The Foundations of Christian Art (Sacred Art in Tradition) [Paperback]

Titus Burckhardt (Author), Michael Oren Fitzgerald (Editor), Keith Critchlow (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Sacred Art in Tradition | Publication Date: May 1, 2006

Titus Burckhardt was a renowned expert on the art of traditional worlds. This book takes the reader through the history of Christian art, focusing especially upon architecture, iconography, and illumination.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This sumptuously illustrated collection brings together two of Burckhardt's major essays-'The Foundations of Christian Art' and 'The Decadence and Renewal of Christian Art'-along with several shorter pieces ... the generous and well-chosen illustrations add a further dimension to these fundamental texts. -- Temenos Academy Review

Catherine Schuon has assembled extracts from [Frithjof Schuon's] writings and, crucially, has fleshed out their insights and observations with a selection of pertinent and illuminating illustrations.... Schuon moves seamlessly from culture to culture, from art to art to show, always with an infallible grasp of the primordial reality underlying their manifold approaches and expressions, how we are, according to volition, either plunged into or excluded from the numinous order of Reality. -- Temenos Academy Review February 2008

From the Publisher

MIPA/Midwest Book Awards 2006, 1st place, Interior Layout PMA/Benjamin Franklin Awards 2007, Finalist, Arts

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: World Wisdom (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933316128
• ISBN-13: 978-1933316123
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

TITUS BURCKHARDT, a German Swiss, was born in Florence in 1908 and died in Lausanne in 1984. An eminent member of the perennialist school, he is perhaps best known to the general public as an art historian. He won much acclaim for producing and publishing the first successful full-scale facsimiles of the Book of Kells, a copy of which he presented to Pope Pius XII at his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. He later acted as a specialist advisor to UNESCO, with particular reference to the preservation of the unique architectural heritage of Fez. Besides his studies in Islamic art, mysticism, and culture, such as Introduction to Sufi Doctrine, Fez: City of Islam, and Moorish Culture in Spain, his best known works are: Sacred Art in East and West, Siena: City of the Virgin, Chartres and the Birth of the Cathedral, and Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul. Two notable compendiums of his work have also been published: Mirror of the Intellect: Essays on Traditional Science and Sacred Art and The Essential Titus Burckhardt: Reflections on Sacred Art, Faiths, and Civilizations, both translated and edited by William Stoddart.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This lovely presentation is a top pick for newcomers to Christian art history or theory, July 9, 2006

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

This review is from: The Foundations of Christian Art (Sacred Art in Tradition) (Paperback)

Titus Burckhardt's The Foundations Of Christian Art provides a fine illustrated edition of Burckhardt's writings on Christian sacred art, pairing over a hundred color illustrations of such art with his expertise and insights. The entire history of Christian art is surveyed with a focus on its manuscripts and arts and crafts guilds and their connections to Christian spiritual concepts. This lovely presentation is a top pick for newcomers to Christian art history or theory.