Painting the Word: Christian Pictures and Their Meanings

Author: John DruryBrand: Yale University Press / National GalleryEdition: First EditionBinding: HardcoverNumber Of Pages: 220Release Date: 10-11-1999Details: Christianity is another country, says John Drury, and we need to familiarize ourselves with it in order to understand the universal meaning of its art. In this beautifully written book, Drury, an Anglican priest and theologian, looks at religious paintings through the ages and presents them to us in a fresh way?as works filled with passion, stories, and meaning. They become the poetry of such eternal human concerns as birth, death, sacrifice, love, and moral goodness and failure. Drury points out the religious meanings in paintings that range from works by Piero della Francesca to those by Velazquez. In each case he views the whole picture?its composition, color, drawing, figures, and even architecture?and shows how it creates a religious image that addresses the spectator as a spiritual human being. Drury also provides a historic