The Icons of Their Bodies (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

A book that is written with striking lucidity, admirable command, and even daring. -- Review

Review

Anyone who has more than a passing interest in icons will find Maguire's book extremely helpful. He provides a decoding of the iconographical tradition that helps us gain a more perceptive eye. . . .
(Lawrence S. Cunningham Commonweal )

Henry Maguire's study of saints' images in Byzantine art is a timely contribution to the study of Byzantine saints.... The merits of Maguire's book, however, go even further.... This study provides ample evidence that medieval artists were able to employ a varied register of different 'languages' and contradicts the still widespread notion that medieval artists were caught up in a particular 'style.'
(Barbara Zeitler American Journal of Archaeology )

A book that is written with striking lucidity, admirable command, and even daring.
(Glenn Peers Speculum )

Eunice Maguire and Henry Maguire bring to their project a long and learned experience of Byzantium. From texts to textiles, no one in the field has a greater depth of familiarity with such a range of cultural artifacts. By putting the 'margins' of traditional art--architectural ornament, ceramics, 'minor' arts, and the like--at the center of their study, the authors reveal the imaginative and often subversive power of Byzantine artistic imagination.
(Choice )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (May 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691050074
• ISBN-13: 978-0691050072
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,409,345 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A detailed, high quality study of Iconography, September 17, 2003

By	matt (the reading room) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Please take the time to peruse the sample pages. They give a better overview of the book than I can attempt here. However, I learned a great deal about the influences of various iconographers and the religious reasons behind their various approaches to writing icons. While not a devotional book per se, it does contain a great deal of hagiographical information that an Orthodox would find beneficial.

Some insights that I learned in the reading:

In chapter three there is a discussion on the question of naming the saint in the icon and the need for proper, accurate representation. The author contends that after the iconoclastic period, the theology of the icon shifted to take the "power" or agency away from the image itself, the actual physical piece of wood and paint, to the one who is represented. This meant that the images had to be labeled with the saint's name to enable the viewer to communicate with the saint behind the image. I would argue that while this is true, it is not entirely true. Speaking as an Orthodox Christian, too much can be made of the label. The oil that weeps from icons heals even the atheists of diseases, without faith on their part. Likewise, speaking theologically, the basis of Christian iconography is the dual natures of Christ- fully human and fully God. Christ's universal power in the particular saints operates accordingly. The universal is given even if the particular is not understood or, perhaps, willingly approached. To a non-Christian, or even a non-Orthodox, this statement may sound ridiculous. But then again, the icons are not meant to be in museums, but rather in the homes and churches of the faithful. Icons in museums, unvenerated and without their candles, are truly fish out of water. Henry Maguire, I would say, supports this understanding in this book. On a more kitsch level, it is akin to the World Market approach to selling little Buddhas to be placed on the floor in fancy homes.

I chapter four there is an interesting analysis of the use of detail in painting with the curious observation that "the less the important the imagery, the richer it could be in detail, and conversely, the higher its status, the more it should be deficient" (166).

This book reaffirms that while secular art has its own philosophy, Orthodox iconography must be approached from its own unique perspective.

Another highly recommended work on Iconography is the beautifully bound and illustrated "The Resurrection and the Icon" by Quenot. Very well done!