What is the force in art, C. Stephen Jaeger asks, that can enter our consciousness, inspire admiration or imitation, and carry us from the world as it is to a world more sublime? Ranging widely across periods and genres, Jaeger investigates the charismatic and transformative effect of Rilke's poetry, Albrecht Dürer's Christ-like self-portrait, Fred Astaire dancing, the tattooed face of a Maori tribesman, and the haunting visage of Charlotte Rampling in a film still.