Religious works of art and architecture
In a multitude of diverse historical and cultural contexts, works of art and architecture have helped to shape the way that humans interact with the divine. In this section, students will embark on individual research projects investigating a religious work of art or architecture related to one of the following questions: what makes a building or location a sacred space? When is it appropriate to create a figural representation of the divine, and what does God (or a god) look like? How can art be used to narrate and visualize the stories of a religious tradition? How might certain objects become infused with sacred power, and how should these be housed and/or venerated? What does a sacred text look like, and how is it illustrated?
Possible Catalog Searches
Featured Books
Spiritual moderns : twentieth-century American artists & religion by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780226823478Publication Date: 2023
Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art by Call Number: eBookISBN: 0203418190Publication Date: 2003
Gather Background Information
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Credo Reference provides access to a large number of encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and other reference books. Subjects covered include art, biography, history, literature, music, religion, and science and technology.
Grove: The Dictionary of Art by Call Number: Print Reference Collection - N31.D5ISBN: 9781884446009Publication Date: 1996(33 volumes and index) Boasting well over 6,000 contributors from 12 countries, the Dictionary offers its readers authoritative and comprehensive global coverage. A resource for both art and cultural studies, the Dictionary serves as a unique guide to all the visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, drawing, printmaking, as well as the decorative arts.
The Concise Dictionary of Art Terms by Call Number: Print Reference Collection - N33 .C575 2010ISBN: 9780199569922Publication Date: 2010With more than 1,700 entries, The Concise Dictionary of Art Terms is an accessible and comprehensive A-Z guide covering a wide range of terms from the visual art world, including periods, styles, materials, well-known schools, techniques, and much more. In this new edition, the text has been fully revised and updated to reflect the latest developments in the field, and has been expanded with more than 100 new entries, focusing primarily on modern and contemporary art materials and techniques.
Databases
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. Includes searchable PDF content going back as far as 1887. - Digital Scriptorium This link opens in a new windowThe DS is a consortium of American libraries and museums committed to free online access to their collections of pre-modern manuscripts. The DS website enables free and open access of historically significant but often understudied manuscript materials. It fosters public viewing of rare materials otherwise available only by restricted access. It also supports searches across multi-institutional holdings through a shared metadata schema and faceted search filters.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides articles from 1,900+ scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, and sciences and around 5,000 ebooks. Access these journals and resources through JSTOR: Art Bulletin; Dumbarton Oaks papers; Gesta; Muqarmas; Speculum.
- Manuscrits Medievaux: France Angleterre 700-1200 CE (medieval manuscripts) This link opens in a new windowExplore more than 800 digitized medieval manuscripts. Thanks to the patronage of The Polonsky Foundation, the BnF and the British Library forge a partnership for the very first time in the field of manuscripts.
- Religion - Proquest This link opens in a new window
Resource for religious studies programs and for anyone researching religious issues and perspectives. This resource presently has more than 260 journals, with most of them available with full-text. The content is full-text, scholarly, and designed to meet the needs of both religious studies programs and general library collections.
Scholarly Articles
- At the Crossroads between Catholicism and Modernist ArtO’Connor Perks, Samuel, et al. “At the Crossroads between Catholicism and Modernist Art.” Church History and Religious Culture, vol. 97, no. 1, 2017, pp. 71–95.
- Devoted Resistance: The Jewish Religious Art of Nechama GolanSperber D. “Devoted Resistance: The Jewish Religious Art of Nechama Golan.” Third Text, vol. 34, no. 6, 2020, pp. 611–34.
- The material variance of the Dead Sea Scrolls : on texts and artefacts : original researchTigchelaar, Eibert. “The Material Variance of the Dead Sea Scrolls : On Texts and Artefacts : Original Research.” HTS : Theological Studies, vol. 72, no. 4, 2016, pp. 1–6.
- Re-imagining Sacred Texts: Recognizing the Ways in Which Protests, Tattoos, and Hashtags Constitute Vibrant Articulations of the Christian FaithBrown, Alease. “Re-Imagining Sacred Texts: Recognizing the Ways in Which Protests, Tattoos, and Hashtags Constitute Vibrant Articulations of the Christian Faith.” Black Theology, vol. 18, no. 1, 2020, pp. 61–74.
- Strolling through Temporary Temples: Buddhism and Installation Art in Modern ThailandMcDaniel, Justin Thomas. “Strolling through Temporary Temples: Buddhism and Installation Art in Modern Thailand.” Contemporary Buddhism, vol. 18, no. 1, 2017, pp. 165–98.
Featured Books - Architecture
Library Session Materials
- Session 1 SlidesResources, Narrowing Topics, and Search Strategies
News & Magazines
- The New York TimesActivate your free digital pass
