Saints and Sinners in the Sky: Astronomy, Religion and Art in Western Culture

In this book, Boston University Professor of Astronomy Michael Mendillo takes readers deep into the annals of history, showing how visual depictions of the heavens evolved in tandem with science and religion throughout much of Western culture.

With unprecedented scope and scale, Professor Mendillo explores how cave art, illuminated manuscripts, sculptures, paintings and architecture reflected some of the great religious and secular battles taking place over the course of centuries. Enter a world of biblical proportions, where constellations of ancient heroes and pagans were thoroughly recast as Christian saints and the Twelve Apostles. This nontechnical narrative brings vitality and accessibility to some of the most enduring subjects in human history, offering a lively new exploration of the visual connections between celestial phenomena and artistic expression.
Ever wonder how religion and art became forces of imagination on our night skies?Or how the night skies became forces of imagination on our religion and art? In this brilliant study of constellations and culture, Michael Mendillo, professor of astronomy at Boston University, reveals that the canopy of stars has been an ideologically contested space from the beginning, ensuring that the next time you look up, the sky will look completely different to you.- Neil deGrasse Tyson, Director, Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History

"Saints and Sinners impressionistically reveals the connections of art, astronomy, and religion in Western culture to illuminate the age-old quest for celestial-terrestrial connections. - Roberta J.M. Olson, author of Giotto's Portrait of Halley's Comet and Cosmos: The Art and Science of the Universe

Professor Mendillo's book does a priceless service, opening the doors of our minds to images that will stir us, because the heavens are partof us, and we all long to know how and why. - Rev. David R. Thom, MIT Chaplain and Convener of the Cambridge Faculty Roundtable on Science, Art & Religion

"Over a lifetime devoted to astronomical research and teaching, Michael Mendillo has indulged a parallel passion for artistic representations of the heavenly bodies. In this sumptuous volume, he explores the projection of our changing belief systems onto the constant stars. - Dava Sobel, author of Longitude , Galileo's Daughter and The Glass Universe

Recounts the battle between religion and science over the celestial dome and its depictions Explains the Christianizing of the Heavens movement using first-ever Latin translations Written by a professor of astronomy at Boston University

Auteur

Michael Mendillo is Professor of Astronomy at Boston University. His science career deals with research in solar-terrestrial space physics, planetary science, and newly discovered planets orbiting stars in our galaxy. Professor Mendillo has assembled one of the largest privately-held collections of antiquarian astronomical maps, charts and atlases. They form the basis of the Celestial Images exhibitions held at many university art galleries, the Smithsonian Institution and the US National Academy of Science. His teaching of astronomy to non-science majors stresses interdisciplinary topics and their connectivity (science-art-religion-society).

Résumé
"This is a lovely book. ... It is thought-provoking, highly readable, and well referenced. It is a book all astronomers will enjoy, and it should make our visits to art galleries both more frequent, and more beneficial." (David W. Hughes, The Observatory, Vol. 142 (1290), October, 2022)

Contenu
Part 1: ARTISTIC ASTRONOMY AND RELIGIOUS ICONOGRAPHY.- Chapter 1. Astronomical Constellations and How to Portray Them.- Chapter 2. New Players, New Roles.- Chapter 3. The Schiller Enterprise.- Chapter 4. The Christianized Zodiac of the Northern Hemisphere.- Chapter 5. The Christianized Zodiac of the Southern Hemisphere .- Chapter 6. Responses --- Theological and Astronomical.- Part 2: ASTRONOMY IN CHRISTIAN ART.- Chapter 7. Pagan Constellations in Christian Art .- Chapter 8. Beyond Constellations: Astronomical Components in Religious Art.- Part 3: CONSTELLATIONS IN SECULAR ART AND ARCHITECTURE.- Chapter 9. Rubens and Astronomy .- Chapter 10. Constellation-Art Connections in Multi-Media.- Chapter 11. Constellations as Decorative Architecture .- Chapter 12. Modern Art and the Many Themes of Constellations.- Chapter 13. Astronomical Stars of Modern Art.