Expert: J Heuman - 8/30/2004

Question
hi, im currently in my second year of art history at university and i need to find imformation about the use of nature in medieval art and the separation of the elements in art, and also pagan art in relation to nature. i dont think that makes any sense, but im finding it very very hard to find original documents and such like as it seems everything is just angsty teenagers who think they are witches because they burn some candles and hug trees. its becoming quite irritating, and our library has no books on the topics and our lecturers dont even know how to use the internet. um, that is all...

Answer
Greetings Angela,

I've read your message a number of times and am unsure if I understand what you mean.  My uncertainly stems from your use of the term "pagan."  "Pagan" was developed and applied by monotheists -- Jewish, Christian and Muslim practitioners -- to describe in derogatory fashion those peoples who were not monotheists (believers in one "God").  So, the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia, etc. were "pagan."  Some still are "pagan."

Below is a selection of books about "pagan" art I'd recommend.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Best wishes, sincerely,
J Heuman




J. Romilly Allen
Celtic Art in Pagan and Christian Times

John D. Cooney
Pagan and Christian Egypt: Egyptian Art from the First to the Tenth Century

Luba Freedman
The Revival of the Olympian Gods in Renaissance Art

Elisabeth Goldsmith
Ancient Pagan Symbols

Adelaide S. Hall
Important Symbols: In Their Hebrew, Pagan, and Christian Forms

Paul Strachan
Imperial Pagan: Art and Architecture of Old Burma

Aby M. Warburg
Renewal of Pagan Antiquity