Item comes from publisher wrapped in a sheet of carbon paper, which, when removed, smudges the covers to give the impression of smoke. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Afterword : censers and sensation / Jas Elsner. The art of smoke and fire : braziers and censers in Mesoamerican tradition / Claudia Brittenham -- "I burn as incense for you" : censers in Assyria and beyond / Kiersten Neumann -- Censers real and imagined : Jews and incense from antiquity through the present / Karen Stern -- The incense burner in Greek art of the fifth century BCE / Milette Gaifman -- Vessels of holy fire : the censer and the womb of the mother of God in early Byzantine and Coptic devotion / Nathan Dennis -- Between matter and magic, over land and sea : a Middle Eastern censer in Sweden / Margaret Graves -- Swinging through time : censers in the Latin West / Beate Fricke -- The censer in and after the Reformation : authority, rebellion, transgression / Allison Stielau -- Visualizing the incense smoke : the portrait of the Ming emperor Xizong (1605-1627) / Yao Ning -- The substance of incense from Roman antiquity to the Middle ages / Beatrice Caseau, Claire-Marie Caseau -- Afterword : censers and sensation / Jas Elsner.
Summary:
"The fragrant smoke of incense filling the air can be witnessed in any tradition, whether polytheistic or monotheistic, whether in the Ancient Near East, or Medieval Europe. Censers are ubiquitous among religious paraphernalia, and on a truly global scale. Focusing on case studies not only places the censer in a constellation of other religious artefacts, but also relocates the importance of rituals that have long been placed at the margins of the study of religion, art and ritual. Emerging from this, we hope, is a better grasp of the role of sensorial elements in the fostering of the devotional practices of world religions." -- Publisher, band across cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.