3 comments about The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art (Princeton Paperbacks).

1. Mathews is primarily concerned to refute a particular early 20th-Century German and Eastern European ideological theory that the portrayal of Jesus in art was derived directly from the detailed portrayal of Roman emperors in art and that this artistic portrayal of Jesus as emperor legitimates imperial political structure, with an emperor, in the contemporary era (of 1920-1950).
   
   Mathews shows that the early artistic portrayal of Jesus presented him as a counter-Jupiter and all-ruler (pantokrator), not as a worldly emperor (kosmocrator). Jesus was also portrayed in early Christian art as androgynous and as the most powerful magician, and as a philosopher. The portrayal of Jesus in art consciously and deliberately presented him as anti-emperor.
   
   Sometimes Mathews confusingly asserts that the way Jesus was portrayed had absolutely nothing to do with the emperor, but in other chapters, originally published as separate articles, he asserts that Jesus was portrayed consciously and deliberately as a non-emperor. Mathews' extremist manner of expression and apparent self-contradiction reveals his succumbing to political fear of 20th-Century re-institution of emperors, resulting in a polemical mode of expression, which lacks precision. Mathews' overweening concern to refute an early 20th-Century political theory causes him to misstate or inconsistently describe his theory about how Jesus was portrayed and what the portrayals meant in the first few centuries.
   
   He ought to strike most of his invective against the very specific, quirky, and particular early 20th-century theory of artistic derivation that he confusingly labels with the ambiguous term "the emperor mystique", and instead explain consistently his positive position about how the Jesus figure did relate to or refute the figure of the emperor -- and, more to the point, how the Christ religion overall was artistically portrayed in relation to how the Roman imperial system of Pax Romana was artistically portrayed.
   
   Mathews ought to engage with the latest theories of Roman imperial theology/ideology, starting with the work of S.R.F. Price, and contribute directly to that effort, rather than devoting so much coverage to a particular 1930s-era view. That's the hardest aspect of reading this book: today's reader comes to it expecting commentary on Price and Horsley, but instead, finds a concern that seems to affirm most of Price and Horsley while being positioned as somehow "against the Emperor Mystique".
   
   This book is dissonant and confusing polemics until you figure out how to harmonize it with the sensible views of Price and Horsley. By the phrase 'the Emperor Mystique', Mathews doesn't have Price and Horsley's view in mind as one naturally expects these days, but rather, a particular quirky, specific theory of artistic-elements derivation of Jesus' portrayal, a theory that was in service of 20th-Century pro-emperor politics.
   
   No scholars are currently asserting that the artistic portrayal of Jesus is directly derived from the portrayal of emperors in their "purely political" function. Rather, what Price, Horsley, and N.T. Wright are stressing these days is that the New Testament books were highly intent on presenting a rebuttal and sociopolitical alternative to the religiously legitimated political ideology and imperial theology of Pax Romana and Roman imperial Ruler Cult -- a view that is supported by Mathews' Christ Pantokrator (almighty all-ruler), magician, and personally caring philosopher.
   
   The book presents a somewhat useful picture of Jesus as philosopher, counter-Jupiter, and healer-magician, but unfortunately that clarification is tangled up with confusing polemics in a self-contradictory, overheated manner of expression, all the more confusing because you get that battle (tilting against a long-dead windmill of 1930s German politics) where you expect instead an engagement with more recent scholarship clarifying the relationship of Christianity and the late-antique Roman empire.
   
   As a rebuttal to the particular artistic-derivation theory of Grabar, the book succeeds, but it doesn't engage with the more general, recent, systematic studies of Christianity as rebuttal and alternative to the system of the Roman empire.



2. While Mathews has crafted an thorough polemic against what he calls the "Emperor Mystique" prevalent as a key hermenuetic of early christian art, he stimulated me to go beyond the declared intent of his thoughtful book. The author opens the door to the polyvalence of the symbolism of the art of the church, particularly from the third through the sixth centuries. Mathews presents the adaptation of Greco-Roman art forms and their translation into the competitive contexts of christian origins. While I was persuaded that Alfoldi and Grabar probably went too far in their attempt to link the art of the church with an exclusively imperial model, I still believe that many christians would have recognized elements of this model in viewing the paintings and mosaics of the church. Religious symbolism can function in multiple ways, both singly and in combinations depending on various religious, political, social, and economic agenda. This book is a useful complement to Averil Cameron's "Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire."



3. This is a bold and clear reinterpretation of Early Christian Art. It moves the reader through a cany reseeing that respects and illuminates both the message and the people who received it. Mathews explains in an open and well documented way how Christian images fought and defeated the pagan gods. As an art historian trained with the rather confusing cannon of earlier scholarship I found it delightful reading.

No comments about Storytelling in Christian Art from Giotto to Donatello.

No comments about Angels CD-ROM and Book (Dover Electronic Clip Art).

No comments about A Masterpiece Reconstructed: The Hours of Louis XII.

1 comments about Hindu Gods & Goddesses 2008 Calendar.

1. This calendar is very beautiful. I only wish the colors were more vibrant however the details are truly lovely. Also, the description of each picture is a nice bonus. They make a very nice gift for oneself and others.

No comments about The Mirror of the Gods: How the Renaissance Artists Rediscovered the Pagan Gods.

3 comments about Wet-Wall Tattoos: Ben Long and the Art of Fresco.

1. I first encountered Ben Long in 1989 in Raleigh, North Carolinawhen I was working on a television profile of his friend and fellowfresco painter, Charles Kapsner. Ben sat, somewhat reluctantly, I thought, for an interview, and regaled us with tales of their days in Florence. I later joined his circle of associates attending the dedication of the St. Peter's fresco in Charlotte. The sense of inspiration was palpable in the church that evening, Ben's generous and deep nature infusing this great monument to the sacred; later, at a bistro down the street, he stiffed me for a bottle of Wild Horse Pinot Noir. How could one not be charmed by this study in contrasts?

   By 1990 I had been drawn into his circle, videotaping work at Ben's Paris studio on his next project: the massive fresco triptych which adorns the Bank of America lobby in Charlotte I briefly met Richard Maschal when this book came out, and I found him describing the same man of brilliant mastery, intense commitment and provocative nonsense that I came to know over the span of three years. As painting proceeded at what was then called NationsBank Corporate Center, captains of industry replaced the church hierarchy, and Ben's subject matter moved into secular themes. But the dichotomy of patron and painter remained the same, as Richard so aptly compared to that of Michelangelo and Pope Julius II. At one point Ben's work was halted while Charlotte Powers that Be decided that they understood Ben's desire to make a strong statement about regional heritage, but could not countenance a certain larger-than-life image contained within the center fresco: that of a KKK member smoking a joint. After an enlightening meeting with local African-American leaders Ben gracefully found a way to alter his composition, but at no expense to his vision.

   Ben has moved onto other equally challenging commissions, but it is the St. Peter's fresco, and its story as related by Richard Maschal, that places Ben Long as a maestro at the fore of an American renaissance of this ancient technique, the genuine article, just beginning to hit his stride.




2. Being the author's daughter, I was surprised to find it listed when I took a search on my last name. I was equally surprised to see such a great review!

   Aside from my obvious inclinations, this really is a great book. Witty, culturally far-reaching, honest, and wonderfully crafted, it is a fascinating portrait of a man who surely mirrors the tempestuous Michaelangelo. Ben Long is a fabulously challenging man, angry, intelligent, even sexy. Read this book and learn about art, religious tradition, and the creative landscape of America ...

   and I got to pick out the title!




3. I dipped into this book because I'm interested in Italy and wanted to learn a little about fresco technique (but I wanted to learn it painlessly, which for me means tucked inside a narrative instead of laid out in a textbook). But I found that I stayed with the whole story, genuinely interested in the personalities and the outcome of the project, a religious fresco executed in Charlotte, North Carolina in the late 1980s.

   Clearly Ben Long is a difficult albeit talented man, but just as clearly he seems willing to do what he must to keep fresco alive. We read stories of earlier musicians and artists (Mozart and Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto come immediately to mind) who produce a work and present it, uncertain the agreed-upon compensation will be forthcoming or that there will be any at all. Much of Long's work has followed the same pattern: slow, steady execution of a religious fresco, in Italy or the United States, followed by a small "purse" from a grateful priest. The North Carolina project followed by the author in this book was, by design, more lucrative and more modern, but the negotiating, the arguments, the temporary withholding of final compensation, the frayed nerves, the eager acolytes working just for the experience--all of it could have happened 400 years ago. And just when you're starting to realize this, the author deftly segues into the relationship between Pope Julius II and Michelangelo during the frescoing of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

   It's refreshing to see such a quiet subject get such careful, journalistic treatment. There are no fireworks here, just a well-told story of interest to those with a fascination with the making of art, with Italy, with fresco in particular, and with the intersection of history and modern times.

No comments about The Isenheim Altar: Suffering and Salvation in the Art of Grunewald.

2 comments about Abbot Suger on the Abbey Church of St. Denis and Its Art Treasures.

1. "This was precisely...what St. Bernard had thundered against...
   No figure painting or sculpture...,gems, pearls, gold and silk were forbidden...
   Suger, however, was frankly in love with splendor and beauty in every
   conceivable form."
   [On the Abbey Church of St. Denis]
   One of the few early accounts on the gothic cathedral building. Introduction itself is worth the money. Mr. Panofsky is explaining political, social and personal influences that together with Suger's psychological traits led to the construction of what is supposed to be the first Gothic catedral - St. Denis. The keyword here is "influences" - do not expect to learn the construction process or anything of that kind. Account itself does not contains many construction details, but deserves your attention indeed. Kind regards, Mario.



2. This is an OPUS MAGNUS of profound erudition! An indispensable must have for any student of Gothic Art & Architecture. From sheathed shafts thrusting upwards penetrating groin vaults to the most scholarly look nto this seminal figure in the Middle Ages, this text has it all! While certainly not a light read, it is a and important and pivotal work in the scholarship of the beginning of the Gothic era. It should be more readily available.

2 comments about Saints: A Visual Almanac of the Virtuous, Pure, Praiseworthy, and Good.

1. As I read this book, it occurred to me that the author is not very interested in his topic. While writing about the limited number of saints in this book, Morgan writes as if he is describing a recipe for oatmeal cookies. The matter-of-fact language comes off rather cold in a book about inspirational people. Despite the short passages about saints, Morgan goes out of his way to show parallels between the saint and pagan holidays as if he is trying to debunk the life of the saint. This disturbed me in the sense that he seems to be writing a Christian book about things he does not believe.
   
   Aside from the artwork, I found little value in this book. Some of the more obscure saints were interesting to read about. But in the scope of Morgan's other passages, I am curious how their stories may be skewed.



2. This is an excellent reference book, providing basic biographies for more than 100 saints. Where else would you be able to look up the feast days of the patron saints of beekeepers? The artwork is also attractive, though I'd prefer more of it.

   Unfortunately, this work does not come near the quality of Morgan's second book, "The Devil." Perhaps it is the subject matter, but the material in "Saints" is much less entertaining. That said, I still recommend this book as a great reference (and maybe a good source for baby names :)