Foundations of Christian Art

by Titus Burckhardt

The art historian and philosopher of religion, Titus Burckhardt (1908-1984), was one of the 20th century's most renowned experts on sacred art. The reader is drawn into a pilgrimage through the history of Christian art to architecture, iconography, and illumination; always returning to the fundamental genius of Christianity. Through a luminous interplay of Burckhardt's text, this book becomes a work of art in itself, inviting the reader to "taste and see" the glories of the artistic and spiritual heritage of Christianity.

Genres: Art

128 pages, ebook

First published March 21, 2006

About the author

Titus Burckhardt (Ibrahim Izz al-Din after his Islamic name), a German Swiss, was born in Florence, Italy in 1908 and died in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1984.He devoted all his life to the study and exposition of the different aspects of Wisdom tradition.

He was an eminent member of the "Traditionalist School" of twentieth-century authors. He was a frequent contributor to the journal Studies in Comparative Religion along with other prominent members of the school.
Burckhardt was the scion of a patrician family of Basel. He was the great-nephew of the art-historian Jacob Burckhardt and the son of the sculptor Carl Burckhardt. Titus Burckhardt was a contemporary of Frithjof Schuon – leading exponent of traditionalist thought in the twentieth century – and the two spent their early school days together in Basel around the time of the First World War. This was the beginning of an intimate friendship and harmonious intellectual and spiritual relationship that was to last a lifetime.

Burckhardt was, as his grandfather, a connoisseur of Islamic art, architecture and civilisation. He compiled and published work from the Sufi masters: Ibn Arabi (1165–1240), Abd-al-karim Jili (1365–1424) and Muhammad al-Arabi al-Darqawi (1760–1823).

Reviews

[S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book not only helped me understand some notions about symbolism in Christianity (icons among other things), but it somehow changed my outlook on art in general.
As Burckhardt reminds us that "Simplcity is in itself one of the marks of tradition, whenever it is not just the simplicity of virgin nature."

[Rod Zinkel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Titus Burckhardt holds to a traditional approach to Christian art because Christian art requires it. "For this very reason traditional symbolism is never without beauty: according to the spiritual view of the world, the beauty of an object is nothing but the transparency of its existential envelopes; an art worthy of the name is beautiful because it is true." (Locations 136-138 Kindle version) Burckhardt expresses a premodern view of art (Medieval), as opposed to a modern view (Renaissance and after). In the former the truth of traditional symbolism is important; in the latter individual expression is important.... As these are essays, and the topics significant, the book is a rather broad overview, far from comprehensive. Aptly, the author’s writing is significant. In writing a review there are many quotations I would have liked to have included. Burckhardt’s words have the weight of someone who knows religion and art, both of which use the language of man’s nature and the timeless.