2 comments about A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art.

1. As stated, this is a handbook, therefore the format is easy to read and gives you the basic information. If something then strikes your fancy you can then do further research based upon this excellent starting reference point. If you have very little religious background this will help you understand Christianity in Art. Even Christians will find the book informative and full of things that they did not know. For example, did you know that the number 1000 represents eternity? The handbook is layed out alphabetically, beginning with angels and ending with zodiac, all for your convenience. My only complaint is that the art depicted is small, in black and white and therefore does not show the details of the pieces of art. A good book for anyone interested in art, specifically Christian Art. The explanations of the symbolism is very good, it tells you just enough.



2. This book is very informative and interesting. It is laid out in an easy to read way and is a great reference book for anyone who loves art. I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who has ever looked at Christian art and wondered what exactly does it mean.

No comments about A Dictionary of Christian Art (Oxford Paperback Reference).

5 comments about Milagros: A Book of Miracles.

1. If you are looking for an (art-)historical study on Milagros, go for the excellent little book by Martha Egan (also available at Amazon.com). The short (6 pages) introduction on the history of Milagros in this book is based on the book by Martha Egan.
   
   This colourful, nicely presented book focuses on the role that (making) milagros could play in your own life (I find it a bit 'New Agey', but not too much). There are five chapters in this book, each divided into three parts (body, mind, spirit). Every chapter covers a part of our body:
   
   1. the head ('knowing is wisdom'),
   2. the heart ('how we love'),
   3. the hand ('your hands connect you to others'),
   4. the foot ('your feet support your journey through life'),
   5. the mouth ('our words are as good as our deeds').
   
   About half of its 95 pages are filled with full page Mexican style artwork. Small photographs of traditional Milagros are scattered throughout the text.
   
   In each chapter the author gives her view on the symbolical meaning a Milagro depicting this specific body part could have: its meaning for our body, for our mind, and for our spirit. She illustrates this with anecdotes from Mexican daily life: the 'mouth' chapter tells how a mother's offering mouth milagros to the Virgin Mary led to a cure of her son's deformed jaw (Yes! It is - after all- a book on miracles).
   
   The book ends with a chapter on how to make your own milagros. Another reviewer already expressed his (or was it her?) anger at the simplicity of the author's suggestions: cutting out a picture from a magazine and laminating it. If you really would like to make your own milagros, you will get enough ideas from the rest of the book. I believe this chapter was added just for those of us who are convinced (rightly so or not), that they have no creative talents whatsoever. So that even those among us who can barely hold a pair of scissors, can make their own little miracle workers.
   
   To sum it all up: there is not very much substance here. But it IS a cheerful, well-meaning little book on how to find hope and comfort in small things, and how to introduce some (home made) miracles into your life. I liked it. It will make a lovely gift for someone who could use some cheering-up, whether this will be a friend, or yourself.



2. This is a cute little picture book with a very superficial discussion of the actual objects. It has very little useful information, lots of hippie crap about love and symbols. Where do milagros come from? who makes them? what are their histories? how did they become symbols of whatever they are symbols of? what is their significance in Mexico? these are questions this book does not address. Also, the claim that there are instructions for making your own milagros is misleading. All the book tells you to do is get a picture from a magazine or maybe cut a shape out of paper and laminate it. I gave it three stars because if you only want a cute little book with a lot of pictures this one would do.



3. I have been interested in Mexican Folk Art for quite some time and often admired Milagros. They are such beautiful little pieces of art that look as though they are crafted with such care. I have been hesitant to start purchasing or collecting these due to a lack of knowledge on their history and meaning.

   Enter this great little book by Helen Thompson entitled "Milagros: A Book of Miracles." What a great resource this is for someone like me who has a genuine interest in these little miracles and is searching for their meaning. In it you get a brief history of Milagros and their continued use. Then you are shown the Milagros that relate to the human body, mind and spirit. This is where we are given some amazing stories that drive home the powerfulness of the Milagros!

   This book of miracles ends with a bit on making your own Milagros. As an avid crafter, I found this to be an incredibly interesting section of the book. With just a bit of imagination, you can make some beautiful Milagros of your own.

   This was a great introduction for me and now I'm off to further my Milagro education.




4. If you want a little book to place on a table in your guest room, buy this one. But if you want to really learn something about the subject of milagros as votive offerings, buy the book "Milagros: Votive Offerings from the Americas" by Martha Egan. It is very informative with excellent illustrations. It will make you want to be a collector.



5. If you've wondered about milagros and what they mean, this is a great book to explain the traditions. The illustrations are simple and inspiring if you're working with mixed media and want to head more towards authentic folk art. Finally, if you're a believer, the personal stories of how each type of milagro is used are very touching. This is a short book, filled with ample colorful illustrations, introducing you to milagros. For example, if you've seen little lips as a silver or golden charm and wondered what it meant, this book will explain. To dig deeper into religious and artistic traditions, you'll want a different book, but this is a fine place to start your exploration of these ancient talismans.

No comments about Sounding the Depths: Theology Through the Arts.

1 comments about Jewish Art.

1. Ms. Grossman did an excellent job of introducing the reader to the religious side of Jewish culture. As a non-Jew who observes the Sabbath and Holy Days, I found the book to be of particular interest, since I belong to a very small church which has very little in the way of either Sabbath or Holy Day tradition. For this reason I refer to books such as "Jewish Art", since the Jews have such a rich religious heritage -- a heritage which I believe churches such as mine can draw upon for ideas and inspiration. I only wish the author devoted more material to the Sabbath -- i.e., more examples of items used at a Jewish home on this special Day. This is not so much a critism as a comment, since I understand that for most readers her coverage of Jewish art relating to the Sabbath is probably adequate. Overall, however, I would say that the author succeded in introducing the Sabbath, in all its richness and beauty, to the average non-Sabbatarian.

1 comments about Inuit Art: An Introduction.

1. Inuit Art: An Introduction by Ingo Hessel (Inuit art consultant and former Special Projects Officer and Coordinator of the Canadian Inuit Art Information Centre of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs for the Canadian government), is wonderfully enhanced with the full color photography of Dieter Hessel. Inuit Art covers its subject matter from an historical, cultural, and aesthetic perspective beginning with the roots of Inuit art in prehistoric times, through the arrival of Europeans and their influence on Inuit art beginning in the sixteenth century, down to the mid-twentieth century when Inuit art began attracting a world wide audience. Of special interest is Ingo Hessel's informative discussion of the techniques and materials employed by Inuit artisans in the creations of their unique and distinctive work. Inuit Art is an impressive, superbly presented and welcome contribution to the growing library of Native American Studies in general, and Inuit art history in particular.

1 comments about Religious Aesthetics.

1. Before he found his way to my seminary, Frank Burch Brown was professor of religion and humanities at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; while there, he did this interesting text on the theological ideas involving religious aesthetics. This text in some ways served as a foundation for his later award-winning work, 'Good Taste, Bad Taste, Christian Taste.' In this work, Brown even has a chapter dealing with Sin and Bad Taste, so the connections are readily apparent.

   It may seem somewhat strange, but aesthetics is not widely discussed among theologians and religious studies scholars; indeed, if one investigates, one finds that even artists themselves tend to shy away from the subject. I say it is strange given the vital importance that aesthetic ideas play in the practical situation of worship and religious expression (almost always regardless of the denomination or faith). One has but to suggest changes in singing style or selection, redecorating the worship space, designing or redesigning facilities, placing artwork and other pieces around to see how strong emotions can become involving the debate. Rarely do people bother to go into great depth to understand the underlying ideas that motivate such responses.

   One reason for the relegation of aesthetics to minor consideration is the continuing duality in many traditions, not least the Christian one, of the mind/body split. Quite often, in varying ways, those things that are material, or bodily, or sensory tend to be suspect. Even those things considered proper and beautiful expressions in religion edge toward this difficulty; the controversy with the icons in early Christian history is but one example - in high church traditions, there is the tendency to make the liturgy an idol; in other traditions, the hymnody might serve this purpose.

   Brown looks at both historical and current situations, exploring the ideas of theologians and philosophers past and present, drawing out common strands and points of divergence from the varied background of aesthetic considerations. Brown shows how culture and theology will shape aesthetic sensibilities which in turn have their own influence back round again. Brown points out that much confusion comes from the way the words words 'religious', 'artistic', and 'aesthetic' tend to be used without proper care and consistency. However, rather than setting forth a philosophy or theology of definitions, Brown instead provides guidance in a more phenomenological way, looking at those things that gain the labels, and then looks for further insight from that study.

   Brown's style is interesting and engaging. While writing an academic text, it is also accessible to those who have an interest in religious art for practical reasons. There are notes (not unwieldy) and a good basic index, and suggestions for further readings, including both introductory and advanced material.

   . .

No comments about Between God and Man: Angels in Italian Art.

No comments about Painting the Bible: Representation And Belief in Mid-victorian Britain (British Art and Visual Culture Since 1750 New Readings) (British Art and Visual ... and Visual Culture Since 1750 New Readings).

5 comments about Concerning the Spiritual in Art.

1. This book was purchased for a college research project and it was just perfect. It talks of Kandinsky's color theory and how music and color co-exist. The seller was professional and I got the book when it was promised. I would order from this seller again...definately!



2. Kandinsky had risen to positions of influence in other disciplines (political science/economics and law) before directing his considerable intellect to painting. His insights extended into the historic 'meta' trends of the arts and sciences, including the physical sciences, and had his interests been directed more to the history and philosophy of science instead of the history and philosophy of art, he might have written Kuhn's observations regarding paradigm change a half century before Kuhn did: "Here and there are people with eyes which can see, minds which can correlate. They say to themselves: 'If the science of the day before yesterday is rejected by the people of yesterday, and that of yesterday by us of today, is it not possible that what we call science now will be rejected by the men of tomorrow?' And the bravest of them answer, 'It is possible.'"
   
   Instead, Kandinsky extended the frontiers of painting and authored philosophic writings on the future of art that are among the most important of such works. M.T.H. Sadler, who translated this work into English, was a friend of Kandinsky's and was among his early admirers. The notes he has written in the front of the book (Translator's Introduction) are therefore more helpful than could be the opinions of many other critics, including myself:
   
   "Anyone who has studied Gauguin will be aware of the intense spiritual value of his work. The man is a preacher and a psychologist, universal by his very unorthodoxy, fundamental because he goes deeper than civilization. In his disciples this great element is wanting.
   
   "Kandinsky has supplied the need. He is not only on the track of an art more purely spiritual than was conceived even by Gauguin, but he has achieved the final abandonment of all representative intention. In this way he combines in himself the spiritual and technical tendencies of one great branch of Post-Impressionism.
   
   "The question most generally asked about Kandinsky's art is: 'What is he trying to do?' It is to be hoped that this book will do something towards answering the question. But it will not do everything. This--partly because it is impossible to put into words the whole of Kandinsky's ideal, partly because in his anxiety to state his case, to court criticism, the author has been tempted to formulate more than is wise. His analysis of colours and their effects on the spectator is not the real basis of his art, because, if it were, one could, with the help of a scientific manual, describe one's emotions before his pictures with perfect accuracy. And this is impossible.
   
   "Kandinsky is painting music. That is to say, he has broken down the barrier between music and painting, and has isolated the pure emotion which, for want of a better name, we call the artistic emotion. Anyone who has listened to good music with any enjoyment will admit to an unmistakable but quite indefinable thrill. He will not be able, with sincerity, to say that such a passage gave him such visual impressions, or such a harmony roused in him such emotions. The effect of music is too subtle for words. And the same with this painting of Kandinsky's. Speaking for myself, to stand in front of some of his drawings or pictures gives a keener and more spiritual pleasure than any other kind of painting. But I could not express in the least what gives the pleasure. Presumably the lines and colours have the same effect as harmony and rhythm in music have on the truly musical. That psychology comes in no one can deny."
   
   Some aspects of Kandinsky's color theory are dubious, at best they cannot be universalized, and Kandinsky sees this. But other of his ideas and arguments are widely accepted among artists, even as being self-evident. Stating that "there is no 'must' in art, because art is free," that is, free to address external representations OR "the inner need," to merely chase after material 'objects' OR to wrestle with the mysteriously spiritual, to somehow meld the two visions OR to stay purely to exploration of the spiritual high ground, Kandinsky absolutely rejects the materialistic expectation of an art "explanation" that has been articulated by EO Wilson in his unfortunate daydream 'Consilience' (Wilson knows ants better than he knows humans, and is given to understanding humans to be essentially ant equivalents).
   
   Anyone interested in art history, painting of the past century, or the relationships/correlations/divergences of the various arts (visual, musical, literary), as well as anyone interested in the meaning and purpose of art, or in the philosophy of aesthetics, should read this important book, perhaps more than once.



3. Kandinsky throws his ideas out in a slightly esoteric manner. It make take a few rereads to really grasp the quality of discourse he presents. But, in the end, his commentary shines brightly through his comparisons of music to painting. The spiritual triangle is comparable to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It is important to remember that Kandinsky is not using the term "spiritual" in a religious sense.
   This book is a very good read for anyone feeling slumped in their art making. And for anyone who wants to expose themselves to ways of thinking about art. By the third time I had read the material I had underlined and highlighted almost every line and filled all the margins with notes. The book is fantastic. It is especially good when paired with Hans Hofmann's essay "In Search for the Real." Although the ideas in the two books do not parallel. In fact the lines aren't even on the same page. Kandinksky's critiques of other familiar artists are very interesting too. Names like picasso and Cezanne pop up quite a bit.
   I'll stop rambling now. Read the book, it is very good.



4. Wassilly Kadinsky was a 20th century painter and his CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL IN ART provides a blend of philosophical, spiritual and artistic reflection as it examines the premises and presence of spirituality in art. This new edition is a recommended pick not just for art students of modernism, but for readers of spiritual works: it includes letters between Kadinsky and Sadler, unpublished prose poems, and a fine attention to artistic reflection and analysis.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



5. I enjoyed reading the book. At times it was over my head,but still it was worth the effort!!!!