Saints and Their Symbols: Recognizing Saints in Art and in Popular Images [Hardcover]

Fernando Lanzi (Author), Gioia Lanzi (Author), Ermanno Leso (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2004

Images that tell the story of salvation illustrate saints in various scenes. They are often depicted by an emblem or icon. It used to be that we knew enough about the saints to recognize them in images or artworks without much trouble, but it is becoming a struggle. Saints and Their Symbols is a solution. It is a guide for recognizing and understanding the saints. This text explains such things as why so many of the saints appear in images with Jesus and the Virgin Mary, yet remain unnamed, which symbols are associated with each saint, and what their roles were in Christian salvation. With full-color images and biographical information about the saints, it is a work of popular religious culture and anthropology.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Fernando Lanzi and Gioia M.G. Lanzi are founders and directors of the Centro Studi Per La Cultura Popolare, a cultural association that studies and researches the expression of the sacred and the Christian faith. Fernando is a member of the Commission on Sacred Art and the Institute for the History of the Church of the Diocese of Bologna and Gioia is a professor of Sacred Art at the Phylosophical Dominican Stadium in Bologna.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 237 pages
• Publisher: Liturgical Press (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814629709
• ISBN-13: 978-0814629703
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 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: #872,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, useful reference on Christian religious art, September 28, 2004

By 

Henry Berry "Henry Berry" (Southport, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saints and Their Symbols: Recognizing Saints in Art and in Popular Images (Hardcover)

Under the heading of the major section, "Historical Survey or Historical Atlas of the Saints," over 150 saints are included in rough chronological order, beginning with the parents of the Virgin Mary and ending with Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, who died in a German concentration camp in 1942. Along with key biographical facts, entries for each of the numerous saints discuss symbols, settings, poses, clothing, and objects commonly included in paintings or other artistic representations of the respective saint and why these details are associated with him or her. With each entry is a work of art in which the saint is pictured. The large-size, glossy-paged reference has the quality of a coffee-table art book. But its primary purpose is helping reader identify saints in works of art mostly from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, but from other eras as well. The well-thought-out reference is useful in different ways. One can go through the "Historical Survey" in order or randomly to learn about the saints as they have been represented in works of art throughout history and look at the related works of art. The Index, on the other hand, lists the many details found in works of art on saints so that one can find a particular saint from details in a particular work--which one might have seen in a museum or public square in Italy, for example. And there's a third approach to coming to understand and appreciate the the portrayals of saints that have been a large part of Western and Near Eastern visual art in past centuries: The "Dictionary of Saints with Their Attributes" is a visual, alphabetical cataloguing of the saints in typical poses with typical garb and holding or alongside typical symbols or objects. The black-and-white illustrations of the Dictionary can be compared to an image one might have seen or recalled; and then one is directed to the written entry to learn about the saint and the work of art where one saw the image. For its comprehensiveness, attractiveness, and usefulness as a reference, this work is patently a leading work in its field. The authors are involved in different Italian cultural, art, and religious institutions.