Customer Reviews

Divine Mirrors: The Virgin Mary in the Visual Arts

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This book is the companion to a multi-year exhibition of (mostly) paintings at Davis Museum at Wellesley College. Most of the works are from the Renaissance, with a smattering of Medieval images and some recent. There are a series of essays included, most of which will not be electrifying to any beginning bible studies student. In fact, the lack of biblical scholarship in the discussion of Mary is quite startling.

The biggest asset of this book is the catalogue section wherein they discuss the sociopolitical concerns at the time of the painting, the meaning of various images and symbols inside the painting, the religious beliefs of the artist, etc. This is truly revealing. And, of course, the sheer quantity of images is truly impressive, and would be difficult to find under any other circumstances.

For me the real beauty of this book was not the illustrated catalogue of images in the Wellesley College collection, it was the excellent essay by Melissa Katz. Robert Orsi's essay was superb as usual, but rather short, and the other essays are so short (2 pages each) as to be almost unmentionable. Katz on the other hand takes her readers on a historical tour of Marian imagery that is also thematically related to the hours of her devotion. In this way, her essay is not only an overview of Marian imagery, but it is also an overview of the history of the Roman Catholic church, an overview of Marian devotional practices, and the social forces in Europe which shaped these two phenomena. My only criticism of her essay, which might be more accurately a criticism of the Wellesley College collection, is that there is very little information on Marian imagery and devotion outside of Europe.

I truly enjoyed this tour through Wellesley's collection of Marian art.

The essays are clear, accessible and thought-provoking. Melissa Katz gives an accurate and broad summary of Christian history, with a special focus on the development and uses of art as well as the development of the Marian cultus. Her introduction is thorough, presuming little previous knowledge of Christian history. Orsi's essay is consise, thought-provoking, and helpful. The images are diverse and beautifully presented, ranging from ancient to (some) modern images of Mary as well as some other Western Christian subjects.

I enjoyed this book enough to purchase a copy.