Art historian, Cecily Hennessy, explores medieval Byzantine wall paintings in churches cut out of the beautiful landscape of central Turkey. Many of these were decorated by local artists, sometimes monks, or by the finest artists brought from other centres, such as Constantinople. This book is designed for both intrigued visitors and for those looking for art-historical information and understanding. It serves as a travel guide to the most important painted churches with numerous colour illustrations, plans and maps. It also encourages close examination of the painting, its meaning and its style and execution and provides background knowledge of Byzantine artistic and cultural practice.

This refreshing new look at Medieval art conveys a very real sense of the impact of art on everyday life in Europe from 1000 to 1500. It examines the importance of art in the expression and spread of knowledge and ideas, including notions of the heroism and justice of war, and the dominant view of Christianity.

Framing the Church takes a nontraditional approach to the study of the hallmark of French Gothic architecture: the buttress. In a series of case studies spanning approximately five hundred years and incorporating some of Gothic France’s most significant monuments, Maile S. Hutterer examines the aesthetics, social processes, and iconography of flying buttresses and buttress piers to explain how they supported the church both symbolically and structurally. Surrounding all or part of a building with periodically spaced massive piers, the buttressing frame defines an edge that simultaneously maintains permeability, creating an intermediary space around the structure. Making extensive use of archival sources, Hutterer argues that the areas between the buttresses distinguished the consecrated, sacred ground of the church interior from its unconsecrated, nonsacred surroundings, a division that was of increasing concern to theologians in the High Middle Ages. She traces how, over the course of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, artists and patrons increasingly associated buttressing frames with sacred places through the incorporation of sculptural programs related to theology, processions, and protection. In this way, buttressing frames mediated the interaction between visitor and building and participated in the liturgical and ritual purpose of the church’s structure. Original and persuasive, this book illuminates the buttresses’ social and religious meaning for medieval viewers by introducing architectural iconography to a form that is primarily understood in terms of its structural utility. It will be welcomed by students and scholars of medieval architecture and medieval French history.

This deeply informed and lavishly illustrated book is a comprehensive introduction to the modern study of Middle English manuscripts. It is intended for students and scholars who are familiar with some of the major Middle English literary works, such as The Canterbury Tales, Gawain and the Green Knight, Piers Plowman, and the romances, mystical works or cycle plays, but who may not know much about the surviving manuscripts. The book approaches these texts in a way that takes into account the whole manuscript or codex its textual and visual contents, physical state, readership, and cultural history. Opening Up Middle English Manuscripts also explores the function of illustrations in fashioning audience response to particular authors and their texts over the course of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries

Kathryn Kerby-Fulton, Linda Olson, and Maidie Hilmo scholars at the forefront of the modern study of Middle English manuscripts focus on the writers most often taught in Middle English courses, including Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, the Gawain Poet, Thomas Hoccleve, Julian of Norwich, and Margery Kempe, highlighting the specific issues that shaped literary production in late medieval England. Among the topics they address are the rise of the English language, literacy, social conditions of authorship, early instances of the "Alliterative Revival," women and book production, nuns' libraries, patronage, household books, religious and political trends, and attempts at revisionism and censorship. Inspired by the highly successful study of Latin manuscripts by Raymond Clemens and Timothy Graham, Introduction to Manuscript Studies (also published by Cornell), this book demonstrates how the field of Middle English manuscript studies, with its own unique literary and artistic environment, is changing modern approaches to the culture of the book."

Medieval prayer books held not only the devotions and meditations of Christianity, but also housed, slipped between pages, sundry notes, reminders, and ephemera, such as pilgrims' badges, sworn oaths, and small painted images. Many of these last items have been classified as manuscript illumination, but Kathryn M. Rudy argues that these pictures should be called, instead, parchment paintings, similar to postcards. In a delightful study identifying this group of images for the first time, Rudy delineates how these objects functioned apart from the books in which they were kept. Whereas manuscript illuminations were designed to provide a visual narrative to accompany a book's text, parchment paintings offered a kind of autonomous currency for exchange between individuals-people who longed for saturated color in a gray world of wood, stone, and earth. These small, colorful pictures offered a brilliant reprieve, and Rudy shows how these intriguing and previously unfamiliar images were traded and cherished, shedding light into the everyday life and relationships of those in the medieval Low Countries.

A mixed ancestry kid, at his desk Richard 'imitates' Yerka or 'paints' Bolero (see the insider). By his very nature, he likes to like and hates to hate. Richard stopped painting at his 8 years. With this collection of 10 paintings and 11 poems, he fundraises for the museums, with an initial goal to cover the entrance tickets for 1-10 kids who are seriously in love with the visual arts.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

1885. Illustrated with 92 plates. The book's purpose is to collect and arrange, in chronological order, the principal forms that have been used symbolically in the different periods of Art. Its chief aim is to lead to a better understanding of the many treasures of Art and Antiquity that are to be found wherever our wanderings may lead us, by assisting persons to read their meaning and to look through the Symbol to the thing signified by it.

1928. This volume grew out of Lowell lectures delivered at Boston, Massachusetts. Contents: Monastic Artists (1); Monastic Artists (2); Monastic Artists (3); The Lay Artist; Four Self-Characterizations; The Freemasons; The Mason's Mark; The Hand-Grip; Eton and King's College; From Prentice to Master; Wander Years; Symbolism; The People's Mind; The Poor Man's Bible; Art and Religion; Architectural Finance; The Puritan Revolt; Reformation or Renaissance?; Protestantism and Art; The Roots of the Renaissance; Renaissance and Destruction; Renaissance and Construction (1); and Renaissance and Construction (2).

Two leading American experts on the subject offer the first comprehensive English-language review of Naples' architecture and urban development from late antiquity to the high and late Middle Ages. William Tronzo treats the early Middle Ages, from the end of the western Roman Empire to the end of the Duchy, or from about 400 to 1139. He covers a range of topics, including the development of the city's urban fabric and chief monuments, including the catacombs, Sta. Restituta, the baptistery of San Giovanni in Fonte, the forum area including San Paolo Maggiore and the early history of San Lorenzo Maggiore and the Pietrasanta. Caroline Bruzelius then picks up the narrative and analysis from the twelfth century to the end of the Angevin period. She brings up to date and nuances many of the findings and themes of her The Stones of Naples. She revisits some of the same material on the early medieval city from a different perspective, that of religious foundations and urban topography. She proceeds to patronage - religious, mercantile, noble and royal - and then moves on to the role of Tuscan artists in Naples, concluding with the Angevin reconfiguration of the city in the late Middle Ages. Clearly and concisely written, this book is an ideal introductory survey for the scholar, student and general reader to medieval Naples, its chief monuments and to the scholarly discussions and interpretations of the material, visual and documentary evidence. 160 pages. Preface, select bibliography; appendices, including the Tavola Strozzi with key, Map of Medieval Naples with thumbnail key; index. 83 black & white figures, plus 60 thumbnail images. List of links to online resources from A Documentary History of Naples, including primary-source readings; image galleries containing over 450 additional images in full color; and links to full bibliographies with ongoing supplements.

1928. This volume grew out of Lowell lectures delivered at Boston, Massachusetts. Contents: Monastic Artists (1); Monastic Artists (2); Monastic Artists (3); The Lay Artist; Four Self-Characterizations; The Freemasons; The Mason's Mark; The Hand-Grip; Eton and King's College; From Prentice to Master; Wander Years; Symbolism; The People's Mind; The Poor Man's Bible; Art and Religion; Architectural Finance; The Puritan Revolt; Reformation or Renaissance?; Protestantism and Art; The Roots of the Renaissance; Renaissance and Destruction; Renaissance and Construction (1); and Renaissance and Construction (2).

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology brings together expert work by leading scholars of the archaeology of Early Christianity and the Roman world in the Mediterranean and surrounding regions. The thirty-four contributions to this volume survey Christian material culture and ground the history, culture, and society of the first seven centuries of Christianity in archaeological method, theory, and research. The essays emphasize the link between archaeological fieldwork, methods, and regional and national traditions in constructing our knowledge of the Early Church and Christian communities within the context of the ancient Mediterranean, Near East, and Europe. Three sweeping introductory essays provide historical perspectives on the archaeology of the Early Christian world. These are followed by a series of topical treatments that focus on monuments and environments ranging from Christian churches to catacombs, martyria, and baths, as well as classes of objects of religious significance such as ceramics, lamps, and icons. Finally, the volume locates the archaeology of the Early Christian world in fifteen regional studies stretching from Britain to Persia, highlighting the unique historical contexts that have shaped scholarly discussion across time and space. The thorough, carefully-researched essays offer the most intensive, state-of-the-art treatment of recent research into the archaeology of Early Christianity available.

Anna Comnena is described as the first female historian, the author of her father's celebratory biography. She was an educated princess in eleventh-century Constantinople, the daughter of the Emperor Alexius. She was expected to succeed him, and raised as heir, but her hopes were dashed by the birth of a younger brother. In what is over-modestly described as a biography, Naomi Mitchison combines her story with that of her father, and the whole civilisation of the Eastern Empire, indeed the whole known world of the time. The Eastern Empire is seen as a necessary bulwark between a young and promising Europe and the perils of Islam and wild tribes in Asia. Mitchison also warns her readership of the perils of a dead civilisation, and writing in 1928 she poses a challenge to the direction of Europe in these perilous postwar years. Thwarted ambition at last drove Anna to attempt to kill her brother, who, says Mitchison, went on to be one of the best of Emperors. Isobel Murray is Emeritus Professor of Modern Scottish Literature at the University of Aberdeen.

Whereas twelfth-century pilgrims flocked to the church of St-Lazare in Autun to visit the relics of its patron saint, present-day pilgrims journey there to admire its superb sculpture, said to have been created by the artist Gislebertus whose name is inscribed above one of the church doors. These two cults, of sculptor and of saint, form points of departure and arrival for Linda Seidel's study.
"Legends in Limestone" reveals how "Gislebertus, sculptor" was discovered and subsequently sanctified over the course of the last century. Seidel makes a compelling case for the identification of the name with an ancestor of the local ducal family, invoked for his role in the acquisition of the precious relics. With the aid of evidence drawn from the richly carved decoration of the building, she demonstrates how medieval visitors would have read a different holy narrative in the church fabric, one that constructed before their eyes an account of their patron saint's life.
"Legends in Limestone, " an absorbing study of one of France's most revered medieval monuments, provides fresh insights into modern and medieval interpretive practices.

Michelangelo, Raphael, Bramante-together these artists created some of the most glorious treasures of the Vatican, viewed daily by thousands of tourists. But how many visitors understand the way these artworks reflect the passions, dreams, and struggles of the popes who commissioned them? For anyone making an artistic pilgrimage to the High Renaissance splendors of the Vatican, George L. Hersey's book is the ideal guide. Before starting the tour of individual works, Hersey describes how the treacherously shifting political and religious alliances of sixteenth-century Italy, France, and Spain played themselves out in the Eternal City. He offers vivid accounts of the lives and personalities of four popes, each a great patron of art and architecture: Julius II, Leo X, Clement VII, and Paul III. He also tells of the complicated rebuilding and expanding of St. Peter's, a project in which Bramante, Raphael, and Michelangelo all took part. Having set the historical scene, Hersey then explores the Vatican's magnificent Renaissance art and architecture. In separate chapters, organized spatially, he leads the reader through the Cortile del Belvedere and Vatican Museums, with their impressive holdings of statuary and paintings; the richly decorated Stanze and Logge of Raphael; and Michelangelo's Last Judgment and newly cleaned Sistine Chapel ceiling. A fascinating final chapter entitled "The Tragedy of the Tomb" recounts the vicissitudes of Michelangelo's projected funeral monument to Julius II. Hersey is never content to simply identify the subject of a painting or sculpture. He gives us the story behind the works, telling us what their particular themes signified at the time for the artist, the papacy, and the Church. He also indicates how the art was received by contemporaries and viewed by later generations. Generously illustrated and complete with a useful chronology, High Renaissance Art in St. Peter's and the Vatican is a valuable reference for any traveler to Rome or lover of Italian art who has yearned for a single-volume work more informative and stimulating than ordinary guidebooks. At the same time, Hersey's many anecdotes and intriguing comparisons with works outside the Vatican will provide new insights even for specialists.

A unique coloring book of Knight images drawn by Christopher Finn.

"Medieval Renaissance Baroque" celebrates Marilyn Aronberg Lavin's breakthrough achievements in both the print and digital realms of art and cultural history. Fifteen friends and colleagues present tributes and essays that reflect every facet of Lavin's brilliant career. Tribute presenters include Ellen Burstyn, Langdon Hammer, Phyllis Lambert, and James Marrow. Contributors include Kirk Alexander, Horst Bredekamp, Nicola Courtright, David Freedberg, Jack Freiberg, Marc Fumaroli, David A. Levine, Daniel T. Michaels, Elizabeth Pilliod, Debra Pincus, and Gary Schwartz. 230 pages, 79 illustrations, bibliography of Marilyn Lavin's works, preface, index.

This book stands alone as the first general survey of lighting in Byzantium. Although relatively well known by specialists, Byzantine lighting devices have not been treated independently, but rather presented and discussed in connection with other Byzantine minor arts. The first part of the book discusses the technology and types of lighting devices and explains their decorative symbolism and social function. The second half illustrates this narrative by drawing on a Dumbarton Oaks exhibition, "Lighting in Early Byzantium," which presented to the public some of the finest surviving late Roman and early Byzantine lighting devices. Some of these are now published for the first time.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This monograph looks at Byzantine art in its widest sense as well as its influence right up to the 20th century. It is well illustrated with a largely descriptive text. The chapters are divided by genre of art - mosaic, architecture, sculpture etc, with seperate chapters on the influence of Byzantine art in the Baltic and Russia, as well as in later centuries. The range of the study is a real strength and the parallels it draws are illuminating.

In this artful look back at medieval society, the realms and reveries of the Middle Ages unfold in over 300 black-and-white illustrations. Included are images of warriors, scholars, musicians, architecture, business and recreation, myths and legends, and more.