The Art of Faith: A Guide to Understanding Christian Images

by Judith Couchman

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.

Genres: Art, Religion

304 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2012

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a lay person's guide to interpreting art in anticipation of a trip to Italy with a focus on medieval art. The book was perfect for this purpose. I looked at my Italian art and had a solid idea what was meant by all the different colors and numbers. I remember the colors and numbers the best, because they were at the end. It would have been better to bring the book on the trip. But it was a library book.

[M Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful primer on the use of Christian images in art. If you've ever stood before a painting and puzzled over the fact that there are elements in it that are obviously supposed to carry meaning but don't for you, this book is a good place to start. It's somewhat limited in that the line art used as examples is pretty rough -- sometimes it's likely to obscure more than it reveals -- but a book with fuller illustrations would cost a lot more. There's also a chapter on the symbolism of vestments -- perfect for those of us non-liturgical Christians who wonder what the deal is with all that fancy dress by Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran clergy.

[Julie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judith Couchman wished she understood Christian images in art. She wound up with an art history degree, teaching classes at a local college. Later, wishing there was a simple, concise reference that could be carried into a museum, Couchman wrote The Art of Faith. We're lucky she is such a "can-do" person because this book is a real treasure for anyone who ever looked at the painting of Jesus or a saint and said, "Why is all that other stuff in there?"

Couchman uses a few introductory chapters acquainting readers with what constitutes Christian art, when it first began appearing consistently, and the types of art that appears in different eras, and how it was accepted or rejected over the ages. The rest of the book is divided by topic into chapters that has brief descriptions of Christian symbolism, names a painting with an example, and then deciphers a bit of it for us. The subjects seem all-inclusive and widely varied from the expected (stories about Jesus, the cross) to things we might not consider otherwise (plants, animals, shapes, letters). Many of the entries have illustrations so that when you encounter something unfamiliar, such as a "sakkos" for example, you know what you're looking at.

This excerpt gives an example of the unexpected that can be encountered in a painting which seems fairly straight forward.

WALNUT Saint Augustine compared the walnut to Christ's redemptive work. He likened the shell to the wood of the cross; the bitter substance surrounding the nut to Christ's flesh; and the meat to sweet, divine revelation. In the Jewish tradition, the walnut symbolized Scripture. EXAMPLE: Fruit Still-Life with Squirrel and Goldfinch, painting by Abraham Mignon, seventeenth century. State Museum, Kassel, Germany. For this busy still life, Mignon imagined a squirrel releasing itself from a chain, wearing a bell collar, and munching on a walnut. In the Middle Ages a squirrel signified evil and this particular collar represented a fool or a sinner. Consequently, the former sinner chose Christ's life-giving nature.

I had no idea. This prompted me to look for the actual painting which was one in which I'd have missed all the significance if not curious enough to read in this book about what a walnut could possibly represent. Honestly, it was one I'd never have given a second glance because a still life of fruit isn't my thing, even with a cute squirrel.

Additionally, at Web Gallery of Art, there was more information about the goldfinch in the painting.

...The two rather cute little animals, a squirrel and a goldfinch, are also in opposition to each other. ... Unlike the squirrel, the goldfinch is a christological symbol, particularly with reference to the Passion. Its positive meaning can be gathered from its position in the upper portion of the painting (top=sphere of salvation). The actions of the bird are worth nothing. Chained to an arched semicircle, from which it can peck food out of a small container, it is pulling up a thimble-sized receptacle from the left-hand edge of the shelf. It is filled with water or - more likely - wine (as a Eucharistic symbol of the blood of Christ), which has been scooped out of a conical glass without stem or base.

Amazing. I look at the painting and now see so much more to ponder, which is always the case when our eyes have been opened to the layers of meaning placed right in front of us. The Art of Faith does contain a goldfinch entry but references a different painting. It would have been nice to see a brief mention of the goldfinch in the Walnut entry, however, I know that would have taken a much larger book. As it was, I went searching for more goldfinches in a quest that was much more fulfilling than many a wandering path I've taken through the internet. All prompted by this book.

It is hard to express just how excited I was after I opened the Paraclete Press envelope and found this book inside. For one thing, it is right down my ally since I post a bit of art on my blog every day and there's nothing I love more than getting a little faith in my art. For another, I am working on a personal project right now where symbolism, art, and faith are paramount. It is as if providence placed this resource in my hands. Now that I've had a chance to read some of it, especially with the internet available to show me the paintings, I am even more thrilled.

The one thing missing is a "how to read a painting" section. It would have been great to have a few different sorts of paintings with call outs showing the different visual symbolic devices and how they interact with each other, opening the artist's meaning even further. This would have been valuable in helping novices learn to look for more than just one symbol, as in the above description where our attention is drawn to the positioning of the squirrel and goldfinch, with meaning given. However, this is a small thing which doesn't interfere with the book's usefulness overall.

There are also several excellent cross-reference indexes, a list of internet resources for viewing art, a glossary of art terms, and much more. Altogether this is a really fine reference book which will be useful to anyone interested in looking beneath the surface to find what the artist was really trying to tell us.

[Marielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reference book for anyone exploring Western Medieval art. I will be sure to bring this on my next art museum trip.

[Jeanette Thomason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book. I keep it close at hand on my desk, not because it tells me what to think. Rather, it unlocks how to see and experience art for myself, art that is all around: in the eaves of a neighbor's home, sculpture on the city streets, beneath the roof of my own church and others, on chamber walls and in city halls, among museum treasures, in film and books. Succinctly, vividly, creatively, Judith Couchman introduces the language of art and how it articulates not only faith but faith's handmaiden, doubt (for without doubt, there is no need for faith). In six parts and 32 chapters, she unlocks symbolism in art about Heaven and the divine. She introduces common images, both seen (trees, birds, fruits and grains) and unseen (angels, demons, the Heavenly realm)--and how artists used these images to get us to look closer, listen harder, experience more fully what God and Life would have us know. Judith Couchman is an expert guide, and her gift is in her knowledge that beckons you sit before art for an experience of your own. This book, for me, is much like that 1907 exhibit by Paul Cézanne (who had died just months earlier) that called to a young art secretary and apprentice, Rainer Maria Rilke, to visit his works in a Paris gallery every day the Autumn of 1907 until, as Rilke described (in what is now the book *Letters to Cézanne*), "suddenly one has the right eyes ... one sees." The experience of taking in art, experiencing it can forever change you and unlock your destiny. It did so for young Rilke, who was the assistant to the great sculptor Auguste Rodin, but upon *seeing* Cézanne's art, the color and textures, compositions and scale, discovered the language to see life, and opened his poet's heart. Art has always unlocked such riches: Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn's painting the "Prodigal Son" gave Henri Nouwen new understanding of forgiveness and God's love for us (and resulted in the illuminating book *The Return of the Prodigal*). Hieronymus Bosch's triptych "The Garden of Earthly Delights" became the seven-year study of Terry Tempest Williams, awakening her to live more fully each day (and produced the book *Leap*). Art can feed you and make you and undo you and recreate you, just like grace, just like God. Norman Maclean puts this so beautifully, quoting his father, a Presbyterian minister, in *A River Runs Through It*: "To him, all good things--trout as well as eternal salvation--come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy." No, art does not come easy, nor does life, nor has the grace of God; and this beautiful book from Judith Couchman helps us understand that more deeply, more completely, more fully. *The Art of Faith* is a gift, a key to discoveries about yourself and what you believe, and a muse calling you to higher living, greater things.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author, an art history, writes about the meanings of Christian art and symbols covering the last 2,000 years. Religious figures are covered as well as the symbolism of clothing, numbers, and parts of the eCatholic mass.

[Elizabeth Scalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful resource