Rupert Shepherd

Symbols are an international language, but that language is far from universal. Different symbols mean radically different things in different contexts - a cross, a crane, or a swastika each have a distinct meaning for a Buddhist, an art historian, or a student of the occult. 1000 Symbols offers a comprehensive directory of symbols in clear, detailed artworks, each accompanied by a definition of the symbol's history and its cross-cultural meanings. Beginning with an alphabetical, cross-referenced index, the book is then organized into groupings of related symbols: Geometrical Shapes-circle, square, triangle, pentagram, crescent, and spiral are just a few of the entries. The Universe and the Elements includes all the symbols for the world around us-earth, air, fire, and water, as well as times of day or month, and the planets. Characters and People details the symbolism attached to specific characters or to people and their general attributes. Living Creatures denotes the symbolism of animals, birds, fish, and insects. Flowers, Plants, and Trees highlights the symbolism of growing things, from the oak to the lotus. Mythical Beasts contains beasts from the myths and legends of all cultures, including hybrids such as the centaur. Objects and Artifacts includes made or manufactured objects of symbolism, from knot to labyrinth. Numbers and Colors outlines their symbolic attributes in different cultures and contexts. Whether you are baffled by the relevance of the winged staff held by Mercury in a classical painting or wonder about the number of branches on the Hebrew menorah, this comprehensive directory will give you the information you are looking for, and place the explanation in its historical and cultural context.

What Shapes Mean In Art And Mythology

1000 Symbols

Gabriele Neher

This title was first published in 2000: Michelangelo gave his painting of "Leda and the Swan" to an apprentice rather than hand it over to the emissary of the Duke of Ferrar, who had commissioned it. He was apparently disgusted by the failure of the emissary - who was probably more used to buying pigs than discussing art - to accord the picture and the artist the value they deserved. Any discussion of works of art and material culture implicitly assigns them a set of values. Whether these values be monetary, cultural or religious, they tend to constrict the ways in which such works can be discussed. The variety of potential forms of valuation becomes particularly apparent during the Italian Renaissance, when relations between the visual arts and humanistic studies were undergoing rapid changes against an equally fluid social, economic and political background. In this volume, 13 scholars explicitly examine some of the complex ways in which a variety of values might be associated with Italian Renaissance material culture. Papers range from a consideration of the basic values of the materials employed by artists, to the manifestation of cultural values in attitudes to dress and domestic devotion. By illuminating some of the ways in which values were constructed, they provide a broader context within which to evaluate Renaissance material culture.

Revaluing Renaissance Art

Rowena Shepherd

Symbols are often seen as constituting an international language and to some extent they do, but that language is far from universal--context means everything in this complicated but engrossing form of communication. Take, for example, a cross, a crane, or a swastika: each one has a different and distinct significance and meaning for a Buddhist, an art historian, or a student of the occult. 1000 Symbols resolves the problem by offering groupings of related symbols, every one with a neat definition of its history and its cross-cultural meanings.

Rupert Shepherd

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