BRILL
Ajanta; history and development; v.5: Cave by cave.
The complex of sacred caves in India enjoyed two distinct periods of patronage, a Hinayana Buddhist phase about 100 BC to 100 CE, and a revival in the middle fifth century under the powerful emperor Harisena of the Vakataka Dynasty. Having written extensively about Indian art in general and specifically that found in the Ajanta caves, Spink (emeritus history of art, U. of Michigan-Ann Arbor) here offers a guide to visitors, detailing the art to be seen in each of the more than 36 caves. He includes maps, floor plans, and elevations, but no reproductions of the art itself, which readers are presumably looking at with their own eyes. There is no index. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Ancient Egyptian chronology.
There are exceptions, of course, for certain theories of history and certain individual historians, but in general, knowing when something happened is an important starting point for investigating what actually happened, why it happened, its consequences, and other matters of concern to historians. It turns out that the chronology of ancient Egypt is not as consensual as some might like, and scholars here — named but not otherwise identified — grapple with some problems and solution involved with creating such a consensus. They look at Egyptian chronological tradition and method of dating, relative chronology such as dynasties, and absolute chronology such as dendrology and the heliacal rising of Sirius. A conclusion is followed by chronological table for the dynastic period, 2900-323 BC. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Ancient Near Eastern art in context; studies in honor of Irene J. Winter by her students.
American art historians and archaeologists explore such aspects of ancient Middle Eastern art as the treatment of enemies in Ashurbanipal's reliefs, ceremony and kingship at Cachemish, high priestesses in images from the Akkad to the Isin-Larsa Period, and barley as a key symbol in early Mesopotamia. They also include essays on Winter's scholarly career and her approach to teaching. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Art and architecture of the synagogue in late antique Palestine; in the shadow of the church.
Revising his 2002 doctoral dissertation at Oxford University, biblical archaeologist Milson assesses several aspects of the impact of Christian art and architecture on synagogues in Byzantine Palestine from the middle fourth to the early seventh centuries when the eastern provinces came under Arab rule. He compares orientation, the chancel screen, facade motif, ecclesiastical furnishings, and niche and apse. Other chapters consider evolution and ancient synagogues, and excavation and dating. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Beyond the legacy of Genghis Khan.
Taken from a symposium in June 2003, these 23 papers analyze the impact of the cultural, social, religious and political changes wrought by Genghis Khan's invasion of western and eastern Asia in the early thirteenth century. Topics on culture and commerce in the Mongol world empire include cultural transmissions, diplomatic gifts, luxury goods, maritime trade, and political culture; those on the lifestyles at the courts of the ruling elite include interpretations of excavations, traditions, and survival; those on the art of the book describe the workings of a scriptorium, the intellectual implications of frontispieces, and legacies; those ion th arts and artistic interchange include paper, pottery, poetry and motifs; and those on religion examine patronage of astrologers, Islamic conversion, religious diversity and the Mongol legacy of dynastic legitimacy. The color and monochrome plates are well-chosen. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Chikanobu; modernity and nostalgia in Japanese prints.
Coats (art history and humanities, Scripps College) presents the first monograph in English on the Meiji print artist Yoshu Chikanobu (1838-1912), well known for his depictions of women and scenes of Japanese history and legends. Coats places Chikanobu's life and works in the historic and artistic context of Meiji Japan, when rapid modernization and westernization created an interest for old Japan among the Japanese and when arts underwent significant changes. Hockley (art history, Dartmouth), Kurita (Asian languages and literatures, Pomona) and Mostow (Asian studies, U. of British Columbia) contribute essays on Chikanobu's work as it relates to Meiji literature, the heroic ethos in the late Meiji period, and other topics relevant to the period. The text contains over 270 full color illustrations; two of Chikanobu's series of prints are illustrated in their entirety. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Contesting the logic of painting; art and understanding in eleventh-century Byzantium.
Paintings of the Christian God cannot be dismissed as a special case, argues Barbar (history of art, U. of Notre Dame), but in fact raise questions about the fundamental modern assumptions regarding how representational painting works — particularly ideas that the object or image represented must be within the perceptual boundaries of the viewer. He examines a body of writing on art and vision produced during 11th-century Byzantium, and points out the influence of that writing in iconophile doctrines and compendia of heresies produced in the Middle Byzantine era. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Dionysos in archaic Greece; an understanding through images.
Dionysos is by far the most common subject of Greek vase painting during the sixth and fifth centuries BC, but his image remains controversial and obscure. Classical archaeologist Isler-Kerenyi suggests that European scholars are uncomfortable accepting classical culture as a system based on values different from their own, and privilege literary evidence and dismiss any graphic evidence that conflicts with it. She finds that the pictures tell a different story of the important deity. No publication data is provided for the original Dionysos nella Grecia arcaica. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Discoveries in western Tibet and the western Himalayas; essays on history, literature, archaeology and art; proceedings.
Mnga'ris skor gsum and adjacent regions were integrated into the zone of the Tibetan empire since the seventh century, but their geography led over time to distinct patterns of trade and cross-influence with the polities of central Asia, Nepal, and India. The panel was called in order to encourage an interdisciplinary approach to the study of these regions. Not only did the topics include political history, religious and secular art, architecture, and literature produced in or for western Tibet and the western Himalayas, but the temporal range considered turned out to stretch from the Zhang zhung period to the late 20th century. No index is provided. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Early modern zoology; the construction of animals in science, literature and the visual arts; 2v.
The sixteenth century saw the invention of the new science of zoology. This went hand in hand with the (re)discovery of anatomy, physiology, and, in the 17th century, the invention of the microscope. The discovery of the New World confronted intellectuals with new species, and artistic progress in painting and drawing brought about a new precision in animal illustrations. In this handsome two-volume set, Enenkel (neo-Latin literature, Leiden University) and Smith (French literature, Leiden University) present work by specialists from various disciplines, including art history and the history of science, who explore early modern discourses on animals in science, literature, and the visual arts. They examine the construction of an early modern science, the construction of the animal in zoological illustrations, the construction of the animal in its early modern use and abuse, and the construction of the animal in literature and in the visual arts. There is one chapter in the first volume in German, and one chapter in the second volume in French. High-quality color plates and b&w illustrations give examples of art from the period. The publication is of interest to students of the history of science, literature, and art history in the early modern period. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Encyclopedia of women & Islamic cultures; v.5: Practices, interpretations and representations.
For the final thematic volume of the series, scholars from around the world look at the arts, Islam, language, the Qur'an, religious practices, and representations of women in countries and regions, including some that are not majority Muslim. Among the topics are theater in Central Asia, saints and sacred geographies in the Ottoman Empire, language use by women in Western Europe, and film representations in East Africa. A sixth volume will contain a cumulative index plus articles that were completed after the deadline of the volume they were intended for. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Excavations at Sepphoris; v.1.
Strange (religious studies, U. of South Florida), Lonhstaff (emeritus, religious studies, Colby College), and Groh (humanities and archaeology, Illinois Wesleyan U.) present the first volume of a multi-volume work reporting on archaeological investigations into the ancient Galilean city of Sepphoris. It first reviews the ancient literary sources about Sepphoris and the progress of the investigations in the 1980s. It then describes the findings regarding the tower (or citadel) and the villa (thought to be a church or basilica in the 1930s). It also incorporates details of coins, pottery, and other small finds. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Haikai poet Yosa Buson and the Basho revival.
Crowley (Japanese literature, Emory U.) examines the work of poet and painter Buson (1716-83) as a window into the artistic practices in Japan during a period of economic, technological, and social change. She looks at his role in the revival of Matsuo Basho (1644-94), his endeavors with linked verse and haikai painting, and his reception in the modern world. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
History of early stone sculpture at Mathura, ca. 150 BCE-100 CE.
Scholars and students of Indian art will welcome this study, which provides a thorough survey and analysis of the celebrated Mathura school of sculpture. The volume proceeds chronologically, organizing the extant sculpture both in India and in collections worldwide. Quintanilla used the style and iconography for each work to formulate the existence of schools during specific eras in Mathura. The process of her analysis is present in the lengthy descriptions of the style and iconography of each piece of sculpture. A glossary and lengthy bibliography are provided. Quintanilla (curator, San Diego Museum of Art) first researched the Mathura school for her PhD dissertation of 1999 at Harvard with Pramod Chandra, who provides a preface. The volume, which is oversized (8.5x11.75 inches), contains over 300 b&w photos of the sculpture. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The Hundred Poets compared; a print series by Kuniyoshi, Hiroshige, and Kunisada.
In this attractive, oversized (10x12 inches) volume, full-page color plates of superb quality present all 100 scenes in Japanese prints by the artists, with a description of the story found in the scene on the facing page. Translations of the inscriptions, signature, and seals on each print are included in each entry. The authors relate the story depicted, indicating variations from other prints or poems, and aspects of the figure's dress, pose, and enactment of the scene. A lengthy introduction describes the series and its production in print. Both authors are print collectors; Mostow teaches Asian studies at the U. of British Columbia, Canada; Herwig is editor of Andon, the Bulletin of the Society for Japanese Art. Distributed in North America by Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Japanese warrior prints 1646-1905.
The history of this inventive genre is traced in a well-conceived and thorough catalog of 219 examples, arranged chronologically into six sections, and selected according to broad themes. The prints appear in full-page color plates of superb quality in an oversize format (10x12 inches). The entry accompanying each plate describes the scene, giving the story it depicts, details about the print's creator, and, frequently, the connections with theatre of the scene's depiction or costumes. Many of the prints include poems, which are given in the entries in English and the Japanese original. An introduction describes the history of the genre. This volume is a model of excellent book design and production. Hotei is an imprint of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Knowing animals.
Simmons (film, television, and media studies, U. of Auckland) and Armstrong (English and cultural studies, U. of Canterbury) present twelve essays by New Zealander and Australian scholars in philosophy, literary criticism, art history, and cultural studies on topics in the emerging "animal studies" discipline. The contributors view humans as animals among other animals, challenging the notion that the humanities are reserved for human nature only. Essays examine human-animal interactions and cultures through not exclusively or necessarily biological viewpoints. Concepts illuminated here include beast fables, anthropomorphs, humanimals, and l'animot. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Le Rouleau de cuivre de la grotte 3 de Qumran (3Q15); expertise — restauration — epigraphie; 2v.
The Copper Scroll found in two pieces in the caves at Qumran in 1952 was chopped into 23 pieces shortly afterwards to facilitate its reading. In addition to this disgrace, the copper began to degrade. The conservation of the pieces, their documentation, and transformation into facsimile is documented in these two volumes. Publication in a lavish full-scale format (11.25x14.75 inches) allows for color reproductions of each piece after conservation, as well as a wealth of other images, including full-scale plates of X-rays taken before and drawings made after their conservation. Detailed scholarly material is included related to the Scroll, its study, contents, and conservation. A translation of the Scroll into French and English, with the original Hebrew is also included. Other than the translation of the Scroll text and an English version of the introduction, the volumes are in French. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Muqarnas; an annual on the visual culture of the Islamic world; v.23.
Sponsored by the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT, this well-respected annual presents current research in the history of Islamic art and architecture. The 13 essays contained in the 23rd volume present topics that include the Islamic history of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i in Cairo, Gujarat architecture, the Imambara complex of Lucknow of the Twelver Shi'i, calligraphy exercises in Iran, and a survey on post-revolutionary art in Iran. Manuscript painting is discussed in four articles. Each article is illustrated with color plates. The volume is not indexed. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
On the cusp of an era; art in the pre-Kusana world.
No book has been produced before on pre-Kusana art, and Srinivasan (State U. of New York-Stony Brook) attributes that to the fact that no full-length study has been done of Kusana art — as opposed to art done during the Kusana period — that pre-Kusana art would have preceded. Contributors identified only by name take the plunge anyway, discussing general features and specific examples of art in South Asia about the beginning of the Christian era. Their topics include Saka and Kusana migrations in historical contexts, an Indo-Greek urban center in Gandhara, coinage from Iran to Gandhara, and multi-cultural systems in ancient India. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
