The Devil
The Archfiend in Art from the Sixth to the Sixteenth Century
Luther Link(Author)
Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (Publisher)
Published on 1. March 1996
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-0-8109-3226-5 (ISBN)
Description
Through paintings, sculpture, and the decorative arts, Luther Link examines common perceptions of the Devil's image and attributes - his tail, horns, flaming hair, pitchfork. Yet, as Link shows, there is no one standard depiction of Satan, just as he has no one name. Behind the mask of evil, he has taken a bewildering variety of forms: he can be the bloated and wanton cannibal of Giotto's Last Judgment; he can be half wise old man, half malevolent monster; he can even be beautiful and grand, as in the Limbourg Brothers' Fall of Lucifer.
Link's compelling text identifies for the first time the origins of many of the Devil's features, provides new perspectives on the image of the Devil today and in medieval and early Renaissance times, and offers unexpected insights or artworks ranging from illuminated manuscripts, mosaics, and reliefs to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescoes. Drawing on original textual sources, including colorful accounts of the Devil's origins in the Bible, the Apocrypha, the writings of St. Augustine, and reports on the intrigues of popes and emperors, Link produces a fresh view of this powerful and mysterious figure.
Link's compelling text identifies for the first time the origins of many of the Devil's features, provides new perspectives on the image of the Devil today and in medieval and early Renaissance times, and offers unexpected insights or artworks ranging from illuminated manuscripts, mosaics, and reliefs to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescoes. Drawing on original textual sources, including colorful accounts of the Devil's origins in the Bible, the Apocrypha, the writings of St. Augustine, and reports on the intrigues of popes and emperors, Link produces a fresh view of this powerful and mysterious figure.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Abrams
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 171 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
340 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8109-3226-5 (9780810932265)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Luther Link is Professor in the department of literature at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo.