 | By: J Drury Binding: Paperback Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 0300092946 ISBN-13: 9780300092943 Released: 01 Feb 2002 RRP: Average Rating:  |
John Drury spent a career at both Cambridge & Oxford dealing in matters of theology, ecclesiology, liturgy, & art. I discovered Drury's book while attending a course at my own seminary on the church & the arts, & kept finding myself frustrated at the rapid pace we would go through topics (a frustration I know the professor teaching the course shared - how does one do justice to 2000 years of music, architecture, & art in a mere 15 sessions?). I sought out supplemental materials to help fill out the outline, & Drury's text serves the purpose in many ways.
Drury states his purpose early in the text. `This is a book about how Christian paintings convey their messages. It takes on whole paintings. It is not content with just picking symbols out of them for identification. Composition, colour, contents (including architecture & landscape as well as figures) & the ways in which the paint itself is handled - alll are treated as part & parcel of their religious meanings.' This is a holy & holistic approach.
Drury adopts a kind of picture-describing approach (one that he terms `historicallly iconographical'). This involves absorbing details while understanding context & material. This is the same kind of attention that worship requires (and indeed, the Eastern church has always had this kind of physical artistic interplay with the tradition of use of icons for prayer, meditation & worship purposes) - it requires an openness to experience & feeling while also benefitting from understanding & guidance.
Major artists & works studied in detail in this text include the work of Tiepolo (c. 1750s), the Wilton Diptych (anonymous, c. 1390s), Titian (c. 1510-40s), Duccio (c. 1310s), Filippo Lippi (c. 1450s), Poussin (c. 1630-50s), Rembrandt (c. 1640s), Piero della Francesca (c. 1450-70s), Caravaggio (c. 1600s), Rubens (c. 1630s), Velazquez (c. 1610s), Cezanne (c. 1900s), & others. Most presentations begin by showing the whole work, then proceeding to look at individual characteristics or highlights often pulled aside in side images or isolated for greater emphasis. The text & artwork is arranged in good pattern throughout the text.
Throughout his text, Drury makes a repeated calll for care, meditation & attention to be given to the artwork as well as the response to the artwork. He makes that statement that we should stay in front of the images `longer than people usuallly do' - noticing in museums, art shops, churches & other places that people tend to shuffle past rather than give attention to the most stunning & sublime works of art. Drury draws in history, theology, philosophy, literature, biblical references & images, & other cultural & contextual references to make the experience of these works a full & profound one. This is not a book to be read quickly or glanced over lightly.
Drury includes a narrative annotated bibliography rather than a simple list; he provides both a general bibliography for the entire text as well as a selected bibliography for each chapter/topic.
This is a wonderful book, a great gift for oneself or for others. It is particularly good for those who want a deeper experience & understanding of the way in which art has & can interact & enhance one's relationship with Christianity & its message.
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