Angels and Demons in Art (Guide to Imagery) (Getty Publications -)

Description

This sumptuously illustrated volume analyzes artists' representations of angels and demons and heaven and hell from the Judeo-Christian tradition and describes how these artistic portrayals evolved over time. As with other books in the "Guide to Imagery" series, the goal of this volume is to help contemporary art enthusiasts decode the symbolic meanings in the great masterworks of Western Art. The first chapter traces the development of images of the Creation and the After world from descriptions of them in the Scriptures through their evolution in later literary and philosophical works. The following two chapters examine artists' depictions of the two paths that humans may take, the path of evil or the path of salvation, and the punishments or rewards found on each. A chapter on the Judgment Day and the end of the world explores portrayals of the mysterious worlds between life and death and in the afterlife. Finally, the author looks at images of angelic and demonic beings themselves and how they came to be portrayed with the physical attributes - wings, halos, horns, cloven hooves - with which we are now so familiar. Review: Lovely book - Lovely book Review: good but small - it is a brilliant book full of so much detail and history. Brilliant to know how we got to where we are in artistic form and why we think angels and devils look the way they do. However, the book is small. it is a shame as if in A4 it would be outstanding. I suppose if a real art critic you could take it with you to a gallery.