Are the sounds and signposts that direct us towards the meaning of life hidden? One of the greatest luthiers of our time reveals the secrets of his profession-and how each phase of handcrafting a violin can point us toward our calling, our true selves, and the overwhelming power and gentleness of God's love. Martin Schleske explains that our ......
How do the arts in worship form individuals and communities? Every choice of art in worship opens up and closes down possibilities for the formation of our humanity. Every practice of music, every decision about language, every use of our bodies, every approach to visual media or church buildings forms our desires, shapes our imaginations, ......
The Christ of Ixmiquilpan and Colonial Piety in Mexico City
A study of the Christ of Ixmiquilpan, a historically beloved religious icon from sixteenth-century Mexico, and its evolving cultural importance. The life-sized crucifix known as the Christ of Ixmiquilpan (also the SeNor de Santa Teresa) was one of the most important artworks in colonial Mexico. The statue began as an ordinary devotional image, ......
Saints, Death, and Devotion to La Santa Muerte in Oaxaca
La Santa Muerte becomes a lens for understanding how Oaxacans relate to saints, loved ones, and other "special dead." In Oaxaca, images of saints and loved ones, as well as of victims of political or criminal violence, are seemingly everywhere. While Oaxacans relate to all sorts of "special dead," they are particularly devoted to La Santa Muerte ......
Saints, Death, and Devotion to La Santa Muerte in Oaxaca
La Santa Muerte becomes a lens for understanding how Oaxacans relate to saints, loved ones, and other "special dead." In Oaxaca, images of saints and loved ones, as well as of victims of political or criminal violence, are seemingly everywhere. While Oaxacans relate to all sorts of "special dead," they are particularly devoted to La Santa Muerte ......
The Invisibility of Religion in Contemporary Art offers a critical guide for rereading and rethinking religion in the histories of modern and contemporary art. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, there has been a marked increase in attention to religion and spirituality in contemporary art among artists and scholars alike, but the ......
Sor Maria De Agreda and the Lady in Blue, 1628 to the Present
Quill and Cross in the Borderlands examines nearly four hundred years of history, folklore, literature, and art surrounding the legendary Lady in Blue and her historical counterpart, Sor Maria de Jesus de Agreda. This legendary figure, identified as seventeenth-century Spanish nun and writer Sor Maria de Jesus de Agreda, miraculously appeared to ......
There is a complex relationship between the meaning of Scripture and the ways it is used. Sometimes the meaning constrains Scripture's use, and sometimes Scripture's use casts new and fresh light onto its meaning. Theologians and biblical scholars offer helpful lenses through which to view its wonder, but so too do artists.For centuries, the book ......
Fides quaerens intellectum is the idea that living faith naturally seeks a more complete understanding of God in relation to his creation. It has motivated Christian education from the very start. Although Ars quaerens intellectum--"art seeking understanding"--is by contrast a contemporary locution, in the Christian context of this volume it is a ......
