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RR 2014/313 Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art & Architecture (2nd edition) Peter Murray and Linda Murray, edited by Tom Devonshire Jones Oxford University Press Oxford 2013 xvi + 654 pp. ISBN 978 0 19 968027 6 (hbck); ISBN 978 0 19 969510 2 (pbck) £35 $60 (hbck); £14.99 $24.95 (pbck)
Keywords Architecture, Arts, Christianity, Dictionaries
Review DOI 10.1108/RR-06-2014-0171
This is a new and enlarged version of the Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art & Architecture which originally came out in 1996 edited by Peter and Linda Murray. Tom Devonshire Jones has edited the new edition with the help of a team of experts. The contents have been amended, especially by adding more examples from the nineteenth century onwards and including new media such as film. The scope has been made more worldwide, although it is still predominantly Western Catholic and Protestant. That is inevitable given the enormous heritage of Western religious art.
The content includes entries on biblical events, and Christian events post the biblical narrative. Major devotional concepts such as the Man of Sorrows and the Joys of Mary get quite long entries. Named artists, types of works, styles and media are covered. Ritual and pedagogic aspects of church life and worship are also included. Saints who feature frequently in art have an entry under their name; not all grouped under the letter S.
Longer essays covering periods...