The Forge of Vision

“No one has done more in this generation to demonstrate the centrality of images and visual practices in Christianity than David Morgan. Over many years, Morgan has taught us not only that the holy and the human have looked at each other through the centuries in the medium of images, but just what a complex religious practice it is to look. In The Forge of Vision he extends this analysis to the making of modern Christianity. Immensely learned and beautifully written and illustrated, this is a masterwork by a scholar absolutely at the top of his game.”—Robert Orsi, Grace Craddock Nagle Chair in Catholic Studies at Northwestern University

“David Morgan’s newest book focuses on the links between vision, modernity, and Christian thought and practice since the sixteenth century. Tracing how image and imagination contributed to the history and development of modern Catholicism and Protestantism, Morgan further considers how Christianity was an important model for ‘valorizing artistic creation’ and contributing to the ‘modern legacy of art as a spiritual force.’”—Erika Doss, University of Notre Dame

“The Forge of Vision makes apparent David Morgan’s remarkable grasp of Christian visuality in both its Protestant and Catholic modes. With a tenacity to match his insightfulness, he has made the imbrication of religion and image his distinct métier and reveals anew in these pages the vital importance of attending to the material interfaces of Christian devotion. His intellectual reach from Calvin and Ignatius through Kandinsky and Foucault—and much in-between—is exceptional.”—Leigh E. Schmidt, Washington University in St. Louis