Bezalel's Body

Book excerpt: When God died, art was born. With Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the human imagination began to be remade. In Bezalel’s Body: The Death of God and the Birth of Art, Harvard-trained art historian Katie Kresser locates the historical roots of the thing we call art. She weaves together centuries of art history, philosophy, theology, psychology, and art theory to uncover the deep spiritual foundations of this cultural form. Why do some people pay hundreds of millions of dollars for a single painting? Why are art museums almost like modern temples? The answer lies in Christian theology and the earliest forms of Christian image making. By examining how cutting-edge art trends reveal age-old spiritual dynamics, Kresser helps recover an ancient tradition with vital relevance for today.