Pictorial Representations of Sacred Writings in Visual Arts

Pictorial Representations of Sacred Writings in Visual Arts explores a central question at the heart of Shaping Holiness: How do holy writings become visible? Bringing Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, Egyptian, and Vietnamese perspectives into conversation, the workshop examines how holy and religious writings are translated into images, embodied in visual forms, and made present within religious spaces and practices.

From manuscripts, paintings, and murals to calligraphy, inscriptions, and ritual objects, the contributions explore how writing itself becomes image, how text and image interact, and how visual forms interpret, mediate, and reshape the meaning and authority of holy writings. Together, they illuminate the many ways in which writing is not only read and recited, but also seen, displayed, embodied, and experienced.