Introduction to Art History:
Prehistory through the Middle Ages

Bob Gorman
Reference Librarian
Winthrop University
June, 2008

Locating Information in Dacus Library Online :

Dacus Online Catalog can be searched for information on the library's holdings in a number of different ways.  Searching by author or title will result in the location of a specific book.  A search by subject will locate books on general or specific topics.

Suggestions for searching by subjects:

Reference Resources (Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, etc.)

The Atlas of Mysterious Places:  The World's Unexplained Sacred Sites, Symbolic Landscapes, Ancient Cities, and Lost Lands. Ed. Jennifer Westwood.  (REF. CC175 .A85 1987).

Battistini, Matilde. Symbols and Allegories in Art. (REF N7740 .B2913 2005)

Beer, Robert.  The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs. (REF N7346.T5 .B43 1999).

Biedermann, Hans.  Dictionary of Symbolism:  Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind Them.  (REF AZ108 .B5313 1994).

Bruce-Mitford, Miranda.  The Illustrated Book of Signs and Symbols. (REF P99 .B78 1996).

Carr-Gomm, Sarah.  The Dictionary of Symbols in Western Art.  (REF N7740 .C29 1995 - Kept at the Reference Desk).

Complete Dictionary of Symbols (Ref GR931 .C66 2005 - Kept at the Reference Desk).

Cooper, J.C (Jean C.).  An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols.  (REF BL603 .C66 1987 - Kept at the Reference Desk).

Hall, James. Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. (REF N7560 .H34 2008 - Kept at the Reference Desk).

Hall, James.  Illustrated Dictionary of Symbols in Eastern and Western Art. (REF N7740 .H35 1994).

Koch, Rudolf.  The Book of Signs, which Contains all Manner of Symbols Used from the Earliest Times to the Middle Ages by Primitive Peoples and Early Christians. (REF AZ108 .K62 1955) (also in the General Collection).

Shepherd, Walter.  Shepherd's Glossary of Graphic Signs and Symbols.  (REF AZ108 .S53 1971b).

Shepherd, Rowena.  1000 Symbols. (REF N7740 .S54 2002).

Speake, Jennifer. The Dent Dictionary of Symbols in Christian Art. (REF N7825 .S68 1994).

Thompson, Philip. Dictionary of Graphic Images . (REF BF458 .T46 1981).

Waters, Clara Erskine Clement. A Handbook of Christian Symbols and Stories of the Saints as Illustrated in Art. (REF N7830 W3).

Webber, Frederick Roth. Church Symbolism:  An Explanation of the More Important Symbols of the Old and New Testament, the Primitive, the Mediaeval, and the Modern Church. (REF BV150 .W4 1938a).

Whittick, Arnold. Symbols, Signs and Their Meaning. (REF CB475 W48 1960).

Whittlesey, Eunice S. Symbols and Legends in Western Art:  A Museum Guide. (REF N7740 .W53 - Kept at the Reference Desk).

Online Databases ---Indexes and Full-Text

Academic Search Premier  (Full-Text)

Provides full-text for over 4700 publications, including more than 3600 peer-reviewed journals.  Covers most areas of academic study.  Information dates back as far as 1975 and is updated daily.

Art Index (Citations Only - No Full-Text)

Art Index is a bibliographic database that indexes articles from periodicals published throughout the world.  Periodical coverage includes English-language periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins, as well as periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish.  In addition to articles, this database indexes reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed periodicals.  No full-text option is available with this database.  Citations can be printed or e-mailed and titles of journals can be searched in DOC straight from the database. 

ARTstor 

ARTSTOR is a digital library of approximately 300,000 images covering architecture, painting, photography, sculpture, decorative arts and design.  (Not accessible from off-campus locations.)

JSTOR (Full-Text)

JSTOR is the "scholarly journal archive.'  A non-profit cooperative project of university libraries, JSSTOR has converted the contents of past issues of core journals in academic disciplines into electronic form.  These articles include charts and graphs.  Winthrop subscribes to the Arts & Sciences I, II, & III collections.  Articles can be printed or downloaded and saved to a local file.

InfoTrac PowerSearch (Citations, abstracts, and full-text)

Group of databases which provide abstracts and full-text articles and images from magazines, journals, reference books, etc.  Approximately 46% of the articles cited are available in full-text.  The citations, abstracts, and full-text articles can all be printed from DLO, downloaded to a floppy disk for printing from your own computer, or emailed to you.  Use Academic OneFile, Expanded Academic ASAP, General OneFile,  or General Reference Center.

Web Sites

Zeroland:  The Arts on the Web  (http://www.zeroland.co.nz/)
Choose "iconography" from the alphabetical list of subjects.

Art Links on the Web (http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/Artweb_frames.html)
Maintained by Jeffrey Howe at Boston College, this site has numerous subjects.  Choose "iconography" from the menu in the frame on the left.

Christian Iconography ( http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/index.html
Prepared by J.R. Stracke, professor of English at Augusta University, this site is divided into subjects under generic topics, such as Christ, Mary, and the Saints.  It is an academic rather than religious site.