No comments about Sacred Art in East and West (Wisdom Foundation series).

1 comments about Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art (Kimbell Art Museum).

1. This book is essentially the catalog for the world-class exhibition held from Dec. 2007-March 2008 at Ft. Worth's Kimbell Art Museum. Curated by Jeffrey Spier, the exhibtion titled "Picturing the Bible" brought to this country 100 treasures, many of which had never left their countries before. For those who couldn't see this once-in-a-lifetime collection, the catalog presents pictures with articles of all the exhibits. More than that, however, well-known art historians, classicists and archaeologists provide major articles on the Jewish art of late antiquity, on pre- and post-Constantinian Christian art, as well as on book illustrations of late antiquity. The volume is beautifully done and provides a fine addition to the library of anyone interested in Christianity and Christian art in late antiquity. Personally, I appreciated Dr. Spier's vision for assembling this collection and editing this volume. It is rare to have an opportunity to experience these works in a U.S. museum.

1 comments about Religion, Art, and Visual Culture: A Cross-Cultural Reader.

1. This is an amazing book. It opens up all kinds of interesting questions about the importance of seeing and vision in a range of different religious contexts. In each major section, Plate invites us to approach a religious tradition not through its main scriptures but through a visual medium. Islam, for example, is approached via calligraphy as a way of thinking about the written word as image. Buddhism is approached through zen gardens as a way of thinking about the concept of shinjin (mind-body). I used this book as the primary textbook for a college course called "Religion and Visual Culture." It was a huge success. It is filled with interesting ideas and fresh approaches, and it is great reading. I highly recommend it.

1 comments about Iconology: Image, Text, Ideology.

1. The introduction says "This is a book about the things people say about images". As a person who buys a lot of instructional books which I hope are insightful and succinct I found this overwritten. Someone liking miles of wordy literary type criticism might find it appealing.

3 comments about Graphic Design and Religion: A Call for Renewal.

1. The heavily-illustrated work is not only a catalog of au courant religious graphic art; nearly all Christian, but some Jewish and Islamic pieces as well. To some degree, author Kantor iterates the feelings and the faith bound into religious graphic art; and he states the spiritual as well as practical purposes of such art. He is a liturgical music composer; and his design group has done work for the evangelical Lutheran sect among other Christian religious groups. He does not aim to preach, however; he makes the point that the best religious art is done by artists who are believing Christians, like medieval illuminated manuscripts were done by devout monks. "The creators of the illuminated texts didn't see their works as ends in themselves but as objects subordinated to a divine framework in which a host of otherwise unrelated objects became 'part of the architectural and liturgical presentation of an ordered cosmos of being, reality, and value'." While Kantor recognizes that the "complexity and variety of today's religious communications" go far beyond that of medieval times, today's religious artists are nonetheless in a direct line with the medieval monks.
   
   The central challenge facing today's religious graphic artists is representing the religious quality of mystery in graphic works that in most cases are intended to have some practical use. This is different from the regular goal of the ubiquitous secular, commercial graphic art which is to convey some marketing hook or highlight a feature of a product. "The ways in which symbols are interpreted and deployed by the designer can make the difference between a mystery being opened up and enlarged or its being diminished and stripped of its numinous qualities."
   
   Graphic works as simple as a brochure, a card, or a notice connected with a religious group or event should be identifiable as such. Even such simple, practical graphic art belongs to the wholeness of a religion which makes it such a potent, everlasting force. It is in more complex, artful work such as book jackets and designs, liturgical texts, church art, and theological, homiletic, and ministerial works where the representation of the religion's mysteries is most relevant.
   
   Kantor gives experienced guidance on the use of images, text, composition, color, size, format, and illustration in the varied printed materials of a religion. The abundant, fetching visual matter was chosen by a jury selecting from submissions. It is exceptionally high-quality and instructive; and it demonstrates ideally what Kantor means about the inestimable advantage of attractive, pertinent, and useful graphics for a religion.



2. With so much bad (though "bad" is often in the eye of the beholder)religious advertising and marketing out there, I appreciated this beautiful book on beauty. Gorgeous reproductions of good design in the service of faith and fine writing make this a book all designers and those responsible for congregational communications should have. As an art major/seminary graduate, I really appeciate the blending of art and theology.



3. This is an excellant book! Beautifully presented and published -
   I got this book on recommendation from a Professor as i am writing my dissertation on Religion and Graphic Design; it was refreshing to finally have something that is remotely professional and elegant and presented religion and religious image or subject in an adult way and in line with my own aesthetic value! Am hoping to find other books out there like this that isn't all about associating religion with kitsch!
   If you need to get some good, and beautiful, professional adult ideas - this book is a must have.

No comments about Thomas Kinkade Painter of Light: 2009 Engagement Calendar with Scripture.

5 comments about Caravaggio.

1. I just purchased this book based on previous reviews. One disappointment I have with it is the cropped paintings or paintings with the seem slicing through them. It's frustrating as a student of the arts to try and copy the tiny details out of the bindings. Aside from that, I am glad I bought it. The works inside are fantastic.



2. This is an excellent book. The pictures are amazing! and the explanation is precise. I give it 5 stars!



3. I did so look forward to receiving this book greedily unwrapping it as soon as it arrived. I'm a huge fan of Caravaggio and having seen many of his paintings in situ I was eager for any new information. Unfortunately I'm one of the people who can't read the small silver text on glossy white paper. When I say "can't read" I mean that within about two minutes all of the little silver words on the page just dissolve into whiteness. I agree it looks pretty but perhaps that combination of ink and paper might best be reserved for an invitation to a Winter Solstice dinner and not used in an obviously superb book such as this one. Catherine Puglisi was done a terrible dis-service in the design of this book. The quality of the photographs of the paintings (and the quantity) are fantastic and I have enjoyed them immensely. Maybe the paper version is black on white but I sure don't like to have buy the same book twice. I'm giving two stars to what is probably a five star book.



4. Dr. Catherine Puglisi is not only a fine scholar, well informed about her subject, she is also a fine writer. CARAVAGGIO is a richly produced heavy volume (hardcover reviewed) that spreads the text throughout the course of the book as each of the points about the artist's life and technique and gifts to art history is explored.
   
   The color plates are reproduced with clarity and two-page extensions of the larger horizontal works aid the reader in gaining perspective. Multiple images of details offer close examination of Caravaggio's technique, a manner that continues to influence representational artists today.
   
   Puglisi gratefully does not shy away from the controversial aspects of Caravaggio's life and sexuality. She deals with the facts and presents them in context with his concurrent paintings. The volume includes an exceptionally fine body of appendices that offers a complete checklist of the paintings including small reproductions of some, a terse bibliography, and a series of extracts from the myriad sources from which Puglisi extracted information.
   
   The one criticism of this book, and it is a significant one, is the small type font in the pale gray ink selected by a designer who seems more concerned with 'making a pretty book' than in respecting the written word! But in the end this is a definitive volume about one of art history's more interesting and gifted painters. Grady Harp, December 05



5. Anything showing photos of this fellow's incredible oevre would probably deserve the highest praise even without editorial guidance. But just browsing thru this one will stun anyone not familiar with Caravaggio, which is probably 98% of the populace.Ms. Puglisi interweaves the artist's life and times around the glorious color photos. The print may be a tad small,but the fact that there's around two spaces between each line of text makes it, IMHO, even easier to read than otherwise. The raw,harrowing originality of this artist are beyond description, and his life is a near match. He died violently before the age of 40...Especially recommended for those (mainly males) who may think that Art and Art History are less than manly pursuits!! (Yes there are plenty of guys out there who think like this.) Give this book, the author,publisher, and the artist way more than five stars!!

No comments about The Sacred Gaze: Religious Visual Culture in Theory and Practice.

5 comments about Holy Image, Hallowed Ground (Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum).

1. This is a good book no doubt, but...In this holy monastery there is much more valuable holy icons and should be presented in much more numbers.Maybe I`m asking to much, but with this treasure unpublished at all, it`s kinda sad to said. Quality of paper and photos are great and text with it. Good choice for meeting with this holy spot on the earth.



2. The reproductions in this book are beautiful, the discussion intelligent and thorough. I bought and read it prior to visiting the exhibit, and thought that it provided 95% of the experience of actually being there.
   
   The Getty, which has had an uneven history in its prior exhibits, really did a superb job on this one. The Getty website retains an excellent interactive description of the exhibition.
   
   I had the impression that St. Catherine's was an isolated outpost at the base of Mt. Sinai. It is at the base of Mt. Sinai, but about an hour's drive from Sharm-El-Sheikh, a popular Egyptian resort town. Apparently tour buses make daily runs between the two places.



3. Great book full of pictures and explanatory text. The purchase was prompted by a visit to the Getty Museum to view the exhibit. I was familiar with the monastary beforehand from a VHS tape and the exhibit provided a sense of being there and walking its holy and hallowed grounds. A time capsule of religious art and activity. The detail was very intricate and I marveled at the detail in the icons for those using crude and self-made art supplies. These icons are indeed a labor of love. They go back some 1400 years and have a span of 600.
   
   The book serves to recollect my feelings at the exhibit, the next best thing to being at the monastary itself.



4. This volume is the companion to the recent Getty exhibition of original icons from the St. Catherine Monastery in the Sinai Desert, the presumed site of the Old Testament burning bush. The book provides the scholarly background on the ancient images, some going back to the 6th century and showing stylistic features common to Roman portraiture. The color illustrations are especially well done and true to the tones of the originals that I saw in Los Angeles. The book can be enjoyed simply for the aesthetics for the mesmerizing pictures, or for religious meditation, but also for insight into the historical development of early Christian practices. Given the lavish color printing in a large format, the price is quite reasonable.



5. Wonderful book on good heavy paper. . . .photo quality excellent. . .very very informative. . .

No comments about Mime Ministry: An illustrated, easy-to-follow guidebook for organizing, programming and training a troupe of Christian mimes.