Byzantine Things in the World (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780300191783)

How did Byzantine culture understand its own objects we now call "art"? This enlightening publication proposes that they saw and experienced clay pilgrim tokens, relief stamps, and icons of saints as dynamic and fully active and alive in the world. The materials used and the sensory impressions they created were an integral part of the Byzantine God-saturated world. Gold was considered a living material and tokens from locations associated with a saint's physical life extended his or her presence into pilgrims' lives.

This book attempts to overturn conventional art historical thought through a combination of material investigation, historical recovery, and hermeneutic clearing. Distinguished authors argue that categorizing these objects made for Medieval Greek Christians as art is incorrect, instead suggesting that they were rooted in a world with an animistic view of living things.

Provocatively interweaving Byzantine material culture and art with analogs like Kongo nkondi figures and works by James Lee Byars, Donald Judd, and Yves Klein, this volume features the Menil Collection's superb holdings and fresh perspectives by a range of art historians.

Distributed for The Menil Collection

Exhibition Schedule:

The Menil Collection
(05/03/13-08/18/13)

Author: Glenn Peers
ISBN-10: 0300191782
ISBN-13: 9780300191783
Publisher: Menil Foundation
Language: English
Published: 06/18/2013
Pages: 192
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 2.45lbs
Size: 10.70h x 8.30w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 10/01/2013 pg. 73
Choice 01/01/2014