Our sacred signs
Subtitle: how Jewish, Christian, and Muslim art draw from the same source
By: Ori Soltes.
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 275
ISBN-13: 9780813342979
Subjects: Art and religion; Symbolism in art
Description: 2The art of the three Abrahamic religions--Christianity, Judaism, and Islam--has a tangled, interwoven history. Symbols cross back and forth among the three faiths, adapted to reflect that faiths specific spiritual needs. And much of this symbolic language predates any of the Abrahamic faiths entirely. In Our Sacred Signs, Ori Soltes traces the interconnectedness of religious symbols such as the Star of David, which isnt, it turns out, exclusive to Judaism at all. He shows that the various ways that Jesus is portrayed on the cross recall an artistic tradition that is in no way unique to Christianity. And he shows that religious architectural conventions as simple as the dome represent early pagan traditions.The narrative--essentially a series of overlapping stories--moves through the halls of museums and off to the holy sites of the three religions, tracing the millennia-long artistic trail that has endured even as the West moved toward secularization in the last three hundred years. Soltes shows us how art has long been used as an instrument to take us where words cannot follow. Our Sacred Signs is a breathtaking and revelatory journey through human history, its gods, and its art.3
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Symbols of faith: art as an instrument of religion; title: Symbols in ancient art; title: Monotheism and the development of the Abrahamic traditions; title: Christian symbols from catacomb to cathedral; title: Jewish and Muslim symbols in sacred and profane contexts; title: Survival of symbols in a secularizing western world; title: Symbols of faith in twentieth century visual art.