Iconotropy and cult images from the ancient to modern world / edited by Jorge Tomás García and Sandra Sáenz-López Pérez.

"The book examines the process of symbolic and material alteration of religious images in antiquity, the middle ages and the modern period. The process by which the form and meaning of images are modified and adapted for a new context is defined by a large number of spiritual, religious, artistic, geographical or historical circumstances. This book provides a defined theoretical framework for these symbolic and material alterations based on the concept of iconotropy; that is, the way in which images change and/or alter their meaning. Iconotropy is a key concept in religious history, particularly for periods in which religious changes, often turbulent, took place. In addition, the iconotropic process of appropriating cult images brought with it changes in the materiality of those images. Numerous accounts from antiquity, the middle ages and the modern period detail how cult images were involved in such processes of misinterpretation, both symbolically and materially. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, visual culture and religious history"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Iconotropy and the alteration of religious images / Jorge Tomás García and Sandra Sáenz-López Pérez -- Cross-Mediterranean Misinterpretations of Sacred Imagery / Michele Bacci -- Avalokiteśvara is Mutating Again: Chinese and Japanese Encounters with the Virgin Mary / Marco Musillo.