Includes bibliographical references (pages 350-376) and index.

Foreword / Gerry D. Scott III -- Preface / Michael Jones -- Prologue : the renaissance of the Red Monastery / Maximous El-Antony -- Introduction / Elizabeth S. Bolman -- The Red Monastery in early Byzantine Egypt / Andrew Crislip -- Pshoi and the early history of the Red Monastery / Stephen Emmel and Bentley Layton -- "The possessions of our poverty" : beauty, wealth, and asceticism in the Shenoutean federation / Elizabeth S. Bolman -- Liturgy and ritual practice in the Shenoutean federation / Ugo Zanetti and Stephen J. Davis --The type of the triconch basilica / Dale Kinney -- Architectural survey / Nicholas Warner -- Architectural sculpture / Dale Kinney -- Artistic working practice and the second-phase ornamental program / William Lyster -- A staggering spectacle : early Byzantine aesthetics in the triconch / Elizabeth S. Bolman -- The iconography of salvation / Elizabeth S. Bolman -- Figural styles, Egypt, and the early Byzantine world / Elizabeth S. Bolman -- Ascetic ancestors, identity and genealogy / Elizabeth S. Bolman and Agnieszka Szyma�nska -- Textual aesthetics : dipinti and the early Byzantine epigraphic habit / Paul C. Dilley -- Preparation of the eucharist : paintings in the side chambers / Elizabeth S. Bolman -- An eclipsed history : toward a framework for the medieval history of the Red Monastery / Mark N. Swanson -- A medieval flourishing at the White Monastery Federation : material culture / Elizabeth S. Bolman -- Inscribed identities : prosopography of the Red and White Monasteries in the early Byzantine and medieval periods / Paul C. Dilley -- "A strange jumble of Roman detail" : western explorers and antiquarians at the Red Monastery, 1673-1926 / Nicholas Warner and C�edric Meurice -- The Comit�e : conserving the Red Monastery Church in the early twentieth century / Nicholas Warner and C�edric Meurice -- Wall painting conservation at the Red Monastery church / Luigi De Cesaris, Alberto Sucato, and Emiliano Ricchi -- Conclusion / Elizabeth S. Bolman.

"The Red Monastery church is the most important extant early Christian monument in Egypt's Nile Valley, and one of the most significant of its period in the Mediterranean region. A decade-long conservation project has revealed some of the best surviving and most remarkable early Byzantine paintings known to date. The church was painted four times during the 5th and 6th centuries, and significant portions of each iconographic program are preserved. Extensive painted ornament also covers the church's elaborate architectural sculpture, echoing the aesthetics found at San Vitale in Ravenna and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Distinguished contributors from a wide range of disciplines, including art and architectural history, ancient religion, history, and conservation, discuss the church's importance. Topics include late antique aesthetics, early monastic concepts of beauty and ascetic identity, and connections between the center and the periphery in the early Byzantine world. Beautifully illustrated with more than 300 images, this landmark publication introduces the remarkable history and magnificence of the church and its art to the public for the first time"--Publisher's website.