Recently, I was given the opportunity to review a book by Judith Couchman. I was told that I would be sent one of her books, but I would not know which one until it arrived. Since she has written over 40 books, I really didn’t even know what the book would be about. I had looked at her list of popular books and realized that there were quite a few that I was really interested in. So, the waiting began.
When the package arrived, I eagerly ripped it open to find that I had been chosen to review her newest release, The Art of Faith: A Guide to Understanding Christian Images. This book is available for purchase at 20% off the regular price of $22.99 or $20.69. It’s also available on the Walmart website for $19.54.
Official blurb about the book from the website:
“Have you stood in front of a painting and thought, What does this mean?
The Art of Faith answers this question again and again, with insight, wit, and verve, providing a thorough reference to Christian art through the centuries. Practical and easy to read, this book unfolds the ancient world of Christian images for believers who want to enrich their faith, college students studying art history, and travelers to religious sites. With this book in hand, you can visit museums, churches, or other sacred places and identify a work of art’s style and meaning. Or even explore the signs and symbols of your local church.
Whatever your relationship to art or Christianity, open this book when you’re curious about a painting, sculpture, symbol, or other sacred work. It will answer your questions about The Art of Faith.”
I LOVE history, especially, Christian history, so I was happy to have this book sent to me. Before I started reading the book, I was a little concerned about how a different point of view based on religion might be presented in this book; however, I shouldn’t have been too worried about that. This book is written more from a historical standpoint than a certain religion’s standpoint. For instance, when Ms. Couchman talks about baptism, she presents it as “baptism or christening”. I really appreciated the strictly historical approach in this book. In all honesty, I have not been able to finish this book, yet, because I have been reading it slowly, relishing every word.
At the beginning of the 4th chapter, the author quotes Irmgard Hutter as saying, “Our knowledge of Early Christian art and its development is limited by the small number of surviving monuments. Each work is therefore all the more precious, as visible testimony from the period that laid the basis of Christian art and contributed vitally to European culture.” Before Ms. Couchman really delved into the different images, she explained Christian art and the lack thereof from the very beginning. I really enjoyed that! It was nice to read about the different and obscure early art that I had never heard of before.
There are some black-and-white drawings of some of the simple symbols, but other than that, there are no photos in this book. I found myself finding a photo of the example painting listed in the book to look at while reading the description. Yes, it might take a little long to read the book this way, but I am enjoying actually seeing what Ms. Couchman has written about. I think this book would be a good addition to a homeschool art history course and plan on utilizing it with my daughter in a year or two.
And now, Ms. Couchman is offering three of her books (autographed) to one winner. Please enter via the Rafflecopter below. Disclaimer: I received a free copy of The Art of Faith for the purpose of this review. I am enjoying reading this book. All opinions listed above are mine and not influenced in any way.
I learned that she’s published 40 books 🙂
I learned that she has an MA in art history. I’m thinking this may explain her beautiful book covers.
She’s on day 25 of her 40 day journey toward spiritual renewal.
I learned via her The Art of Faith blog from her post on 9/17 about Christian Art. She laid out 14 steps or questions rather to ask yourself when viewing art that you may consider to be Christian. These questions can help you to determine the nature of the artwork and help you figure out if in fact it is Christian-based or not.