Overview

Western art from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century; Art Needs No Justification; Miscellaneous articles and reviews. Was Pieter Bruegel the Elder a gnostic? Is that why Jesus is often reduced to an insignificant detail in his paintings? Why do we call seventeenth-century Dutch art the 'golden age' of Christian art? These and similar questions about Western art are addressed in this volume, in which we come to know Rookmaaker not primarily as a cultural critic or an enthusiastic encourager of Christian artists but first and foremost as art historian. Rookmaaker's expert knowledge leads the way to an appreciation of the beauty and artistic eloquence of many a work of art as he guides the reader into an understanding of its content and meaning, and of its place in Western history. The rest of this volume is devoted to Rookmaaker's writings on Christianity and art. In these he protests the lack of artistic involvement by the church and affirms his deep conviction that art is offered to people not as a medium for conveying a message but as a life-enriching gift from a creative God.

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9781909281837

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Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker is editor-in-chief of ArtWay, www.artway.eu, an online service and resource in Dutch and English about the visual arts and faith for individuals and congregations. She did her studies in musicology at the University of Amsterdam, complemented with minors in art history and liturgical studies at the Free University in Amsterdam. For many years she has worked as a freelance editor, translator and writer. She edited the Complete Works of her father, art historian Hans Rookmaaker, contributed to books, and wrote articles about popular music, liturgy, and the visual arts. She was editor of a Dutch book of visual meditations for Lent (2012) and co-authored a Dutch handbook for art in the church (2015). In 2019 she co-curated the Art Stations of the cross in Amsterdam. She lives in Langbroek in the Netherlands.

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