The Virtues And Vices In The Arts [Hardcover]

The seven deadly sins are pride, envy, anger, sloth, gluttony, greed, and lust. The seven virtues are prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice, faith, hope, and love. This book brings all of them together and for the first time lays out their history in a collection of the most important philosophical, religious, literary, and art-historical works. Starting with the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian antecedents, this anthology of source documents traces the virtues-and-vices tradition through its cultural apex during the medieval era and then into their continued development and transformation from the Renaissance to the present. This anthology includes excerpts of Plato's Republic, the Bible, Dante's Purgatorio, and the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche and C. S. Lewis. Also included are artworks from medieval manuscripts; paintings by Giotto, Veronese, and Paul Cadmus; prints by Brueghel; and a photograph by Oscar Rejlander. What these works show is the vitality and richness of the virtues and vices in the arts from their origins to the present. You can continue this book's conversation by visiting http://www.virtuesvicesinthearts.blogspot.com/. There you can join conversations, find out more, and meet other scholars and artists interested in this vibrant tradition. Shawn Tucker demonstrates how the concepts of virtue and vice are not only very relevant to contemporary Western culture but have a comprehensive, fluid, and contested history in art and literature. This interdisciplinary study of these core cultural concepts, and a serious inquiry into what behavior we sanction and what behavior we condemn, is a welcome addition to the study of humanities. Tucker's lively introductions are especially effective at linking ancient texts and artistic works to modern ones, with generous nods to contemporary music, television, and cultural phenomenon such as fad diets and Christian rock. --Lee Ann Elliott Westman, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas This anthols3