Romaine, J. and Stratford L. (ed.): Revisioning

Book info 

James Romaine and Linda Stratford (ed.): ReVisioning, Critical Methods of Seeing Christianity in the History of Art, Cascade Books, 2014.

This book examines the application of art historical methods to the history of Christianity and art. As methods of art history have become more interdisciplinary, there has been a notable emergence of discussions of religion in art history as well as related fields such as visual culture and theology. This book represents the first critical examination of scholarly methodologies applied to the study of Christian subjects, themes, and contexts in art.

ReVisioning contains original work from a range of scholars, each of whom has addressed the question, in regard to a well-known work of art or body of work, “How have particular methods of art history been applied and with what effect?” The study moves from the third century to the present, providing extensive treatment and analysis of art historical methods applied to the history of Christianity and art. 

Table of Contents:

“Expanding the Discourse on Christianity in the History of Art”, by James Romaine

“Methodological Issues from the Fields of Art History, Visual Culture, and Theology”, by Linda Stratford

“Iconographic Literacy: Recognizing the Resurrected Jesus in the Vatican Jonah Sarcophagus”, by Linda Møskeland Fuchs

“Icon as Theology: The Byzantine Virgin of Predestination”, by Matthew J. Milliner

“Marginalia or Eschatological Iconography?: Providence and Plenitude in the Imagery of Abundance at Orvieto Cathedral”, by Rachel Hostetter Smith

“Iconography of Sign: A Semiotic Reading of the Arma Christi”, by Heather Madar

“Hybridizing Iconography: The Miraculous Mass of St. Gregory Featherwork from the Colegio de San Jose de los Naturales in Mexico City”, by Elena FitzPatrick Sifford

“Reading Hermeneutic Space: Pictorial and Spiritual Transformation in the Brancacci Chapel”, by Chloë Reddaway

“Reading Theological Place: Joachim Patinir's Penitence of St. Jerome as Devotional Pilgrimage”, by Matthew S. Vanderpoel

“Reading Theological Context: A Marian Interpretation of Michelangelo’s Roman Pietà”, by Elizabeth Lev

“Reading Visual Rhetoric: Strategies of Piety and Propaganda in Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Passional Christi und Antichristi”, by Bobbi Dykema

“Reading Devotion: Counter Reformation Iconography and Meaning in Gregorio Fernandez’s Cristo yacente of El Pardo”, by Ilenia Colón Mendoza

“Historicism and Scenes of “The Passion” in Nineteenth Century French Romantic Painting”, by Joyce C. Polistena

“Consuming Christ: Henry Ossawa Tanner’s Biblical Paintings and Nineteenth Century American Commerce”, by Kristin A. Schwain

“Figuring Redemption: Christianity and Modernity in Max Beckmann’s Resurrections”, by Amy K. Hamlin

“Embodiment as Sacrament: Francis Bacon’s Postwar Horror”, by Rina Arya

“Media, Mimesis, and Sacrifice: Paul Pfeiffer’s Contemporary Christological Lens”, by Isabelle Loring Wallace