A collection of essays concerning religion and art, including contributions by Barbara Novak, Leo Steinberg, Paul Tillich, Wassily Kandinsky, John Dixon Jr., David Tracy, Joshua Taylor, and Langdon B. Gilkey. Addresses themes including: "Concerning the Spiritual in Art", Leonardo’s Last Supper, the use of images in India, "Painting as Theological Thought", "Judaism and Art", "The Art of Deception", "The Religious Impulse in American Art", "An Islamic Perspective on Symbolism", "Theological Reflections" on Picasso’s Girl before a Mirror, and more.

Table of Contents

• • Preface to the Revised Edition
  • Introduction
  • 1 Concerning the Spiritual in Art 3
  • 2 Craft: Making and Being 8
  • 3 The Art of Deception 12
  • 4 Reflections on Art and the Spirit: A Conversation 24
  • 5 The Seven Functions of the Hands of Christ: Aspects of Leonardo’s Last Supper 37
  • 6 In Alia Effigie: Caravaggio’s London Supper at Emmaus 64
  • 7 The Nationalist Garden and the Holy Book 80
  • 8 The Religious Impulse in American Art 95
  • 9 George Segal’s Abraham and Isaac: Some Iconographic Reflections 105
  • 10 The Origin and Use of Images in India 127
  • 11 Foundations for a Religio-Aesthetic Tradition in Japan 138
  • 12 Judaism and Art 155
  • 13 An Islamic Perspective on Symbolism in the Arts: New Thoughts on Figural Representation 164
  • 14 The Sacred and the Modern Artist 179
  • 15 Can Art Fill the Vacuum? 187
  • 16 Artists and Church Commissions: Rubin’s The Church at Assy Revisited 193
  • 17 The Aesthetic Dimension in Theology 205
  • 18 Art and Ultimate Reality 219
  • 19 The Religious Classic and the Classic of Art 236
  • 20 Question: When Is Religion Art? Answer: When It Is a Jar 250
  • 21 Art, Religion, and the Elite: Reflections on a Passage from Andre Malraux 262
  • 22 Painting As Theological Thought: The Issues in Tuscan Theology 277
  • 23 Theological Reflections on an Image of Woman: Picasso’s Girl before a Mirror 297
  • 24 Berdyaev and Rothko: Transformative Visions 304
  • 25 Theological Expressions Through Visual Art Forms 311
  • Sources for the Study of Christianity and the Arts 321
  • Special Topic Bibliographies 330
  • Contributors 337