The Geometry of Love
Space, Time, Mystery, and Meaning in an Ordinary Church
Published on 23. June 2015
328 pages
978-1-5040-1170-9 (ISBN)
Description
A "delightful" tour of Rome's St. Agnes Outside the Walls, examining the stories, rituals, and architecture of this seventeen-hundred-year-old building (
The Christian Science Monitor).
In The Geometry of Love, acclaimed author Margaret Visser, the preeminent "anthropologist of everyday life," takes on the living history of the ancient church of St. Agnes. Examining every facet of the building, from windows to catacombs, Visser takes readers on a mesmerizing tour of the old church, covering its social, political, religious, and architectural history. In so doing, she illuminates not only the church's evolution but also its religious legacy in our modern lives. Written as an antidote to the usual dry and traditional studies of European churches, The Geometry of Loveis infused with Visser's unmatched warmth and wit, celebrating the remarkable ways that one building can reveal so much about our history and ourselves.
In The Geometry of Love, acclaimed author Margaret Visser, the preeminent "anthropologist of everyday life," takes on the living history of the ancient church of St. Agnes. Examining every facet of the building, from windows to catacombs, Visser takes readers on a mesmerizing tour of the old church, covering its social, political, religious, and architectural history. In so doing, she illuminates not only the church's evolution but also its religious legacy in our modern lives. Written as an antidote to the usual dry and traditional studies of European churches, The Geometry of Loveis infused with Visser's unmatched warmth and wit, celebrating the remarkable ways that one building can reveal so much about our history and ourselves.
More details
Person
Margaret Visser writes on the history, anthropology, and mythology ofeveryday life. Her most recent book is
The Gift of Thanks. Her previous works,
Much Depends on Dinner,
The Rituals of Dinner,
The Way We Are, and
The Geometry of Love, have all been bestsellers and have won major international awards, including the 1989 Glenfiddich Award for Food Book of the Year in Britain and the International Association of Culinary Professionals' Literary Food Writing Award and Jane Grigson Award. In 2002, Visser gave the Massey Lectures on CBC Radio, subsequently published as the bestselling book
Beyond Fate.
Visser's works have been translated into French, German, Dutch, Chinese, Italian, and Portuguese. She appears frequently on radio and television and has lectured extensively in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Australia. She divides her time between Toronto, Paris, and southwest France.
Visser's works have been translated into French, German, Dutch, Chinese, Italian, and Portuguese. She appears frequently on radio and television and has lectured extensively in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Australia. She divides her time between Toronto, Paris, and southwest France.
Content
- Cover Page
- Praise for the Writing of Margaret Visser
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Epigraph
- Preamble
- 1 The Door Swings Open: Threshold
- 2 Space and Time: Narthex and Ground Plan
- 3 Trajectory: Nave
- 4 Alpha and Omega: Altar
- 5 World Without End: Apse
- 6 Living Stones: Chapels, Left Side
- 7 One Body: Chapels, Right Side
- 8 Eternal Rest: Outside
- 9 Finer Than Gold: Road, Crypt, and Tower
- 10 Virgin Martyr: Tomb
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Copyright Page
