{"product_id":"the-image-of-christ","title":"The Image of Christ","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Image of Christ expresses the view that modern secular audiences can engage with the masterpieces of Christian art at an emotional as well as a purely aesthetic or historical level. This book aims to help the viewer understand these pictures by focusing attention on the purpose for which they were made  and explores what they might have meant to their original viewers.  The authors trace how a recognizable image of Christ evolved  starting with the earliest symbols and metaphorical images such as the Sheperd  the Lamb and the Vine. They trace the emergence of a \"true likeness \" emphasizing the importance of the Veronica  the \"miraculous portrait\" said to have been imprinted on the cloth held out to Jesus on the way to Calvary. They describe how artists conveyed the paradox of Christs dual naturehuman and divine  weak and powerful  victim and victorin portrayals of his infancy. They also show how images of Christs suffering during the Passion were intended to convey a cosmic  not just a personal significance. Artists have attempted to put extremes of suffering and despair into an overal context of hopea vein of hope that runs from the catacombs to Hiroshima and beyond.  These are images that speak  even to those who do not hold Christian beliefs. Artists had to make it clear that in representing the life and death of Jesus they were offering a continuing truth; we the spectators have to become eyewitnesses to an event that matters to us now. As a result  the different moments and aspects of Christs life become  in the hands of great artists  a reflection of all human experience. The Virgin nursing her son expresses the feelings of love every mother has for her child. Christ mocked in innocence beset by violence. Christ risen and appearing to Mary Magdalene is a universal reaffirmation that love cannot be destroyed by death. Beyond their obvious religious significance  these are paintings that have a universal meaning.  Published by National Gallery Company\/Distributed by Yale University Press\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44965401591861,"sku":"ByrdShop_1857092929","price":61.56,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781857092929.jpg?v=1770495522","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-image-of-christ","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}