The Treasures of the Monastery of Saint Catherine (I Tesori del Monastero di Santa Caterina) (Journe

出版者:White Star

作者:Corinna Rossi

页数:208

出版时间:2006-09-12

价格:USD 40.00

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9788854401426

具体描述

The origins of the monastery date to A.D. 324, when a community of monks requested the mother of the Emperor Constantine, Helena, to build a chapel on the spot where they believed the Burning Bush had stood. Two centuries later, the Emperor Justinian had the building enlarged and massive walls built, thus the Monastery remained for centuries an oasis of peace, shrouded in mystery and sacredness. Not even the Crusades left a trace of their passing, except for some graffiti carved in the refectory. Today St. Catherine's has become a place of pilgrimage and international tourism. Visitors are attracted by the route - which crosses the colourful Sinai Desert and reaches Jebel Musa, a mountain of capital importance in the Old Testament - and, above all, by the charm of the Monastery itself, rich in artistic and historical treasures, and exuding the serenity that only a place of worship can. This book takes the reader inside one of the most important places in the Christian religion, through pictures taken by famous photographers that provide a high-quality documentation of the monastery. The text gives an account of recent investigations and discoveries and provides the reader with a full knowledge of this holy site. The exceptional quality of the illustrations and text make this very affordable book a worthy tribute to one of the Christian world's most famous monasteries. To visit St. Catherine's Monastery is to move into a timeless dimension in which the key episodes of the "Book of Exodus" converge with an often neglected element of early Christianity: the story of the hermit monks of the Middle Eastern deserts. It is also a revisiting of the history of Islam and the Crusades. St. Catherine's Monastery, an isolated monastic stronghold lost in the Sinai Desert, safeguards priceless artistic treasures and mysteries of the faith. This volume, with its rich array of colours, aura and detailed, evocative stories, introduce readers to an a treasured part of humanity's heritage and also its related history, religion, and natural surroundings.

用户评价

这本书的结构安排极具巧思，它没有采取时间线的线性叙述，反而像是在一个宏大的博物馆中漫步，每一次转角都会遇见一个不同主题或不同材质的“宝藏”。这种跳跃式的叙事，反而更能激发读者的好奇心，让人产生不断探索下去的动力。我尤其喜欢其中关于拜占庭时期圣像画的章节，作者对色彩运用和光影处理的分析，让我对这些千年遗作有了全新的认识——它们绝非仅仅是宗教装饰，更是特定时代思想和美学观念的结晶。这种叙事上的灵活性，让整本书的阅读体验充满了惊喜感。

这本书的装帧设计简直是一场视觉盛宴，从拿到它那一刻起，我就被那种沉甸甸的历史厚重感和精心挑选的纸张质感所吸引。封面那种略带磨砂的触感，搭配上内页的精美印刷，让人忍不住想一页页地翻阅，细细品味。我特别欣赏作者在排版上花费的心思，那些留白的处理恰到好处，既不会让版面显得拥挤，又能将那些宏伟的图像和详尽的文字内容完美地结合在一起。每一次翻页，都像是在揭开一层尘封的记忆，那种沉浸式的体验是很多其他同类书籍难以比拟的。

阅读这本书的过程，就像跟随一位经验极其丰富的历史学家进行了一次私人的、深入的探访，那种亲历感是阅读纯粹文字记录所无法替代的。作者的叙述笔法细腻入微，不仅仅停留在对珍宝的简单罗列和描述上，而是巧妙地将每一件物品置于其诞生的时代背景和宗教语境之中。我特别留意到，作者在探讨那些古代手稿的修复过程时，所展现出的那种近乎虔诚的尊重和严谨的学术态度，着实令人肃然起敬。这种深层次的挖掘，让原本可能枯燥的文献研究变得生动有趣，每一个细节背后都仿佛藏着一个未曾言说的故事。

我通常对这类偏向学术或文化遗产介绍的书籍抱持着一种谨慎的期待，毕竟很多作品往往在图像质量和文字深度上难以兼顾。然而，这本画册成功地做到了两者的完美平衡。那些高分辨率的插图，即便是微小的细节，也清晰可见，无论是镶嵌宝石的工艺，还是古代织物的纹理，都得到了极佳的呈现。更难能可贵的是，旁注的文字部分，摒弃了那种高高在上的学院腔调，而是用一种引人入胜的方式，引导着非专业读者去理解这些艺术品背后的神学含义和历史价值。这无疑是一本可以被放入任何家庭书架，并能随时拿出来向朋友炫耀的精品。

坦率地说，我很少遇到能让我如此长时间保持专注的非虚构类书籍。这本书的深度和广度令人印象深刻，它不仅仅是对一个地点的文化遗产进行记录，更像是一部关于信仰、艺术与时间流逝的史诗。从早期基督教的文物到中世纪的金属工艺，作者成功地勾勒出了一条清晰的文化传承脉络。每一次重读，总能从那些看似熟悉的文字中捕捉到新的理解层次，这才是真正好书的标志。它提供的知识量是巨大的，但呈现方式却是如此平易近人，简直是为所有热爱历史和艺术的探索者准备的绝佳指南。