This is a new and enlarged version of the Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art & Architecture which originally came out in 1996 edited by Peter and Linda Murray. Tom Devonshire Jones has edited the new edition with the help of a team of experts. The contents have been amended, especially by adding more examples from the nineteenth century onwards and including new media such as film. The scope has been made more worldwide, although it is still predominantly Western Catholic and Protestant. That is inevitable given the enormous heritage of Western religious art.
The content includes entries on biblical events, and Christian events post the biblical narrative. Major devotional concepts such as the Man of Sorrows and the Joys of Mary get quite long entries. Named artists, types of works, styles and media are covered. Ritual and pedagogic aspects of church life and worship are also included. Saints who feature frequently in art have an entry under their name; not all grouped under the letter S.
Longer essays covering periods of art history or regional surveys are included in their alphabetic place. There is also a long essay on film, which is a new topic for this book and possibly the main way those who are not active Christians can experience religious history. There is also an essay on Jewish and Christian interaction in art, and one on Islamic art. I read the essay on Gothic art to see if it covered non-conformist Gothic, which it does including the mention of a couple of Gothic Quaker meeting houses. So the wide range of non-conformity, most noticeable in Britain, is included. In the area studies, and some of the standard entries, art from most of the Christian world is discussed. But there is also general discussion of British or English art. One little criticism: the background of these essays is grey; I find this somewhat hard to read and would have preferred that they were distinguished in some other way.
It is worth saying what this book is not. It is not a collection of examples of Christian art and architecture, although numerous specific examples are mentioned. It is also not a guide to church architecture, although the main features of churches and their ritual functions are described. The one area of art omitted from the book is music. To have included it may have been to make the book too long, and it may not have been an area of expertise of the authors. However, there is one entry that describes church bands that were common in the nineteenth century and which feature in some paintings. I tried to re-find that entry, as I wanted to follow it up elsewhere for information on some of the instruments mentioned, but I failed to find it having tried several possible headings.
The book arrived for review just about the time when a local authority official banned a Passion Play at Easter because they thought it was a sex show. It was also the time when there was some discussion in the press as to whether Britain is a Christian country. The first event shows how important this book and others that cover the topic are. And this book also shows that Britain’s art and architecture is very defiantly built on a Christian heritage. This book is an important bridge between the world of religion and art. It will help religious people understand their artistic culture; perhaps more importantly, it will help those interested in art understand the Christian story and symbolism in works of art they view. I gather from comments in the press that a lack of knowledge of Christian faith and symbolism is making the study of Shakespeare and Milton difficult. A similar problem is caused by the lack of general knowledge of the classics; maybe there is a need for another book?
This book also addresses the more general problem of the symbolic content of art. Until the seventeenth century, almost all Western art was highly symbolic. Much of the symbolism was religious, but there were also secular symbols of power and status, symbolism of folk wisdom, images of proverbs and catch-phrases and more. There is still much symbolism in more recent art. Again a specific local event has heightened my concern about this topic. The inclusion of Chris Marker’s film Les statues meurent aussi (Statues also die) about traditional African ritual objects in a retrospective show at the Whitechapel Art Gallery has made me realize how much more there is a problem with the symbolism of cultures outside my wide experience of Western art and architecture. There may no longer be any believers in the religions for which the pieces were first made.
As well as being a useful and good book to explain and introduce the symbolic religious and practical aspect of Christian art, I hope the Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art & Architecture will, in a general way, encourage us as we look at art to at least be aware there is symbolic content even if we can no longer recognize the details or understand the meaning.
