The Oxford Companion to Christian Art and Architecture

Book excerpt: The Oxford Companion to Christian Art and Architecture is a unique and fascinating exploration of the art and architecture that has been influenced and inspired by Biblical stories and Christian history and beliefs. Richly illustrated and with a Glossary of Architectural Terms and an extensive Bibliography, the Companion combines important general essays on the periods and styles important in the history of Christian art with hundreds of shorter entries that describe specific works, artists, themes, and visual images and which give the reader practical guidance on where in Europe to locate the works described. The most comprehensive reference work on Christian art and architecture available includes: * Detailed essays on periods and styles in art and architecture: Anglo- Saxon, Byzantine, Carolingian, Coptic, Early Christian, Gothic, Irish, Ottonian, Renaissance, Rococo, Romanesque; Mannerism, Neoclassicism, * General background on Christian doctrine, beliefs, and tradition: liturgical year, colours, vessels, and vestments; the Ten Commandments, Seven Deadly Sins, and the Two Trinities; Candlemas, Holy Week, Stations of the Cross, and religious orders * Forms of art influenced by Christian ideas: altarpieces, tombs, and caskets; illuminated manuscripts, mosaics, frescoes, and brasses; stained glass, portal sculpture, and standing crosses; fonts, fountains, and rose windows * Specific references to individual artists and sculptors and to their works: Fra Angelico, Bernini, and Botticelli; Marc Chagall, Eric Gill, and Stanley Spencer; the great painters of the Italian Renaissance: Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci * Places, buildings, and architects: Assissi, Ravenna, Venice, and Sistine Chapel; baptistery, belfry, cloister, chapter house, and churches: twentieth century, centrally planned, abbey, collegiate; Bentley, Brunelleschi, Wren, and Gibbs * Biblical themes, stories, and people as the subject ofart: from the Old Testament Adam and Eve, Abraham, and Tower of Babel; the Nativity, Circumcision, Baptism, Life, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Christ from the Gospels; Miracle at Bolsena, Good Samaritan, parables, Apocalypse * Descriptions and explanations of images, icons, and symbols: allegory, attribute, emblem, and type; angels and archangels, symbolic beasts, birds, dove, serpent, and dragon; Signs of the Zodiac, rainbow, labyrinth, and Wheel of Fortune * Significant saints, popes, rulers, and patrons: saints Agnes, Agatha, and Catherine of Siena; saints Peter, Paul, Francis, and Jerome; Charlemagne and Emperor Constantine the Great; popes Clement VII, Urban VIII and Leo X; Doctors of the Church, St Augustine, Erasmus, and Knights Templar