75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know

The Fascinating Stories Behind Great Works of Art, Literature, Music and Film

Terry Glaspey

• Publisher: Moody Publishers
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780802499202
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art General

Let Your Faith Be Moved by the Masterpieces

Art becomes a masterpiece when it stands the test of time and challenges its viewers to see the world from a new perspective. The vast legacy of human expression is therefore a rich resource of introspection and wisdom for Christians today. 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know anthologizes some of humanity's most influential and renowned works of art. Terry Glaspey masterfully analyzes how each piece responds to the reality of the human condition and Christian truth. Glaspey examines architecture, plays, novels, paintings, films, and even albums, evoking how some probe the dark corners of human suffering, while others capture the mystery, beauty, and wonder of life. Each selection is universally revered for its craftsmanship and ubiquitously esteemed across both time and cultures. From Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice to Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison, every masterpiece reveals some truth that has both enriched the Christian faith and left an indelible mark on the legacy of artistic achievement. Through engaging these masterpieces, Christians today can enrich their own faith with the creativity of history's brilliant artists.

This book serves as both historian and biographer, as devotional and art criticism. May this book be a modest doorway into a world of deeper appreciation, a guide to the treasures of our tradition that enriches both your faith and understanding of the human experience.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Introduction to the Moody Edition
• 1. Paintings in the Roman Catacombs, unknown (paintings, c. 300)
• 2. The Book of Kells, unknown (illuminated manuscript, c. 550)
• 3. Gregorian Chant, unknown (choral works, c. 580)
• 4. Chartres Cathedral, unknown (cathedral, 1134)
• 5. Ordo Virtutum, Hildegard of Bingen (choral work, c. 1151)
• 6. The Windows of Sainte-Chapelle, unknown (stained glass, 1248)
• 7. The Scrovegni Chapel Frescoes, Giotto (paintings, c. 1305)
• 8. The Divine Comedy, Dante (poem, c. 1320)
• 9. The Holy Trinity Icon, Andrei Rublev (painting, c. 1410)
• 10. The Adoration of the Lamb, Jan van Eyck (paintings, 1432)
• 11. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Albrecht Dürer (woodcut, 1498)
• 12. The Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch (paintings, c. 1500)
• 13. The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo (painting, 1508–1512)
• 14. “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” Martin Luther (hymn, c. 1529)
• 15. The Procession to Calvary, Pieter Bruegel (painting, 1564)
• 16. The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, El Greco (painting, c. 1586)
• 17. The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio (painting, 1601–1602)
• 18. The Holy Sonnets, John Donne (poems, 1633)
• 19. The Temple, George Herbert (poems, 1633)
• 20. Agnus Dei, Francisco de Zurbarán (painting, c. 1635–1640)
• 21. St. Teresa in Ecstasy, Bernini (sculpture, 1652)
• 22. The Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt (painting, c. 1669)
• 23. The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan (novel, 1678)
• 24. “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” Isaac Watts (hymn, 1707)
• 25. St. Matthew Passion, Johann Sebastian Bach (oratorio, 1727)
• 26. Messiah, George Frideric Handel (oratorio, 1741)
• 27. “Amazing Grace,” John Newton (hymn, 1779)
• 28. Songs of Innocence and Experience, William Blake (poems, 1789–1794)
• 29. The Creation, Franz Joseph Haydn (oratorio, 1798)
• 30. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (novel, 1813)
• 31. The Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, Caspar David Friedrich (painting, 1818)
• 32. Symphony no. 5, The Reformation, Felix Mendelssohn (classical music, 1830)
• 33. The Voyage of Life, Thomas Cole (paintings, 1842)
• 34. The Light of the World, William Holman Hunt (painting, 1854)
• 35. The Heart of the Andes, Frederic Edwin Church (painting, 1859)
• 36. Fairy Tales, George MacDonald (stories, c. 1871)
• 37. The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (novel, 1879)
• 38. La Sagrada Família Cathedral, Antoni Gaudí (cathedral, begun 1882)
• 39. Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh (painting, 1889)
• 40. The Complete Poems, Emily Dickinson (poems, 1890)
• 41. The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, James Tissot (paintings, 1896)
• 42. The Annunciation, Henry Ossawa Tanner (painting, 1898)
• 43. The Innocence of Father Brown, G. K. Chesterton (short stories, 1911)
• 44. The Life of Christ, Emil Nolde (paintings, 1912)
• 45. Poems, Gerard Manley Hopkins (poems, 1918)
• 46. The Resurrection at Cookham, Stanley Spencer (painting, 1926)
• 47. Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather (novel, 1927)
• 48. The Passion of Joan of Arc, Carl Theodore Dreyer (film, 1928)
• 49. Head of Christ, Georges Rouault (painting, 1937)
• 50. The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene (novel, 1940)
• 51. Quartet for the End of Time, Olivier Messiaen (classical music, 1941)
• 52. Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot (poems, 1943)
• 53. The Man Born to Be King, Dorothy L. Sayers (drama, 1943)
• 54. Rome, Open City, Roberto Rossellini (film, 1945)
• 55. It’s a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra (film, 1946)
• 56. “I Will Move On Up a Little Higher,” Mahalia Jackson (recording, 1947)
• 57. The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis (children’s stories, 1950–1956)
• 58. The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien (novels, 1954–1955)
• 59. A Love Supreme, John Coltrane (recording, 1964)
• 60. Au Hasard du Balthasar, Robert Bresson (film, 1966)
• 61. Andrei Rublev, Andrei Tarkovsky (film, 1966)
• 62. Cancer Ward, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (novel, 1967)
• 63. At Folsom Prison, Johnny Cash (recording, 1968)
• 64. The Complete Stories, Flannery O’Connor (short stories, 1971)
• 65. Only Visiting This Planet, Larry Norman (recording, 1972)
• 66. Symphony no. 3, The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, Henryk Górecki (classical music, 1976)
• 67. Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws, Bruce Cockburn (recording, 1979)
• 68. The Second Coming, Walker Percy (novel, 1980)
• 69. The Last Supper, Sadao Watanabe (print, 1981)
• 70. Godric, Frederick Buechner (novel, 1981)
• 71. Infidels, Bob Dylan (recording, 1983)
• 72. The Joshua Tree, U2 (recording, 1987)
• 73. Paradise Garden, Howard Finster (artistic assemblage, c. 1990)
• 74. The Four Holy Gospels, Makoto Fujimura (paintings, 2011)
• 75. The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick (film, 2011)
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• For Further Exploration: A Selected Bibliography