Idols: The Power of Images is yet another sumptuous volume from Skira Editore. They are a paramount publisher of quality books on art and design, and these books are highly collectable.
This tome takes the reader on a journey back through the centuries to a time when we find the first sculptural representation of the human body. We look at a period spanning the Neolithic era and into the Bronze Age.
It was the dawn of anthropomorphic (human characteristics) figurative culture, the birth of myths of gods and legendary heroes. All these powers were represented as Idols. Editor Annie Caubet, an archaeologist and Emerita of the Louvre, presents these sculptures, these idols (from the Greek eidolon, or image) and encourages the reader to discover how artists who lived and worked around 4000–2000 BC created three-dimensional images of the human form, from the first simple crafted pieces of the Neolithic era to their further evolution during the Bronze Age.
Sculptures show common aspirations and fears
The geographic area covered in Idols: The Power of Images extends from West to East, from the Iberian Peninsula to the distant Indus Valley, and from the stormy Atlantic Ocean to the exotic Far East. The sculptures show common aspirations and fears shared by people across this vast area, illustrating that we have always had more in common than has ever divided us.
Idols: The Power of Images does indeed provoke thought. The sculptures are evocative of their makers, location and culture, although many of them display contemporary lines and aesthetic beauty.
Idols: The Power of Images
Author: Annie Caubet
Published By: Skira Editore
Price £50.00
ISBN-13: 978-8857238852