Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion

Book Description
Originally published in 1983, Leo Steinberg's classic work has changed
the viewing habits of a generation. After centuries of repression and
censorship, the sexual component in thousands of revered icons of Christ
is restored to visibility. Steinberg's evidence resides in the imagery
of the overtly sexed Christ, in Infancy and again after death. Steinberg
argues that the artists regarded the deliberate exposure of Christ's
genitalia as an affirmation of kinship with the human condition.
Christ's lifelong virginity, understood as potency under check, and the
first offer of blood in the circumcision, both required acknowledgment
of the genital organ. More than exercises in realism, these unabashed
images underscore the crucial theological import of the Incarnation.
This revised and greatly expanded edition not only adduces new visual
evidence, but deepens the theological argument and engages the
controversy aroused by the book's first publication.






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The second edition of The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion - doubled in size by the addition of a "Retrospect" - expands the now classic original text in three directions. It brings in a host of confirming images; deepens the theological argument; and answers skeptical or scandalized critics who decried the book at its first publication. In its polemical parts, the book wrestles large issues, such as the validity of interpretations that come without supporting texts, or the modern pleas that the maleness of Christ be tempered into androgyny. Along the way, the topics engaged range from Christ's human nature to Dr. Strangelove, from St. Augustine's dismal assessment of babyhood to the aesthetics of the U.S. Post Office.


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