokos.' The Medieval Review 'Fully indexed, this is a most valuable, up-to-date repertoire of knowledge about Mary in Byzantine art and piety.' International Review of Biblical Studies 'Images of the Mother of God contains much to fascinate those interested in the roles of women and perceptions of the Virgin in both eastern and western medieval culture.' Medieval Feminist Forum ’This is, in short, a feast of learning; indeed, appropriately, it is a rather Mediterranean feast, with lots of small dishes, bringing out the enormous variety of approaches that scholars now draw on in seeking to understand the cult of the Virgin.’ Journal of Theological Studies ’With a huge number of carefully selected colour and monochrome plates, this volume embraces the disciplines of art history, archaeology, theology, philology, and social anthropology. It is a fascinatingly in-depth study of Marian iconography, including 'western' material from the very early icons in Rome to the images and cult practices of south Italy and Sicily in late mediaeval and even modern times which demonstrate a clear Byzantine influence.’ Antiques Magazine ’This is, in short, a feast of learning...’ Sobornost ’The comprehensive and detailed index of twenty-one pages shows the extensive chronological, regional and thematic range of the volume. Such a large framework certainly does justice to the Byzantine character of the veneration of Mary... [Images of the Mother of God] can be considered to be the fundamental work on the cult of Mary in Byzantium.’ Jahrbuch der Osterreichischen Byzantinistik ’... an outstanding collection of essays... The volume's strength is its overall chronological and geographical breadTable of ContentsContents: Foreword, Angelos Delivorrias; Preface, Evangelos Chrysos; Introduction, Averil Cameron. Early Cult and Representations: Isis and Mary in early icons, Thomas F. Mathews and Norman Muller; The enigmatic Coptic Galaktotrophousa and the cult of the Virgin Mary in Egypt, Elizabeth S. Bolman; Icons and sites. Cult images of the Virgin in mediaeval Rome, Gerhard Wolf; Theotokos and Logos: the interpretation and reinterpretation of the sanctuary programme of the Koimesis Church, Nicaea, Charles Barber. The Theology of the Theotokos: The Virgin as the true Ark of Covenant, Michel van Esbroeck; The Theotokos in Byzantine hymnography: typology and allegory, Christian Hannick; Use and abuse of the 'image' of the Theotokos in the political life of Byzantium (with special reference to the iconoclast period), Nike Koutrakou; From poetry to liturgy: the cult of the Virgin in the Middle Byzantine era, Niki Tsironis; Exchanging embrace. The body of salvation, Ioli Kalavrezou; The symbolism of the censer in Byzantine representations of the Dormition of the Virgin, Maria Evangelatou; The Portaitissa icon at Iveron monastery and the cult of the Virgin on Mount Athos, Kriton Chryssochoidis. Female Authority and Devotion: The empress and the Virgin in early Byzantium: piety, authority and devotion, Liz James; Female piety in context: understanding developments in private devotional practices, Brigitte Pitarakis; The eyes of the Mother of God, Robin Cormack; Zoe's lead seal: female invocation to the Annunciation of the Virgin, Vasso Penna. Public and Private Cult: Byzantine domestic art as evidence for the early cult of the Virgin, Henry Maguire; The 'activated' icon: the Hodegetria procession and Mary's Eisodos, Bissera V. Pentcheva; Picturing the spiritual protector: from Blachernitissa to Hodegetria, Christine Angelidi and Titos Papamastorakis; The image of the Virgin Zoodochos Pege: two questions concerning its origin, Natalia Teteriatnikov; The cult of the Virgin Zoodochos Pege at Mistra, Rhodoniki Etzeoglou; The Virgin, the Christ-child and the evil eye, Vassiliki Foskolou; Praying for the salvation of the empire?, Maria Vassilaki. Between East and West: Thoughts on Mary east and west, Annemarie Weyl Carr; The Kahn and Mellon Madonnas and their place in the history of the Virgin and Child Enthroned in Italy and the east, Rebecca W. Corrie; Representations of the Virgin in Lusignan Cyprus, Sophia Kalopissi-Verti; The legacy of the Hodegetria: holy icons and legends between east and west, Michele Bacci; A Byzantine icon of the dexiokratousa Hodegetria from Crete at the Benaki museum, Nano Chatzidakis. Epilogue, Maria Vassilaki; Index.

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