{"product_id":"picturing-the-bible-the-earliest-christian-art-9780300149340","title":"Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe fascinating story of how the earliest Christians first gave visual expression to their religious beliefs  Picturing the Bible explores the vast tradition of Christian art at its very beginnings in the third century A.D.  just as Christianity was emerging from its outlawed  clandestine status to become the state religion of the Roman Empire. What images did these Christians use to express their faith openly? Were they the first believers to part with Mosaic law by creating graven images? What Jewish and pagan sources  if any  did they look to for inspiration? When did they begin to depict the life of Jesus? This beautifully illustrated book takes up such questions  revealing the story of how Christian art began through insights from recent discoveries. Leading experts explore topics ranging from Jewish art in the Greco-Roman period and the influence of Constantine  to the development of church decoration and the meaning of illustrated Bibles. Throughout we see the distinctive pictorial selection of Early Christians  who at first depicted Old Testament figuresAbraham and Isaac  Jonah  and Danieland did not invent new images until over a century later. The special meanings attached to old images and new ones like the fish  anchor  and Good Shepherd all come to life in these pages. The essays are complemented by extensive new archaeological research on a range of more than one hundred objects  drawn from major museums of America and Europe. Frescoes  marble sculpture and sarcophagi  silver vessels and reliquaries  carved ivories  decorated crosses  and illuminated Bibles are illustrated in new color photographs  allowing the reader an unprecedented encounter with Early Christian art.  Published in association with the Kimbell Art Museum  Exhibition Schedule: Kimbell Art Museum (November 18  2007  March 30  2008)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651822116917,"sku":"ByrdShop_0300149344","price":403.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780300149340.jpg?v=1781841175","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/picturing-the-bible-the-earliest-christian-art-9780300149340","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}