Gospel Figures in Art (Guide to Imagery Series)

Every thing you ever wanted to know.... And excellent reproductions. A fine series of books.

This is a beautiful book. It is a paper back printed on heavy glossy card stock. The subject of each figure is identified and his or her position in the Gospels is briefly described. Details of interest in each subject are noted with pointers.

I bought this for someone who likes to go to art museums, and she really liked it. She said that the information in this book will help her to enjoy and understand religious artwork more.

Great condition! Thank you for the honest description of the book.

Many interesting and beautiful paintings. Very good explanatory notes.

I need a magnifying glass to read parts of this. The font size is very small in places.

If you are like me, your familiarity with many Biblical subjects leaves much to be desired. I am usually OK with the standards -the Adoration of the Magi, the Last Supper - and so forth. But even there, many of the small details elude me. For example, I didn't know that red carnations are associated with the Passion because the shape of their seeds recalls the nails used for the crucifixion, or that when Jesus was presented at the Temple, Mary and Joseph gave a gift of two doves, which can often be seen in paintings of this event, or that Mary Magdalene is frequently depicted bareheaded to recall that she had dried Christ’s feet with her own hair. And when we get to events such as the Parable of the Lost Coin, the Marriage of the Virgin, or the Supper in the House of Simon, my understanding goes downhill fast. The list could go on and on.If this sounds at all like you, then Stefan Zuffi's Gospel Figures in Art is, literally, a godsend. Originally written in Italian, but translated and published in English by the Getty Museum as part of their Guide to Imagery series, it consists of numerous short sections each devoted to a single event from the Gospels. Each section is illustrated by several paintings with concise explanations of the people, imagery, and iconography therein. Armed with this volume, anyone will have much greater success "reading" Christian art of the Renaissance or of any other period. My only nitpick, as others have pointed out, is the small size of the reproductions and type font, which make some kind of magnifier almost manditory.

In "Guide to Imagery Series" books I found the books on artthat give an exceptionally clear presentation of the subject.I bought 6 books from this series ("Gospel figures in art" among them) and I really found what I was searching for. You can study Old and New Testament as well as ancient mythology reading these books, understand the role of different details, symbols drawn on each picture. Inside each book there is a short description of the specific topic followed by full-colour reproductions of the pictures on this topic from different museums all over the world with detailed explanations to each picture. It was amazing to find and understand the meaning of different pictures I saw in art galleries in St.Petersburg, Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Venice, Naples and other places. Really a great selection of art works is presented in each of these books. I strongly recommend all these books to everybody who wants to understand the meaning of the pictures and get a nice art collection at home.

This book is a real delight..for a paperback it is extremely robust, well finished and pleasing to the touch. The vast number of illustrations are beautifully reproduced, with key points about Biblical imagery unobtrusively added around the illustrations. A very useful reference source for students of Western art and/or Christianity, and a simple delight to look at and enjoy.

This book is full of information and great colourful pictures. I found it very useful when I was studying Christian iconography. Neat size which can easily fit into your bag when visiting museums.

an excellent book which is well written and contains interesting illustrations.

INSTRUCTION

Great book, really helpful and well laid out.