Word and Image

Word and Image: An Introduction to Early Medieval Art by William J Diebold, 148 pages

In Word and Image, William Diebold describes the development of early medieval art in the context of the interplay of the appeal of the visual arts and the Christian fear that such appeal might lead to idolatry.  Beginning with St Gregory the Great's famous defense of images as "the book of the illiterate", Diebold demonstrates how the language of images essentially differs from that of words, and how the Christian West made peace with those differences.

Diebold's argument is interesting and his writing clear.  The book is full of excellent (though inevitably mostly monochrome) illustrations.  Unfortunately, the text seems to present medieval Christianity as primarily a matter of certain intellectual propositions only incidentally reflected in practices, and likewise to consider writing as primarily a vehicle for rational argument rather than affective narrative.  Perhaps these deficiencies could have been eliminated had the book been a bit longer and deeper.