The Image of Christ - Softcover

Finaldi, Dr. Gabriele; Finaldi, Gabriele

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300083653 ISBN 13: 9780300083651

Publisher: National Gallery London, 2000

Synopsis

This book, and the exhibition it accompanies, express the confidence that modern secular audiences can engage with the masterpieces of Christian art at an emotional as well as a purely aesthetic or historical level. Their aim is to help the viewer understand these pictures by focusing attention on the purpose for which they were made, and exploring why they might have meant to their original viewers.

About this title

Reviews

Published to accompany an exhibition at the National Gallery in London, this gorgeous exploration of the image of Christ throughout two millennia deserves high praise for its determination to discuss nearly 200 works of art in their religious context. Recognizing that the Gallery's increasingly diverse (or secular) museumgoers often lack an understanding of Christian theology, Finaldi and other contributors seek to "put some of the Gallery's religious pictures in a new context, notAas in other exhibitionsAbeside works by the same artist or from the same period, but in the company of other works of art which have explored the same kinds of questions across the centuries." What should Jesus look like? How might Christ's human and divine nature both be represented artistically in the same work? Could his crucifixion be depicted simultaneously as the death of one man and the opportunity for eternal life for others? Although it features the earliest etched symbols of the Christian Church (fish, cross-anchor and 20th-century paintings by William Holman Hunt and Salvador Dal!, the collection is strongest for Renaissance-era works. Some unusual pieces capture the imagination, including two gilded 15th-century cradles for Christ child dolls. The collection is culled most heavily from Western sources but also features some remarkable Eastern Orthodox iconography. This is a beautifully designed, theologically sensitive journey through Christian art. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

How to convey the divine through human representation has always been an artistic paradox. For medieval artists, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Messiah, was a subject overflowing with symbolism and passion. In this companion book to a recent exhibition, Seeing Salvation: The Image at Christ, at the National Gallery in London, selected pieces are examined for the evolving approaches medieval artists took with this subject. Finaldi (Discovering the Italian Baroque), a curator at the National Gallery, and contributing authors of equal authority pull together not only a catalog but an exploration of spiritual meaning conveyed by the pieces. Ranging from very early Christian symbols to 20th-century paintings, concepts are conveyed in a conversational text, accompanied by wonderful color illustrations. This book stands independently beside Jaroslav Pelikan!s The Illustrated Jesus Through the Centuries (LJ 12/97), which focuses more on theological than artistic development. Highly recommended for most collections."Karen Ellis, Nicholson Memorial Lib. Syst., Garland, TX
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: National Gallery London
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300083653
• ISBN 13: 9780300083651
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208