Subtle Bodies: Representing Angels in Byzantium (The Transformation of the Classical Heritage) [Hardcover]

Glenn Peers (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520224051 | ISBN-13: 978-0520224056 | Publication Date: February 14, 2001 | Edition: 1

Throughout the course of Byzantine history, Christian doctrine taught that angels have a powerful place in cosmology. It also taught that angels were immaterial, bodiless, invisible beings. But if that were the case, how could they be visualized and depicted in icons and other works of art? This book describes the strategies used by Byzantine artists to represent the incorporeal forms of angels and the rationalizations in defense of their representations mustered by theologians in the face of iconoclastic opposition. Glenn Peers demonstrates that these problems of representation provide a unique window on Late Antique thought in general.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Peers' insightful and wide-ranging study supplies a clear and comprehensive history of the angelic image in cosmology and cult during the formative period prior to Iconoclasm. The paradoxes of the angelic body provide the proving ground for fiercely contested and incompatible claims for text and image as authoritative representations of the holy." - Jeffrey F. Hamburger, author of Nuns as Artists: The Visual Culture of a Medieval Convent "[Peers takes] the angelic experience as an instance of the problems inherent in Christian representation. But both astutely and elegantly, he treats angels not simply as an example but as the most enlightening case if we wish to understand these problems." - Anthony Cutler,' author of Imagery and Ideology in Byzantine Art"

From the Inside Flap

"Peers' insightful and wide-ranging study supplies a clear and comprehensive history of the angelic image in cosmology and cult during the formative period prior to Iconoclasm. The paradoxes of the angelic body provide the proving ground for fiercely contested and incompatible claims for text and image as authoritative representations of the holy."--Jeffrey F. Hamburger, author of Nuns as Artists: The Visual Culture of a Medieval Convent

"[Peers takes] the angelic experience as an instance of the problems inherent in Christian representation. But both astutely and elegantly, he treats angels not simply as an example but as the most enlightening case if we wish to understand these problems."--Anthony Cutler, author of Imagery and Ideology in Byzantine Art

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (February 14, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520224051
• ISBN-13: 978-0520224056
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,213,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of Image Theory in Byzantium, May 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Subtle Bodies: Representing Angels in Byzantium (The Transformation of the Classical Heritage) (Hardcover)

Peers' does an excellent job in this endeavor of combining ecclesiastical texts with images. Much of the book poses the problem of how one represents an angel: a bodiless form. Since this was the foundation of the assault against images during Iconoclasm, Peers' framing of the problem within a specific context (the representation of angels) helps the reader see the implications of icon theory, both for and against. This is an excellent take on the problem of Byzantine image theory.

3.0 out of 5 stars An art historian's whack at theology, November 22, 2010

By 

Davor Aslanovski "Davor Aslanovski" (Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Subtle Bodies: Representing Angels in Byzantium (The Transformation of the Classical Heritage) (Hardcover)

As both the Introduction:

'While this study deals primarily with textual evidence of attitudes towards angels and their images, it is the work of an art historian. It draws on intellectual history, which includes theology, miracle stories, poetry and sermons, and incorporates them into a history of representation. At the center of the study are the cultural conditions of seeing and understanding: an epistemology for which angels are simply the most trying and dangerous case. Transparent images of formless beings made for especially treacherous rapids, which the Byzantines attempted to stop up; this study looks at the shifting waters and dams that having images of angels necessitated.'

and the Conclusion:

'This study has been concerned with representation in the widest sense. Examinations of material images notwithstanding, it has primarily explored conceptual problems involved in representing angels that arise from the unquantifiable nature of the bodiless host.'

clearly state, this is an art historian's whack at theology. Or, to be more precise, an art historian's inquiry into a selection of sources pertaining to the Early Christian and Byzantine understanding of angelic nature, offices and appearances.
There are only 19 illustrations in total, and neither do all of them offer any depictions of angels, nor do they necessarily relate to the Byzantine period.
So, if you are looking for a study of actual depictions of angelic beings in Byzantine art, you will surely be disappointed by this work.

On the other hand, if you are looking for a comprehensive work on theological conceptions of angels, you would be much better advised to look at works written by
authors with more training in subjects like theology, Biblical studies, religious history etc.
(I recommend this work: http://www.amazon.com/Deuterocanonical-Cognate-Literature-Yearbook-2007/dp/3110192942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1290423978&sr=8-1 as a particularly good place to start.)

So, you will be most likely to profit from reading this book if you are an art historian yourself, and are already quite familiar with the visual material, but are looking to deepen your knowledge of the most relevant textual sources. If that is your case, then this book will provide a solid initial insight into the matter, and I would definitely recommend that you read it.