Among Robin Jensen's numerous contributions to understanding early Christianity is the fact that patristic texts tell only half the story; the other half is recounted in the visual and physical world of early Christian art and architecture. She exemplifies how the other half of the story of early Christian initiation is told in this study of the art and architecture of baptism in six chapters of detailed ‘attention to the physical settings and pictorial expression of the lived faith’ (p. i): baptismal iconography in Rome's catacombs (ch. i); the sarcophagi and grave reliefs in the third and fourth centuries (ch. ii); the ivory, glass and mosaics of the fourth and fifth centuries (ch. iii); baptismal images from the early liturgical documents through the church Fathers in the east and west (ch. iv); the design and decoration of baptismal fonts and baptisteries in east Syria, Italy and north Africa from the third century to the seventh (ch. v); and a concluding chapter on what the design and decoration of baptisteries contributed to the meaning of the rites of initiation and what they were seen to accomplish for the initiands. Contrary to expectation, patristic baptismal texts, both rituals and commentaries, were often prompted by the art and architecture of the baptisteries rather than illustrating them. Granted the modest quality of the art in Rome's catacombs, for instance, baptismal images appear a dozen times: funerary art reminding the viewer of the Gospel accounts of the baptism of Jesus, the foundational importance of baptism for both viewer and deceased, and the rebirth and ultimate resurrection of both. Occasionally added to the Baptist motif are others, among them Moses striking the rock, Noah and the ark, and the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, that add to the typological retelling of the biblical account of salvation, a typology thought solely the property of texts. Although space prevents exploring all Jensen's findings, among the most striking are the cruciform and womb-shaped fonts that retell of baptismal death and resurrection found in Paul, baptismal rebirth found in John and, especially striking, the octagonal baptisteries that depict the eighth day and resurrection. Regrettably, these are but sampling of Jensen's invaluable findings about how early Christian art and architecture recount the lived faith of early Christians in both east and west.