Rosa Giorgi

This is a well researched, comprehensive (to my brain!), and beautifully presented book on exactly what the title suggests: the history of the Church in art. It reminds me of the Eyewitness books or a Rick Steves guide, but for church, via art. Encyclopedic (i.e., not plot-based or one to be read straight through), which has its perks for sure, and one that readers interested in the topic will find helpful.

Pros: lots of images, covers a range of topics

Cons: no glossary for vestments

This is part of a series of books by the J. Paul Getty Museum where works of art (mostly paintings) have aspects highlighted to give a deeper appreciation of the artworks and their meanings. After the introduction there are 5 chapters in this book: Liturgical Objects and Furnishings; Clothes, Vestments, and Status; Worship and Images; Episodes in the History of the Western Church; and Historical Figures in the Roman show more Church Tradition.

This book is not a linear history of the Catholic Church. It is a guide to help you identify items of Catholic worship (clothing and implements) as well as important people and events in works of art.

I enjoyed learning about the various church implements, some of which I’ve learned to recognize and some of which I was unfamiliar with. This section was great as each implement was dealt with individually with at least one or two images.

I was hoping the section on vestments would go over each item of clothing so I could get a better understanding of what each one was. Instead the chapter dealt more with status, showing different orders (monks, priests, cardinals) and what they would wear. While there were some textual notes pointing out the various individual items of clothing (alb, cope, etc) it would have been nice to get a glossary of terms with simple images to better teach these terms.

The paintings used as examples were mostly from the later middle ages to the 1800s and covered a good mix of topics and people. I appreciated the number of explanatory notes each one received.

The chapters on historical episodes and figures covered a fair range of topics. There were a few I’d have added, but on the whole I thought they did a good job.

If you are interested in Christian art or the history of the Catholic church, this is a great book. show less

I received this for my Confirmation. I honestly did not think I would read it because I thought it was more of a "picture book". I started reading it because 101 Saints was so disturbing with it's propaganda and old teachings I wanted to read something more up to date. I'm really glad I got this book for Confirmation. It only gives a little information about the saint (so 101 Saints still has it's purpose as it gives you more information) but it is actually worth reading and very show more informative! (Without being judgmental and sprouting opinions and propaganda.) show less

Excellent color photos of art masterpieces of saints and their iconography. Very short biographies along with name derivation and areas of patronage and matronage. This is widely sold in museums and church bookstores around the world. Functions as a reference work for those who are religious and as a dictionary for those who are curious about christianity.