Saints in Art (Guide to Imagery Series)

You have to read the Introduction of this book to understand a lot of what is inside the book as well as the reason for the book's lay-out. Throughout the pages, there are many references to the "Fourteen Holy Helpers" which I've never heard of, I assumed, because I'm not Catholic. But I wonder if you've heard of this place: the Vierzehnheiligen Sanctuary in Bavaria, Germany was built in 1743. Around its fabulous alter are large colorful statues of 14 saints. Each of these saints was carefully chosen to represent the most identifiable ones regarding their symbols and whom they serve as Patrons. All through the book, you see these saints as well as other saints who are mentioned having connections to them. From earliest times through the Renaissance, the average person could look at religious paintings or statues or stained glass windows and quickly understand who was being depicted by the surroundings and by their symbols. Because this has been largely lost over the centuries, this book recaptures the original significance of each saint via the story of his or her life, the reason for sainthood and the symbols that are repeated over and over in art.The saints range from Acacius to Zeno of Verona. They are listed in alphabetical order. In the back, you can find an alphabetical list of "symbols and attributes" such as chains being associated with St. Leonard or a lamp for St. Clare. Then there is alphabetized "protectors and patrons" such as St. Valentine for lovers.The more famous the saints, the more pages and more paintings are devoted to them. There are many "one-pagers" like St. Isidore or St. Cajetan (who?). St. John the Baptist is depicted in 9 paintings over 9 pages. This is because it must be shown that: he was Jesus' cousin, he baptized Jesus, he lived in the widerness and was beheaded at the behest of Salome. Each saint's story is told and in each painting, there are lines drawn to important parts and captioned so we can understand the meaning. For example, timely now, St. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra and hearing of three sisters who were going to be forced into prostitution, he secretly gave them money to save them from this fate. In paintings, just seeing three little girls asleep alerts you which saint this is about.Each saint has a brief "bio" on the side of the first page. The headings include the "Name" and its origin, the site and time of their "Earthly Life," their "Characteristics and Activity," "Patron" (who calls upon them), and "Connections with Other Saints." Some saints have additional information such as when they were "Venerated," what "Special Devotions" are attributed to them and when is their "Feast Day."I found a few flaws such as the lists in the back not perfectly matching a given saint's info. For example, I'm attorney and I was surprised to see Jesus adopted father, St. Joseph, is the patron saint of attorneys. There is no listing for "attorney" though...but there is for "lawyer." However, only St. Ivo is given for lawyers.It has taken me quite a while to write this review as I keep getting lost in the interesting text and paintings. Other books in this great series include: Symbols and Allegories in Art (A Guide to Imagery) Symbols of Power in Art (A Guide to Imagery) Artists' Techniques and Materials (A Guide to Imagery) Icons and Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church (A Guide to Imagery) Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy in Art (A Guide to Imagery) Music in Art (A Guide to Imagery) Love and the Erotic in Art (A Guide to Imagery) Angels and Demons in Art (A Guide to Imagery)

Beautiful color photographs of art for each saint; details of life; dates of saint’s day; description of the symbolism used to depict the saint. Good indexes.I had this for a trip to Europe and it was helpful in the many churches and chapels we visited.Beautiful book.

I love the format. It is very easy to read and to understand!

this book is awesome! it has info on over 100 saints commonly found in art. stuff like name, time and place of earthly life,what they did, patronage,special devotions, connections to other saints, when they became saints and their feast days are easily found on the sidebar. there is a little biography and then a collection of maybe three paintings and an explanation of who is in the painting and what they are doing as well as the meanings of the objects they are pictured with. for instance, if i ever see a painting of a woman with her hair down pictured with a container of oil or ointment i will know it is mary magdalene. a t-shaped cane is an emblem of St. Anthony Abbot, etc. super useful saint painting decoder.

Great series of books for quick easy reference. Images w/simplified annotations around them. I love this series!

I love this type of reference book. The artwork is vivid, the history of each saint is well-drawn, and I have used this work repeatedly.... especially when I am at Eucharistic Adoration. Highly recommended!

Yup. It has art, it has art of the various and sundry "saints".What more could a man want?While many the book holds a surprise or two, were you seeking a goulash recipe, sadly enough, you won't find it in this book.

This beautiful book contains a collection of biographies of saints together with Old Master's paintings. There are usually several paintings depicting each saint.They include bullets of artistic information about most of the pictures. I do not recommend it for childrenbecause of the sometimes grahic depictions of martyrdom.

I found this book very informative with great colour pictures of the saints in art. This was very helpful to me when I was studying Christian iconography. The only downside to this book is that you need to know the name of the saint as they are featured in alphabetical order; but a great reference book.

As an art history student, I bought the whole series, they are all very well organised and helpful

Useful and informative book, which arrived in excellent condition. Will buy from this seller again.

Excellent