Sin

by Joost Joustra

An engaging and accessible account of how sin has been depicted in European art for centuries

The depiction of sin has been fundamental to European visual culture for hundreds of years, especially—but not only—in Christian art. Addressing the mutable and often ambiguous representation of sin, this book highlights its theological underpinnings, cultural afterlife, and contradictory and controversial aspects from the 15th to the 21st century. Drawing on paintings from the National Gallery and elsewhere, including pictures by Cranach, Gossaert, and Velázquez, as well as contemporary art and sculpture, the author explores complex theological ideas—Original Sin, the Immaculate Conception, and confession, for example—that show familiar human behavior through moralizing or seductive images; in the process, Sin shows how art can blur the boundaries between our modern categories, religious and secular.

Genres: Art

96 pages, Paperback

Published June 23, 2020

About the author

Joost Joustra is the Howard and Roberta Ahmanson Fellow in Art and Religion at the National Gallery, London, and a visiting lecturer in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s College, London.

Reviews

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sumptuously illustrated and an engaging read. This was a fantastic introduction to the subject using mostly paintings from the UK's National Gallery, London. Also included is an excellent bibliography for further reading which made this book a perfect five star for me.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and an interesting aesthetic interrogation of sin and the person-to-person “judgement” (as distinguished from Judgement) that it implies. Would have liked to see this book explore non-Christian artistic moralities further, as it implies it might in the introduction by citing haram, yetzer ha-ra, and other non-Western religious concepts.

[Amy Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The exhibition for which this catalogue was created (due to open at The National Gallery on 7/10/2020) is something of a dream for me. If I were ever to curate a display, it would be on a topic such as this - Sin. This lusciously illustrated and fabulously written little catalogue covers art that depicts human sin from the 16th to the 21st centuries, primarily of Christian subject matter but not exclusively. A jewel of a book that offers much in the way of interpretation and actively inspires contemplation.

[Alex Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The strongest assets of this book are the superb reproductions of the many paintings and the excellent stock on which the images have been printed. The greatest disappointment is the text. I have attended a large number of wonderful lectures at the National Gallery and have purchased some of their other exhibition catalogs, and that made me expect greater insight and much better prose style than I found in this book. The rambling text in "Sin" reads like the honors project of bright college senior, in comparison to such a fine National Gallery work as "Making and Meaning: Holbein's Ambassadors."