In this witty, erudite, and thoroughly researched book, art historian John Moffitt discusses the popular iconography depicting alleged extraterrestrial (ET) visitors and the widespread appeal of this New Age craze as a mass cultural phenomenon. A thorough skeptic, Moffitt is interested in kitschy ET portraiture, not as evidence of aliens among us, but for what this imagery reveals about contemporary culture. By brilliantly placing the present cultural moment in historical context, he demonstrates how typical portrayals of aliens reflect long-running (even ancient) cultural motifs.

Whether we realize it or not, among ET's precursors are the ecstatic maenads of ancient Greek art, early depictions of Christ in Byzantine icons, the religious visions shown in 15th-century Spanish paintings, and the popular images of witches and incubi from the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, in our postmodern space age, these timeless figures of imagination and art have taken on the otherworldly trappings of alien creatures. By the same token, centuries-old beliefs, whether in nature gods and goddesses, demons, witches, Satan, or saints, have evolved into the current New Age mythology that often surrounds the stories and pictures connected with aliens. Fueled by a huge entertainment industry, mass media, and the relentless profit drive of capitalism, alien imagery has become ubiquitous, and in the process the line between fantasy and reality ever harder to discern.

This sweeping and above all entertaining perusal of popular culture presents a sophisticated yet very accessible and often funny dissection of our current obsession with the possibility that "we are not alone."

Though unquestionably a ""real"" person, posthumously, the life and deeds of Charlemagne have become the stuff of heroic legend. The discovery of his corpse in the year 1000 by the emperor Otto III is just such an example. What was so striking about the corpse of Charlemagne (who had in fact died long before, in 814) was its appearance. Fully clothed in ceremonial garb and wearing his imperial crown, Charlemagne was found seated upright, reposing upon a gilded chair; thus, he appeared to the spectators in the then-conventional guise of a Maiestas Domini, or ""Lord-in-Majesty."" This work focuses on a wholly new, historically and physically credible explanation for this melodramatic discovery of Charlemagne's body by studying various historical traditions and cultural contexts. Topics such as Charlemagne's legacy and Alfred Rethel's Karlsfresken, Sainte-Foy as an imperial effigy and as an apocryphal figure, and contexts for and the meaning of Charlemagne's Karlsgrab are all examined.

While the Renaissance is generally perceived to be a secular movement, the majority of large artworks executed in 15th century Italy were from ecclesiastical commissions. Because of the nature of primarily basilica-plan churches, a parishioner's view was directed by the diminishing parallel lines formed by the walls of the structure. Appearing to converge upon a mutual point, this resulted in an artistic phenomenon known as the vanishing point. As applied to ecclesiastical artwork, the Catholic Vanishing Point (CVP) was deliberately situated upon or aligned with a given object - such as the Eucharist wafer or Host, the head of Christ or the womb of the Virgin Mary - possessing great symbolic significance in Roman liturgy.Masaccio's fresco painting of the Trinity (circa 1427) in the Florentine church of Santa Maria Novella, analyzed in physical and symbolic detail, provides the first illustration of a consistently employed linear perspective within an ecclesiastical setting. Leonardo's ""Last Supper"", Venaziano's ""St. Lucy Altarpiece"", and Tome's Transparente illustrate the continuation of this use of liturgical perspective.

From the dawn of mankind's artistic achievement in the cave paintings of Altamira, to Picasso's groundbreaking Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and beyond, the arts in Spain tangibly illustrate the unique course of Spanish history. In this wide-ranging critical overview, John F. Moffitt concentrates on paradigms of painting, sculpture, the decorative arts, and architecture, situating them within their historical context.

Professor Moffitt first traces Iberian and Roman beginnings and examines the Islamic and Christian foundations of Cordoba and the Escorial. He discusses the masterworks of El Greco, Zurbaran, Velazquez, and Goya, the innovations of Picasso, Dali, and Miro, and the advent of postmodernism in Spain. Authoritative and ambitious, the book encompasses the enormous breadth of the Spanish artistic panorama, revealing how many of its most characteristic modern traits were present in earliest times.

Andrea Alciatis' Liber Emblemata (published in 1534) was an illustrated book of emblems, used by the well-educated of post-medieval Europe. Each emblem consisted of a motto or proverb, an illustration, and a short explanation; many had heraldic significance. In its time, the Liber Emblemata was an essential part of the library of every writer and artist. Scholars depended on it to interpret contemporary art and literature, while artists and writers turned to it to invest their work with an understood moral significance. This is the English translation of that important work, complete with the Latin texts and illustrations belonging to each of the 212 emblems, following the canonical order established by Johann Thuilius in 1612. The study of emblems reveals the reason statues of lions are traditionally placed before banks, the underlying political message beneath innumerable royal equestrian portraits of the Baroque era, and the connection between the unstable political situation referenced in Holbein's The Ambassadors and Alciati's tenth emblem, a lute with a broken string. The original Latin text is accompanied by literal but highly readable English translations; bracketed words and phrases represent once-understood references that may be missed by the modern reader. Each emblem is illustrated by an original woodcut. The work also includes the ""suppressed"" emblem, once removed due to its offensive subject matter, accompanied by a translation of the seventeenth-century commentary on the emblem by Johann Thuilius. An introduction establishes the importance of the work and its cultural contexts and artistic applications.