In this abundantly illustrated study, G繹ttler, investigates the relationship between art of the Early Modern period and the contemplation of the Last Things: death and the afterlife. She is
particularly interested in Counter-Reformation images and those created at that time for private meditation. The use of art for eschatological themes, particularly when the symbolism is
unclear, was a much debated topic. As a sub theme, G繹ttler notes the ambiguous uses of new optical inventions, such as the telescope, as metaphors for perception. In addition to the established
dichotomy of vision being either beatific or something that leads one to sin, the telescope adds the image of far-seeing, into the soul or even beyond the edge of life. G繹ttler draws on
paintings, wax figures, sculpture, theological and popular literature in her exploration of representations of the Last Things. Distributed in North America by the David Brown Book Co.
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