No serious art-historical library should be without it. [The publisher] is to be congratulated for taking on this epic venture. BURLINGTON MAGAZINE. The fifty years between 1130 and 1180 produced some of the most original and evocative capitals of the middle ages - a period that was largely responsible for the evolution of the Gothic style. But despite the fact that many are hard to examine in situ and are often too dark to observe closely, they have rarely been published before. These volumes will therefore be widely welcomed. The 7,600 illustrations they contain cover, in large and exquisite detail,nearly every capital; they include the multitude of works in the great cathedrals and abbeys of the time, including Chartres, Laon, Noyon, Paris, Saint-Denis, Senlis and Sens. The staggering range of individual creativity shows aculture able to reinvent itself in a rare and exciting way. The publication of the fourth and fifth volumes in the sequence completes the photographic archive of foliate carving from the Paris Basin during the formative two centuries in which architecture and the techniques of building were transformed. They are also the foundation for subsequent volumes which will establish a chronology for Early Gothic architecture and sculpture, as well as technological developments in rib vaults and construction methods. Dr JOHN JAMES is a world authority on medieval architecture, and author of over sixty books and articles.

Romanesque is the style name given to the art and architecture of Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries. Coined to express the indebtedness of the artistic culture of this period to the Classical past, it has been in continuous use for two centuries and has outlived other paradigms in the study of medieval culture. The study of Romanesque as a stylistic phenomenon is today almost exclusively the preserve of art historians, particularly in the English-speaking world. In this polemical book 'the Romanesque', especially as applied to architecture, is subjected to a long overdue, theoretically-informed, archaeological inquiry. The main aim is to liberate the buildings in question from the exclusive grip of unimaginative, uncritical, and ideologically-suspect, scholarship. The book's principal interpretative argument is that the pan-European corpus of buildings described as Romanesque is a product of the fragmentation of the heritage of romanitas in the 1000s and 1100s, rather than a product of its renaissance.

John Fitchen systematically treats the process of erecting the great edifices of the Gothic era. He explains the building equipment and falsework needed, the actual operations undertaken, and the sequence of these operations as specifically as they can be deduced today. Since there are no contemporary accounts of the techniques used by medieval builders, Fitchen's study brilliantly pieces together clues from manuscript illuminations, from pictorial representations, and from the fabrics of the building themselves.
"Anyone who has caught the fascination of Gothic Churches (and once caught, has almost necessarily got it in the blood) will find this book enthralling. . . . Clearly written and beautifully illustrated." --A. D. R. Caroe, "Annual Review, " Central Council for the Care of Churches
"Fitchen's study is a tribute to the extraordinary creative and engineering skills of successive generations of mediaeval builders. . . . This study enables us to appreciate more fully the technical expertise and improvements which enabled the creative spirit of the day to find such splendid embodiment." --James Lingwood, "Oxford Art Journal"
"Fitchen, in what can only be defined as an architectural detective story, fully explores the problems confronting the medieval vault erectors and uncovers their solution. . . . This is a book that no serious student of architecture will want to miss." --"Progressive Architecture"

Divided into four sections, the first of which deals with cruck construction, box-frame and post-and-truss assembling and the problems of roof construction and concludes with flooring, partitions and the decorative work applied to timber, this work is a vivid history of timber architecture. Part Two comprises an illustrated glossary covering terms used in all types of timber construction work, with the descriptions backed up with excellent drawings and photographs. Part Three, the chronological survey of timber buildings from Saxon times to the 19th century, contains notes on the 47 photographs of building types represented. Finally, Part Four deals with regional variations in timber building and is supplemented by six distribution maps.

The private archive of the Spinelli, acquired by Yale University's Beinecke Library in 1988, constitutes the largest fund of information about a Florentine family anywhere outside Italy. The Spinelli of Florence tells the story of these merchants and their ascent to social and economic prominence during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This book gives an intimate portrait of daily life--the worlds of papal finance, silk and wool manufacturing, and household affairs--as recorded in letters and financial ledgers preserved for two hundred years since the extinction of the male line.

The fame of this family rests largely on the extraordinary success of one individual, Tommaso Spinelli, who broke into banking through the Alberti and Borromei organizations, later to serve as depository general under Pope Eugenius IV and financial officer to three subsequent popes. Tommaso sought to raise his status in society through ties of marriage and business rather than entering the political arena, which had led to the demise and exile of older, established Florentine families, notably the Peruzzi and Alberti. Like his contemporaries, Cosimo de'Medici, Giovanni Rucellai, and Francesco Sassetti, Tommaso poured his considerable wealth into the patronage of private palaces and villas in Rome and Florence, as well as through donations to the great Franciscan church of Santa Croce. Despite his reputation for magnificence, it was Tommaso's obeisance to the codes of religious decorum and his adherence to older artistic traditions that allowed him to commemorate himself and his family without censure.

The authors of this collaborative study, an architectural historian and economic historian, add significantly to our knowledge of private and papal banking, wool and silk manufacturing, and patronage of the arts. The Spinelli of Florence is important for scholars of history, economic history, social history, and art history.

Earliest (12th century) treatise on arts written by practicing artist. Pigments, glass blowing, stained glass, gold and silver work, more. 34 illus.

Based on a fresh reading of primary sources, Lindy Grant's comprehensive biography of Abbot Suger (1081-1151) provides a reassessment of a key figure of the twelfth century. Active in secular and religious affairs alike - Suger was Regent of France and also abbot of one of the most important abbeys in Europe during the time of the Gregorian reforms. But he is primarily remembered as a great artistic patron whose commissions included buildings in the new Gothic style. Lindy Grant reviews him in all these roles - and offers a corrective to the current tendency to exaggerate his role as architect of both French royal power and the new gothic form.

In 1993 and 1994, The Centre for Christianity and the Arts at the Institute of Church History, University of Copenhagen, arranged symposia with liturgy and the arts in the Middle Ages as the uniting theme. Scholars, with different professional backgrounds and from different European countries, as well as from the USA, presented papers of which 11 are collected and published in this book.

Contents: The Contribution of Archaeology to our Understanding of re-Norman London, 1973-1988; Medieval and Tudor Domestic Buildings in the City of London; Shops and Shopping in Medieval London; The Romanesque Architecture of Old St Paul's Cathedral and its late eleventh-century Context.; The First Facade of Old St Paul's Cathedral and its Place in English Thirteenth - Century Architecture; Restorations of the Temple Church, London; 'Liber Horn', 'Liber Custumarum' and Other Manuscripts of the Queen Mary Psalter Workshops; London, Londoners and Opus Anglicanum; Some New Types of Late Medieval Tombs in the London Area.

Close technical examinations of the techniques and materials of Edward Steichen, Mark Rothko, Jules Olitski, Jasper Johns, and others are accompanied by essays that probe issues of conserving contemporary art Volume 5 of the National Gallery of Art's biennial conservation research journal Facture explores issues associated with the conservation and technical analysis of modern and contemporary art. Focusing on works in a variety of media by celebrated artists such as Edward Steichen (1879-1973), Mark Rothko (1903-1970), Jules Olitski (1922-2007), and Jasper Johns (b. 1930), this publication's seven essays offer expertise from conservators, scientists, and art historians, yielding exceptional insights into extraordinary works of art. As in all issues of Facture, the peer-reviewed essays, enlivened with spectacularly detailed photography, navigate interdisciplinary boundaries to examine artworks from technical, scientific, and art-historical perspectives. In this issue, the dialogue is further expanded to include contributions from artists, their families, and their foundations. Distributed for the National Gallery of Art, Washington

Moving with the Magdalen is the first art-historical book dedicated to the cult of Mary Magdalen in the late medieval Alps. Its seven case study chapters focus on the artworks commissioned for key churches that belonged to both parish and pilgrimage networks in order to explore the role of artistic workshops, commissioning patrons and diverse devotees in the development and transfer of the saint's iconography across the mountain range. Together they underscore how the Magdalen's cult and contingent imagery interacted with the environmental conditions and landscape of the Alps along late medieval routes.

For hundreds of years the Bactrian camel ploughed a lonely furrow across the vast wilderness of Asia. This bizarre-looking, temperamental yet hardy creature here came into its own as the core goods vehicle, resolutely and reliably transporting to China - over huge and unforgiving distances - fine things from the West while taking treasures out of the Middle Kingdom in return. Where the chariot, wagon and other wheeled conveyances proved useless amidst the shifting desert dunes, the surefooted progress of the camel - archetypal 'ship of the Silk Road' - now reigned supreme. The Bactrian camel was a subject that appealed particularly to Chinese artists because of its association with the exotic trade to mysterious Western lands. In his lavishly illustrated volume, Angus Forsyth explores diverse jade pieces depicting this iconic beast of burden. Almost one hundred separate objects are included, many of which have not been seen in print before. At the same time the author offers the full historical background to his subject. The book will have a strong appeal to collectors and art historians alike.

Anna Bucheler's dissertation, Ornament as Argument: Textile Imagery and Textile Metaphor in Medieval German Manuscripts explores notions of ornamentation and issues of materiality in early and high medieval manuscript illumination (800-1200). Focusing on ornament that evokes the weave patterns of Byzantine and Islamic silk, this study argues that - in specific contexts - ornament has meaning and serves functions that go beyond mere decoration. Reading so-called textile pages against the manuscript context in which they appear and bringing them together with metaphoric and exegetical notions of the veil, textile ornament emerges as a visual argument. The aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of an "iconology of the textile" in medieval art and illuminate the functions and meaning of non-figurative ornament.

In A Saving Science, Eric Ramírez-Weaver explores the significance of early medieval astronomy in the Frankish empire, using as his lens an astronomical masterpiece, the deluxe manuscript of the Handbook of 809, painted in roughly 830 for Bishop Drogo of Metz, one of Charlemagne’s sons. Created in an age in which careful study of the heavens served a liturgical purpose—to reckon Christian feast days and seasons accurately and thus reflect a “heavenly� order—the diagrams of celestial bodies in the Handbook of 809 are extraordinary signifiers of the intersection of Christian art and classical astronomy. Ramírez-Weaver shows how, by studying this lavishly painted and carefully executed manuscript, we gain a unique understanding of early medieval astronomy and its cultural significance. In a time when the Frankish church sought to renew society through education, the Handbook of 809 presented a model in which study aided the spiritual reform of the cleric’s soul, and, by extension, enabled the spiritual care of his community. An exciting new interpretation of Frankish painting, A Saving Science shows that constellations in books such as Drogo’s were not simple copies for posterity’s sake, but functional tools in the service of the rejuvenation of a creative Carolingian culture.

Reliquaries, one of the central art forms of the Middle Ages, have recently been the object of much interest among historians and artists. Until now, however, they have had no treatment in English that considers their history, origins, and place within religious practice, or, above all, their beauty and aesthetic value. In Strange Beauty, Cynthia Hahn treats issues that cut across the class of medieval reliquaries as a whole. She is particularly concerned with portable reliquaries that often contained tiny relic fragments, which purportedly allowed saints to actively exercise power in the world.

Above all, Hahn argues, reliquaries are a form of representation. They rarely simply depict what they contain; rather, they prepare the viewer for the appropriate reception of their precious contents and establish the "story" of the relics. They are based on forms originating in the Bible, especially the cross and the Ark of the Covenant, but find ways to renew the vision of such forms. They engage the viewer in many ways that are perhaps best described as persuasive or "rhetorical," and Hahn uses literary terminology--sign, metaphor, and simile--to discuss their operation. At the same time, they make use of unexpected shapes--the purse, the arm or foot, or disembodied heads--to create striking effects and emphatically suggest the presence of the saint.

English description: Heraldry is an important sub-field of the historical sciences. Coats of arms are a significant source of information, but their interpretation requires special skills. This second edition of Vaclav Filip's Introduction to Heraldry has been revised and expanded; particular emphasis is placed on the history of medieval heraldry "specialists," i.e., heralds and kings, and the inclusion of the Slavic language area. German text. German description: Die Heraldik ist ein wichtiges Arbeitsfeld der Historischen Hilfswissenschaften. Wappen bilden eine bedeutende Quellengattung, deren Interpretation jedoch spezielle Kenntnisse erfordert. Fuer die zweite Auflage hat Vaclav Filip seine Einfuehrung in die Heraldik ueberarbeitet und erweitert. Besonderes Augenmerk legt er auch auf die Geschichte der mittelalterlichen aHeraldiker, d.h. der Herolde und Wappenkonige, und auf die Einbeziehung des slavischen Sprachgebietes.

Dynamic Splendor introduces a cycle of sixth-century mosaics little known to scholars, though they are comparable in quality and interest to famed mosaics in Italy and elsewhere. Ann Terry and Henry Maguire provide the first comprehensive account of the history and meaning of the mosaics along with the first high-quality photographic documentation of the ensemble.

It has only recently been possible to study the mosaics at Poreč closely, due to favorable conditions in Croatian Istria, where the mosaics reside, and to the discovery of the original restoration documents in Vienna and Trieste. Terry and Maguire have tracked the condition and restoration of these works, distinguishing between the original mosaics and later contributions. Beyond creating an important archival source, the authors consider the making of the mosaics, their thematic structure, their relationship to the cathedral complex, and their connection to the patron, Bishop Eufrasius, while drawing parallels with other renowned works.

Co-published with the Philadelphia Museum of Art

When the Philadelphia lawyer John G. Johnson began to collect art in the late nineteenth century, he defied contemporary taste by acquiring Italian paintings from the early Renaissance. He eventually donated his distinguished collection to the City of Philadelphia, and it is now housed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Although there have been several catalogues of these paintings, including one by Bernhard Berenson in 1913, Carl Brandon Strehlke, Adjunct Curator of the Johnson Collection, has prepared the first complete scholarly examination. His discussion of such art historical questions as dating and attribution combines extensive archival research with information he gained through his technical study of the paintings with Mark S. Tucker, the Museum's Vice Chairman of Conservation and Senior Conservator of Paintings.

Strehlke's introduction sheds new light on Johnson's collecting and traces the history of the acquisition, conservation, and installation of the Philadelphia paintings. Subsequent chapters situate detailed discussions of the pictures within the context of richly detailed biographies. All the paintings are furnished with a full description; technical report; provenance; art historical commentary; discussion of related works; comparative illustrations; and bibliography.

This extensively illustrated book also provides an appendix of punch marks and a bibliography of some 2,500 entries.

Originally published in Czech in 2002 and now available in English, "Medieval Painting in Bohemia" assesses the history of painting in Bohemia and Moravia from the emergence of the Czech state in the late ninth century to the end of the rule of Ludwig Jagiello in 1526. Leading Czech art historian Jan Royt traces the developments in and preservation of mural and panel painting during this period, as well as illuminations and medieval iconography, and he also explores the various themes that inspired these pieces. The text is rounded out with more than eighty full-color illustrations, each supplied with a detailed caption. Original yet authoritative, "Medieval Painting in Bohemia" will be an indispensable guide for everyone curious to know more about this region, as well as students of art history seeking a definitive introduction.

Standing on Holy Ground in the Middle Ages illuminates how the floor surface shaped the ways in which people in medieval western Europe and beyond experienced sacred spaces. The ground beneath our feet plays a crucial, yet often overlooked, role in our relationship with the environments we inhabit and the spaces with which we interact. By focusing on this surface as a point of encounter, Lucy Donkin positions it within a series of vertically stacked layers-the earth itself, permanent and temporary floor coverings, and the bodies of the living above ground and the dead beneath-providing new perspectives on how sacred space was defined and decorated, including the veneration of holy footprints, consecration ceremonies, and the demarcation of certain places for particular activities. Using a wide array of visual and textual sources, Standing on Holy Ground in the Middle Ages also details ways in which interaction with this surface shaped people's identities, whether as individuals, office holders, or members of religious communities. Gestures such as trampling and prostration, the repeated employment of specific locations, and burial beneath particular people or actions used the surface to express likeness and difference. From pilgrimage sites in the Holy Land to cathedrals, abbeys, and local parish churches across the Latin West, Donkin frames the ground as a shared surface, both a feature of diverse, distant places and subject to a variety of uses over time-while also offering a model for understanding spatial relationships in other periods, regions, and contexts.

Chretien de Troyes was France's great medieval poet--inventor of the genre of courtly romance and popularizer of the Arthurian legend. The forty-four surviving manuscripts of his work (ten of them illuminated) pose a number of questions about who used these books and in what way. In "Sealed in Parchment," Sandra Hindman scrutinizes both text and images to reveal what the manuscripts can tell us about medieval society and politics.

Why does a society seek out images of violence? What can the consumption of violent imagery teach us about the history of violence and the ways in which it has been represented and understood? Assaf Pinkus considers these questions within the context of what he calls galleries of violence, the torment imagery that flourished in German-speaking regions during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Exploring these images and the visceral bodily responses that they produced in their viewers, Pinkus argues that the new visual discourse on violence was a watershed in premodern conceptualizations of selfhood. Images of martyrdom in late medieval Germany reveal a strikingly brutal parade of passion: severed heads, split skulls, mutilated organs, extracted fingernails and teeth, and myriad other torments. Stripped from their devotional context and presented simply as brutal acts, these portrayals assailed viewers’ bodies and minds so violently that they amounted to what Pinkus describes as “visual aggressions.� Addressing contemporary discourses on violence and cruelty, the aesthetics of violence, and the eroticism of the tortured body, Pinkus ties these galleries of violence to larger cultural concerns about the ethics of violence and bodily integrity in the conceptualization of early modern personhood. Innovative and convincing, this study heralds a fundamental shift in the scholarly conversation about premodern violence, moving from a focus on the imitatio Christi and the liturgy of punishment to the notion of violence as a moral problem in an ethical system. Scholars of medieval and early modern art, history, and literature will welcome and engage with Pinkus’s research for years to come.