I would like to express my gratitude to several colleagues who answered queries, recommended literature, provided imagery, and occasionally read drafts of this book. These include Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Jeff Korum, Julie Byrne, Erika Doss, Jane Garnett, Shalom Goldman, Marc Brettler, Richard Howells, Sandy Brewer, Asonzeh Ukah, and Stephen Pattison. My thanks to research assistants Jamie Brummitt and Brenna Keegan for reading the entire manuscript and providing greatly appreciated assistance in copyediting, tracking down citations, hunting information on images, and reading entire drafts of the manuscript. Special thanks go to Stephen Pattison and Edmond Tang of the University of Birmingham for inviting me to deliver the 2012 Cadbury Lectures, which were the origin of this book, and for hosting me and my wife so cordially while we were in Birmingham. Stephen read drafts and generously commented on them and has continually proven to be a wonderful friend and colleague.
In addition to the Cadbury Lectures, several other venues were very helpful in allowing me to develop my ideas. A portion of chapter 4 was presented in a seminar hosted by the faculty of theology at Cambridge University several years ago. Chapter 6 was presented in various forms in the department of art history at Columbia University and at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Chapter 2 was the basis of a lecture in the department of art history at the University of Chicago, and chapter 3 at Heidelberg University. I thank each institution, the colleagues who invited me, and the audiences assembled for their instructive comments and suggestions.
Small bits and pieces scattered throughout this book have been drawn from essays previously published. A short portion of chapter 2 appeared in American Art Journal and part of chapter 4 in the journal Culture and Religion. A few paragraphs in chapter 5 appeared as part of an essay in the online forum Religion and Politics. A paragraph or two of chapter 6 appeared in an essay published in the exhibition catalogue, James Tissot: The Life of Christ, which accompanied an exhibition on Tissot at the Brooklyn Museum.
Finally, it is my pleasure to dedicate this book to my wife, Larissa Carneiro, whose patience and support made writing it a possibility.
The Edward Cadbury Lectureship was established in 1941 by Edward Cadbury Esquire, LL.D. for the furtherance of the study of Theology in the University of Birmingham, according to the Regulations there shall be an annual course of Lectures, usually eight in number, to be delivered in either the Autumn or Spring Term. The theme of the Lectures shall be concerned with some aspect of the Christian faith, the original intention of the Founder being that it should be concerned with the relations past, present and future, of Christianity or civilisation and culture.