The Forbidden Image: An Intellectual History of Iconoclasm [Hardcover]

Alain BesanCon (Author), Jane Marie Todd (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 7, 2001

 

Philosophers and theologians have long engaged in intense debate and introspection over the representation of the deity, its possibilities and its proscriptions. The Forbidden Image traces the dual strains of “iconophilia” and iconoclasm, the privileging and prohibition of religious images, over a span of two and a half millennia in the West.

Alain Besançon’s work begins with a comprehensive examination of the status of the image in Greek, Judaic, Islamic, and Christian thought. The author then addresses arguments regarding the moral authority of the image in European Christianity from the medieval through the early modern periods. Besançon completes The Forbidden Image with an examination of how iconophilia and iconoclasm have been debated in the modern period.

 

“Even the reader who has heard something of the Byzantine quarrels about images and their theological background will be surprised by a learned and convincing interpretation of the works of Mondrian, Kandinsky, and Malevich in terms of religiously inspired iconoclasm. . . . This is an immensely rich and powerful masterpiece.”—Leszek Kolakowski, Times Literary Supplement

 

 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Even the reader who has heard something of the Byzantine quarrels about images and their theological background will be surprised by a learned and convincing interpretation of the works of Mondrian, Kandinsky, and Malevich in terms of religiously inspired iconoclasm.... This is an immensely rich and powerful masterpiece." - Leszek Kolakowski, Times Literary Supplement"

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (May 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226044130
• ISBN-13: 978-0226044132
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,805,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Use it in Conjunction with Others- not for beginners, April 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Forbidden Image: An Intellectual History of Iconoclasm (Hardcover)

Besançon, director of studies at L'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, is a leading expert in Russian politics and intellectual history. While not a theologian, nor a historian of dogma (he makes a few mistakes here), Besançon's analysis of the norms guiding the representation of the divine within the Hellenic, Roman, Jewish, Early Christian, early and late medieval eras as well as the Renaissance and Baroque periods, and a bit of the modern era, are quite thorough. Although he paints with broad strokes, there are plenty of details to keep the expert busy.

Besançon discusses in detail the notion from Plato that we are drawn to contemplate God in image, but yet there is no image that can depict the divine. This is the classical apophatic and cataphatic paradox within which the truth of Christianity, and many other religions, exist.

As to the rest of his themes, I can only say that I am most familiar with the Hellenic and Eastern Christian philosophies of art, and in this the author is generally acquainted, but not so expert as I would have thought at first glance. Read Quenot's book on Eastern Christian icons or those of Vladimir Lossky for a more substantial assessment and explanation.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perils of Being a Graven Image, March 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Forbidden Image: An Intellectual History of Iconoclasm (Hardcover)

This is a thorough and entertaining history of the critical fortunes of religious imagery. The author tells the long controversial story of the many debates surrounding the worship of images of gods and other notables in Western culture. Starting with the proscription against the Golden Calf and the Hebraic and Islamic laws against the 'graven image," Besancon tracks the history of this debate through Greek and Roman culture, the various phases of early and medieval Christianity, including the ways in with the Eastern and Roman Catholic churches have dealt differently with the problem. Besancon then tracks the status of the religious image through the Renaissance, and how it was perceived by Enlightenment philosophers. He ends with a discussion of how art came to be perceived in religious terms and how the artist came to be perceived as a kind of romantic god starting in the late nineteenth century. He ends with a discussion of the tense relationship between modernism and spirituality, dealing with the art of Kandinsky, Mondrian, and others.

The book is a little strange: one is always aware that Besancon has his own view of things--but it is a highly learned, far-ranging and charming view. Highly recommended.

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A college-level intellectual history of iconoclasm, May 19, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forbidden Image: An Intellectual History of Iconoclasm (Hardcover)

Forbidden Image is a college-level intellectual history of iconoclasm which examines who the representation of the divine came to be a philosophical issue, with the idea of 'graven images' receiving different interpretation by different religions. Philosophy and theology blend in a comprehensive examination of how the status of the image has changed over the centuries.