Visual Piety

A History and Theory of Popular Religious Images

By: David Morgan

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Paperback | 25 September 1999 | Edition Number 1

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283 Pages

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22.7 x 16.34 x 1.54

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This fascinating study of devotional images traces their historical links to important strains of American culture. David Morgan demonstrates how popular visual images-from Warner Sallman's "Head of Christ" to velvet renditions of DaVinci's "Last Supper" to illustrations on prayer cards-have assumed central roles in contemporary American lives and communities.

Morgan's history of popular religious images ranges from the late Middle Ages to the present day and analyzes what he calls "visual piety," or the belief that images convey. Rather than isolating popular icons from their social contexts or regarding them as merely illustrative of theological ideas, Morgan situates both Protestant and Catholic art within the domain of devotional practice, ritual, personal narrative, and the sacred space of the home. In addition, he examines how popular icons have been rooted in social concerns ranging from control of human passions to notions of gender, creedal orthodoxy, and friendship. Also discussed is the coupling of images with texts in the attempt to control meanings and to establish markers for one's community and belief. Drawing from the fields of music, sociology, theology, philosophy, psychology, and aesthetics,Visual Piety is the first book to bring to specialist and lay reader alike an understanding of religious imagery's place in the social formation and maintenance of everyday American life.

Industry Reviews

"Fascinating investigation into the history and meaning of popular religious images from the late Middle Ages to the present day. Explores the practices, attitudes, and ideas that are articulated through religious iconography."--"The Art Book Review

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Arts & Entertainment Art Treatments & Subjects Religious Subjects Depicted in Art History of Art & Design Styles Religion & Beliefs Christianity Christian Churches, Denominations, Groups Church History General Issues in Art Theory of Art Christian Worship, Rites & Ceremonies

List of Illustrations	p. vii
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Introduction: Constructivism and the History of Visual Culture	p. 1
Material Things and the Social Construction of Reality	p. 2
The Aesthetics of Everyday Life	p. 12
Images and Their Worlds	p. 17
The Practice of Visual Piety	p. 21
High and Low	p. 22
The Aesthetic of Disinterestedness	p. 26
Toward an Aesthetic of Popular Religious Art	p. 29
The Psychology of Recognition	p. 34
Interactivity in the Reception of Popular Religious Images	p. 50
Empathy and Sympathy in the History of Visual Piety	p. 59
Catholic Visual Piety from the Late Middle Ages to the Modern Period	p. 60
Jonathan Edwards and the Aesthetic of Piety	p. 74
Sympathy and Benevolence in Nineteenth-Century American Protestantism	p. 78
"Home-Sympathy" and Christian Nurture	p. 93
The Masculinity of Christ	p. 97
The Image of Male Friendship: Jonathan and David	p. 98
The Christology of Friendship and Twentieth-Century Visual Piety	p. 111
Reading the Face of Jesus	p. 124
The Head of Christ in Catholic and Lutheran Response	p. 125
The Discourse of Hidden Images	p. 135
Avant-Garde and Popular	p. 143
Domestic Devotion and Ritual	p. 152
The Christian Home: A Domestic Description of the Sacred	p. 158
Domestic Ritual and Images	p. 171
Memory and the Sacred	p. 181
Space and Time	p. 181
Memory and the Sacred	p. 183
Modes of Remembrance: Narrative and Anecdotal Memory	p. 197
Conclusion: Religious Images and the Social Construction of Everyday Life	p. 203
Letters and Demographics	p. 209
Notes	p. 213
Select Bibliography	p. 253
Index	p. 259
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Visual Piety

A History and Theory of Popular Religious Images

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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