This book examines the Bible and its medieval and modern rewritings. It looks at some of the most beautiful and intriguing scenes from the Old and New Testament and the direct or indirect Re-Scriptures of these by writers such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and T.S. Eliot as well as by ancient exegesis, catacomb frescoes, and church paintings.

• 1: From J to M: Recognizing and Rewriting God


• 2: Susanna in Excelsis


• 3: In the Beginning Was a Cock: Animal Farms and the Plain Sense of Things


• 4: Why Should Moses Go Down?


• 5: To Recognize is a God: Helen, Mary Magdalen, Marina-Menuchim


• Bibliography


• Index

Lector of Italian, University of Cambridge, 1971-74
Lecturer in American and English Literature, University of Pescara, 1974-79
Professor of English, University of Perugia, 1979-85
Professor of English, University of Rome La Sapienza, 1985