Trinity and Incarnation in Anglo-Saxon Art and Thought

by Barbara C. Raw

• ISBN13: 9780521030496
• ISBN10: 0521030498
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-02
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book is a study of the theology of the Trinity as expressed in the literature and art of the late Anglo-Saxon period. It examines the meaning of the representations of the Trinity in tenth- and eleventh-century English manuscripts and their relationship to Anglo-Saxon theology, and to earlier debates about the legitimacy of representations of the divine. The book's unifying theme is that of the image: the image of the Trinity in the human soul; Christ, the perfect image and visible form of the invisible God; redemption as the restoration of the imperfect human image to its original likeness through contemplation of its divine archetype; prayer as an anticipation of the contemplation of heaven, and art as a form of contemplation. The book, which contains a selection of black and white illustrations, will be of interest to art historians, theologians and literary scholars alike.

Table of Contents

List of plates

Acknowledgements

List of abbreviations and note on the text

Introduction

æAt this time which is the ending of the world'

æIf anyone wishes to be saved'

God made visible

Signs and images

God in history

Christ, the icon of God

Symbols of the divine

Art, prayer and the vision of God

Bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.