Relics, Dreams, Voyages

‘Davidson is one of the most diversely learned scholars writing today. His global scholarship connects exiles and visionaries across continents, centuries, languages and religions. To read is to explore unfamiliar libraries and secret gardens. With astonishing erudition and warm sympathy, Davidson reveals submerged codes and contexts that have kept major works half hidden. Exceptionally lucid on matters of great complexity, these essays gleam among the shadows of dangerous and defiant arts.’
—Prof Alexandra Harris, author of Weatherland, The Rising Down

‘A truly fascinating book. There can be few scholars in the world capable of leading us on such an extraordinary journey through Baroque art, religion and culture from Aberdeen to the Andes, taking in an Italian garden, a Slovak castle and a Japanese crucifix along the way.’
—Sir Noel Malcolm, All Souls College, Oxford

‘The fine threads and variegated colors of this bright tapestry of case studies combine in considerable luxury to make a resounding case for a universal “Catholic Baroque” that encompassed centuries and crossed the ocean seas.’
—Earle Havens, Director of the Stern Center for the History of the Book, Johns Hopkins University