FAH212 Art & Architecture of the Middle Ages: Reference Sources

Boasting well over 6,000 contributors from 12 countries, the Dictionary offers its readers authoritative and comprehensive global coverage. A resource for both art and cultural studies, the Dictionary serves as a unique guide to all the visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, drawing, printmaking, as well as the decorative arts. The Dictionary ranges far both geographically and historically; it features unparalleled coverage of geographic areas. Providing depth as well as breadth, The Dictionary of Art examines important art forms and key issues of design, taste, function, and patronage, illuminating them in light of the cultural context in which they developed.

Religion is often expressed and appreciated through art. Surprisingly, few books meld these two. Similarly, few books compare religions in terms of their creative expression. For these reasons, professor and art historian Ross’ set is a welcome reference work. Both volumes begin with the same introduction, which provides the scope and purposes, defines religion and religious art, and explains the importance of art in religious studies. The first volume treats ancient and indigenous religions in eight chapters covering “Prehistoric Belief Systems,” “Religion in Ancient Egypt,” “Native American Religions,” and more. The second volume treats the major organized religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. Each chapter runs about 25 pages in length and includes the religion’s origin and development, its principal beliefs and key practices, traditional art and architectural forms, and selected illustrated examples of art and architecture. The paragraphs about traditional forms explain the types of architecture associated with each religion (e.g., ziggurats, pyramids, shrines). A few specific artifacts are detailed, noting their religious and artistic significance. The art enthusiast will recognize many of the examples, but the discussion of religious aspects give them new and enriched meaning. Black-and-white photos and occasional diagrams appear on about half of the pages. Endnotes validate the statements, and an extensive bibliography guides the reader to major works about the religion and its arts. Each volume features a center eight-page spread of color plates. Only the second volume has the extensive index.

Profiling milestones and movements in the arts, literature, music and religion from a specific period, each volume in this set helps students and researchers understand the various disciplines of the humanities in relation to each other, as well as to history and culture. An overview of the period and a chronology of major world events begin each volume. Nine chapters follow covering the major branches of the humanities: architecture and design, dance, fashion, literature, music, philosophy, religion, theater and visual arts. Chapters begin with a chronology of major events within the discipline followed by articles covering the movements, schools of thought and masterworks that characterize the discipline during the era and biographical profiles of pioneers, masters and other prominent figures in the field. Chapters also include significant primary documents from the period, including quotations, excerpts from artists about their work and/or commentaries/criticism published during the period, and a list of general references for further information.

This multidisciplinary encyclopedia is described as "an introduction to the society and culture of England from the coming of the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century through the accession of the Tudor dynasty (1485) at the turn of the 16th century." Containing more than 700 entries by more than 300 international scholars, the volume encompasses the fields of Old English and Middle English language and literature, music and liturgy, history, and history of art. According to the introduction, it is designed to be accessible to the general reader as well as to the scholar. Entries are arranged alphabetically and vary in length from a few lines to six or seven pages.

Embracing the viewpoints of Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox thinkers, of conservatives, liberals, radicals, and agnostics, Christianity today is anything but monolithic or univocal. In The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought, general editor Adrian Hastings has tried to capture a sense of the great diversity of opinion that swirls about under the heading of Christian thought. Indeed, the 260 contributors, who hail from twenty countries, represent as wide a range of perspectives as possible.
Here is a comprehensive and authoritative (though not dogmatic) overview of the full spectrum of Christian thinking. Within its 600 alphabetically arranged entries, readers will find lengthy survey articles on the history of Christian thought, on national and regional traditions, and on various denominations, from Anglican to Unitarian. There is ample coverage of Eastern thought as well, examining the Christian tradition in China, Japan, India, and Africa. The contributors examine major theological topics such as resurrection, the Eucharist, and grace as well as controversial issues such as homosexuality and abortion. In addition, short entries illuminate symbols such as water and wine, and there are many profiles of leading theologians, of non-Christians who have deeply influenced Christian thinking, including Aristotle and Plato, and of literary figures such as Dante, Milton, and Tolstoy. Most articles end with a list of suggested readings and the book features a large number of cross-references.