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Seeing Salvation: Images of Christ in Art

Neil Macgregor with Erika Langmuir, New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2000, 7.75x10" cloth hardbound, 240 pages; 60 illustrations.

The story of the life and death of Christ has shaped Western European art for nearly two thousand years, providing a framework for great artists to address universal questions of love, hope, heroism, and suffering. Since there are no contemporary accounts of JesusÆ appearance, his image in Western art has been able to reflect variously the spiritual world of the artist, the desires of the patron, or the needs of the spectator. In this magnificently illustrated book, Neil MacGregor considers the many ways in which artists, at different times and from different cultures, have presented the story of Christ and explains how the likeness of Jesus that we now all recognize has emerged.

Focusing on images of Christ in high art and popular craft throughout the world--in galleries, churches, museums, private homes, catacombs, and market stalls--MacGregor traces the life of Christ and the development of Christian culture since his birth. He shows how some of the works reveal not only societyÆs view of Christ and of itself but also the inner spiritual turmoil of their creators. MacGregor points to MichelangeloÆs successive sculptures of the Pieta, for example, in which the artist left a record of the evolution of his faith and of the anguish and doubt that colored his last days. In the same way, RembrandtÆs reworking of his etching of the Crucifixion reveals not just his changing understanding of the event but also his darkening view of life. Throughout, MacGregor argues that images of Christ can still speak powerfully to believers and nonbelievers and that they are as important to us now as a way of understanding our lives as they were when they were made.

Neil MacGregor has been director of the National Gallery, London, since 1987. Erika Langmuir was head of education at the National Gallery from 1988 to 1995. She is the author of The National Gallery Companion Guide and several thematic National Gallery Pocket Guides and coauthor of The Yale Dictionary of Art and Artists, all published by Yale University Press.

Without contemporary accounts of JesusÆ appearance, artists through the ages have been free to create many images of him--images that sometimes reflect the spiritual world of the artist and other times the desires of the patron or the needs of the spectator. In this magnificently illustrated book, Neil MacGregor traces the life of Christ and the development of Christian culture in the work of artists from different times and diverse cultures.

Review Excerpts:

"This is no run-of-the-mill coffee-table book; art historian and critic MacGregor not only offers a rich feast for the eyes through lavish illustrations, but also shows how art reflects the churchÆs development over the last two millennia." --Publishers Weekly

"In this deeply considered and beautifully written book, MacGregor, like Francis (St. Francis of Assisi), treats Christ and Christian art with equal love and respect, making the images accessible and welcome to all, regardless of oneÆs personal faith." --Paul Jeromack, Art and Auction

"A book for the coffee table that will invite many return visits." --First Things

"An insightful journey. . . . By combining biblical passages with stunning color illustrations and artistic interpretation, the book strikes an exceptional balance between art history and religious study. Those with the slightest interest in either discipline will find much that will fascinate." --Margaret Ramirez, Los Angeles Times

"The most intriguing illustrated inspirational book for Christians this year." --David Crumm, Detroit Free Press

"Seeing Salvation is the most intriguing illustrated inspirational book for Christians this year. . . . The book walks a delicate line between art history and inspiration." --Colorado Springs Gazette

"A stunningly beautiful and affordable catalogue. . . . May be [one of] the finest books to date on the importance of visual expression in the Christian experience. . . . A thoughtful, accessible and splendidly illustrated book. . . . Should be part of any theological or art historical library. For those who are looking for resources to use in parish adult education or college-level Christian theology and art courses, [this] book is indispensable. . . . Make[s] the visual iconography of Christianity accessible to people from a variety of religious backgrounds . . . and reveals the Christian catechetical opportunities that exist in many of our museums. " --Terrence E. Dempsey, America

"The authors note that there are no contemporary accounts of JesusÆ appearance, but Western art in depicting him has reflected the spiritual world of the artist, the desires of art patrons, or the needs of spectators. Seventy color and eight black-and-white pictures are balanced with an informative text that offers penetrating commentary on the art works themselves." --Currents in Theology and Mission

"The catalogue would work well as an introduction to late medieval and early renaissance Christian devotional imagery with the early and late pieces working primarily in comparison." --Religious Studies Review

"Seeing Salvation celebrates the power, politics, and poignancy of Western European religious imagery of JesusÆ birth, life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Authors MacGregor and Langmuir treat these images reverently: with sympathy to their religious claims; with appreciation for their artistic subtleties; and with insight into the arcana surrounding their creation and reception." --Maria Tattu Bowen, Spiritus

Title: Seeing Salvation: Images of Christ in Art

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