The Life of Christ [antikvár]

The Life of Christ by Michael Watts \KY purpose in writing this book is a simple one. In the cultural history of Europe the Gospels ha ve been a source of inspiration for the artist right down to the present day and no doubt will continue to be so, to a greater or iesser extent, as men respond to the story of Jesus of Nazareth. However, today when the Christian faith is less consciously part of the cultural background of everyone's life, at least to the extent of their being familiar with the details of the Gospel story, if not with the doctrinal structures built up by theologians around these events, there is a danger that the tremendous treasury of art developed over the centuries will be given less than its due attention. Ali the pictures in this book are to be seen in Great Britain and it is my modest hope that somé people having read it will be prompted to go to the galleries to look more closely at these wonderful paintings rather than pass them by with only a cursory glancé. Under various influences, the artists' representation of the figure at the centre of all these stories has varied greatly. At one time there is a marked concentration on depicting his humán characteristics, at other times the emphasis falls on his divine nature. In this collection readers will find what I hope is a not injudicious mixture of both approaches. For the most part I ha ve restricted the choice to paintings based on the Gospel narratives, but there is one exception; the Meeting of St Joachim and St Anne by Filippo Lippi. This picture is a reminder that there were sources other than the canon of scripture to which artists turnéd in their search for inspiration when commissioned to devise a painting on a religious theme. The incident included here is based on one of the pieces of apocryphal literature connected with the New Testament, the second-century Book of James, in which is told the story of the aged Anna and Joachim and God's answer to their distress in their childlessness. The artist has depicted them meeting again after the angel has told Joachim to return from the wilderness where he had gone to lament his lack of children, as Anna, at an advanced age, has conceived the child later destined to be the mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary. This story passed with the Gospel story into Europe's culture together with accounts and legends of the lives of the saints, finding its way, amongst other places, into the Golden Legend which was an important source of inspiration for poet and artist alike in the medieval period. If after reading this book somé are encouraged to think again about their attitűdé to the person whose life forms its central theme, that will be a welcome but unlooked for result. Equally shall I be pleased if it results in somé becoming once again, or for the first time, familiar with the Gospel stories which form such an important part of the European cultural heritage without knowledge of which the understanding and pleasure to be derived from the study of European artistic and literary achievement is inevitably diminished. the paintings: Above, The Meeting between St Joachim and St Anne by Filippo Lippi (c. 1406-1469); Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The Nativity on the front cover is by Domenichino (1581-1641); The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh. The Crucifixion on the back cover is from the Lyttlington Missal and is reproduced by courtesy of Westminster Abbey Library.