Allegories of Heaven: An Artist Explores the "Greatest Story Ever Told" by Dinah Roe Kendall

Christians throughout the centuries have portrayed the life of Christ through painting, sculpture and art. In so doing the church has expressed the incarnation in ways engaging both the eye and the imagination. Now contemporary artist Dinah Roe Kendall offers a vibrant retelling of the full scope of Jesus' ministry.

Walking through the Gospel narratives from annunciation to ascension, Kendall brings to life well-known events and parables with unexpected visual force. We encounter familiar figures such as John the Baptist and the good Samaritan as we have never seen them before. Accompanied by Eugene Peterson's The Message translation of the Gospel stories, Kendall's artwork leads us into a fresh experience of Jesus' story.

This volume helps us envision anew, "This is what the kingdom of heaven is like . . ."

"On one hand Dinah's down-to-earth style of illustration brings the gospel story close to us today. At the same time her dramatic staging and decorative motifs give us fresh views of the greatest story ever told." Timothy R. Botts, artist and calligrapher for Doorposts and Messiah "Dinah Roe Kendall's fresh, sassy and devout paintings are breathing new life into religious art at the start of the third millennium. Already receiving the grateful attention of worshiper and enquirer alike, they are finding a secure place in the world of faith and of art." Tom Devonshire Jones, director, Art & Christian Enquiry "These are the works of a remarkably gifted and original artist whose output is both rare in its intensity and hugely welcome in its content and conviction. Painstaking in production and immensely rewarding to behold, these are paintings of real distinction--each one a precious jewel that merits our unstinted gratitude and profound admiration." Ian Tregarthen Jenkin, principal of the Camberwell School of Art, 1999