The Sunday Christ

This book addresses a particular form of medieval imagery found in parish churches from the mid-14th century that was designed to reach a literate and illiterate audience of parishioners. The Sunday Christ' imagery contains the same basic elements, depicting Christ with a series of tools. These images were to teach the parishioners that the use of such tools was forbidden on holy days (Sabbath-breaking), something which would perpetuate the suffering of Christ, as at the crucifixion. Athene Reiss discusses examples of these images found in England and Wales, the variations in their content, their decorative and dydactic meaning and the impact they would have had on their audience. Examples are illustrated throughout; a catalogue of examples is given at the end.