Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
The founder of Manichaeism, Mani (216-274/277 CE), not only wrote down his teachings to prevent their adulteration, but also created a set of paintings—the Book of Pictures—to be used in the context of oral instruction. That pictorial handscroll and its later editions became canonical art for Mani's followers for a millennium afterwards. This richly illustrated study systematically explores the artistic culture of religious instruction of the Manichaeans based on textual and artistic evidence. It discusses the doctrinal themes (soteriology, prophetology, theology, and cosmology) depicted in Mani’s canonical pictures. Moreover, it identifies 10th-century fragments of canonical picture books, as well as select didactic images adapted to other, non-canonical art objects (murals, hanging scrolls, mortuary banners, and illuminated liturgical manuscripts) in Uygur Central Asia and Tang-Ming China.
Price: $290.00
Pages: 540
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies
Publication Date:
14 December 2015
ISBN: 9789004209121
Format: Hardcover
'A major achievement, both by the author and the publisher.'
Johannes van Oort, Vigiliae Christianae 71 (2017)
"This volume presents so many visual images that it is without a doubt a feast for the eyes. However, it is much more than that. It is high-level discussion of the origin, development, and function of didactic art within Manicheism. It will also prove to be a fundamental reference work that will facilitate further research into a previously understudied aspect of Manichaeism." – Paul Foster, University of Edinburgh, in: The Expository Times 128/1
Johannes van Oort, Vigiliae Christianae 71 (2017)
"This volume presents so many visual images that it is without a doubt a feast for the eyes. However, it is much more than that. It is high-level discussion of the origin, development, and function of didactic art within Manicheism. It will also prove to be a fundamental reference work that will facilitate further research into a previously understudied aspect of Manichaeism." – Paul Foster, University of Edinburgh, in: The Expository Times 128/1
Zsuzsanna Gulácsi, Ph.D. (1998, Indiana University) is a Professor of Asian Religious Art at Northern Arizona University and the author of Mediaeval Manichaean Book Art (Brill, 2005), Manichaean Art in Berlin Collections (Brepols 2001), and dozens of articles on Manichaean art.