|
Showing 1 - 14 of
14 matches in All Departments
The perfect Lent book for art lovers of all ages
Brimming with Sister Wendy Beckett’s irrepressible wisdom and enthusiasm, The Art of Holy Week and Easter is a beautiful Lent book for 2021 exploring the spiritual riches of some of the world’s greatest paintings of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus.
Illustrated in stunning full colour with thirty famous and lesser-known Western masterpieces and presented in a small, easily portable format, this little book is ideal Lent reading for all art lovers.
The Art of Holy Week and Easter offers a chance to hear again the voice of Sister Wendy as she gently leads you into a deeper appreciation of all that these paintings convey to the discerning eye. You’ll gain a fuller and more spiritual understanding of Christian art, and see Holy Week and Easter as never before.
'Sister Wendy's deep and insightful commentaries are utterly
unique. You will want this splendid book for yourself but also to
give to others.' Delia Smith Hailed by The New York Times in 1997
as 'the most unlikely and famous art critic in the history of
television', Sister Wendy Beckett went on to present numerous TV
documentaries and published over thirty popular books on art
history and appreciation. Shortly before she died in December 2018,
and nearly thirty years on from her first book, Sister Wendy was
working with SPCK on an anthology of her all-time favourite
paintings. The result is this enthralling collection, which will
delight her many fans all over the world while also inspiring a new
generation of art lovers as they develop their understanding of the
depths and subtleties of some of the world's greatest works of art.
The Bible contains some of the greatest stories and teachings of
all time. It is also the inspiration for some of the greatest
pictures ever painted. Sister Wendy's Bible Treasury captures some
of the Bible's most dramatic scenes and memorable characters, as
depicted by artists such as Botticelli, Caravaggio, Degas, Duccio,
Durer, El Greco, Giotto, Leonardo, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens
Rublev, Titian and Van Gogh. From the majesty of Genesis to the
mystery of Revelation, Sister Wendy invites you to share her
delight in the way these painters have interpreted and depicted the
Bible over two thousand years. This beautifully presented volume
includes 55 illustrations.
Sister Wendy leads us on a 'pilgrimage of desire' to view the
earliest surviving Icons of Mary. 'These early images of Mary seem
to me to have the power to shock us out of our complacency, to make
us look anew at what the birth of Jesus meant, and means...' In
this compelling story of discovery and spiritual adventure, Sister
Wendy Beckett, a contemplative nun and beloved art commentator,
travels from England, to Rome, to Ukraine, and finally to a remote
monastery in Sinai, to view the earliest Icons of Mary.These are
among the few Icons that survived the wholesale destruction of
Icons in the early eighth century. In contrast with the familiar
and magnificent Icons of later history, these early Icons have a
haunting simplicity and unfamiliar spiritual power. 'They are
drawing us out of our worldly reality into their world, the true
world, summoning us to leave behind all that is earthly and to
breathe an air more pure than we can understand. Icons are for
prayer. They are painted in prayer and their intention is to take
us into a state of prayer'. They come to us from a time closer to
that of Christ, when faith was still alive with wonder, and
possibilities were infinite.In the course of her pilgrimage, Sister
Wendy also reviews the history of Christian art, the meaning and
function of Icons, and shares her thoughts on the relation between
beauty, prayer, and the search for God. In her quest for these
ancient Icons, she feels that she has encountered something greater
than an image: 'I have called it an encounter with God, because
that is truly what it was for me, and what I hope it will be for
you, too'."Encounters with God" is beautifully presented with 65
full colour illustrations throughout.
The twelfth-century abbot and contemplative known to history as
"The Mellifluous Teacher' wrote sermons for the entire Christmas
liturgical cycle-from the first Sunday of Advent (four weeks before
Christmas) to the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin
Mary/Presentation of Christ in the Temple (2 February). As he
reflects on the wonder of the Incarnation, he reminds Christians
still today that Christmas celebrates the awesome condescension of
God-with-us, not a commercial carnival.
Sister Wendy, who has been dedicated to a life of prayer for more
than half a century, has always resisted writing a book on the
subject. Her reasons mix humility with a conviction that prayer is
simple: books about prayer can be a dangerous distraction. Yet,
when she does speak about prayer, often in response to the
questions of ordinary people, she does so with an eloquence that
speaks directly to her hearers in ways that make practical sense.
Now, in her older age, Sister Wendy is willing to set down some of
what she has learnt over a lifetime in a series of meditations. The
format of the book is deliberately non-linear: where prayer is
concerned, Sister Wendy says, it is simply a matter of trying to
turn to God as honestly as the person you are in the circumstances
you find yourself in. Her co-author, David Willcock, who has worked
with Sister Wendy for many years producing her television
programmes, adds to her text a biographical sketch about being a
nun and at the same time one of the art world's most acute and
revered commentators and a TV personality. Illustrating this unique
book are a dozen pieces of artwork: no book by Sister Wendy would
be complete without this dimension.
|
You may like...
Harry's House
Harry Styles
CD
(1)
R267
R158
Discovery Miles 1 580
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R205
R164
Discovery Miles 1 640
|