The Visual Perception of Deities from the Palaeolithic to the Present: Faces of Gods

Considering that figurines, such as the Venus from Willendorf, or the Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel were already created approximately 30,000 years ago, it must be assumed that humans have had a desire to see a visual expression of their sacred beings for an exceedingly prolonged period of time. It is dialectical that visual interpretations of deities always result in a physical/body structure, resembling the shape of humans. This book is a fusion of multiple independent investigations regarding visual interpretations of deities and religions over a period of 30,000 years. A survey about the psychological necessity for humans to create images of gods and goddesses provides the background for the book’s presentation of images of deities, placed in a historical context. An accompanying text supports the illustrations to position them accordingly.