Christopher Walter's study of the cult and iconography of Byzantine warrior saints - George, Demetrius, the two Theodores, and dozens more - is at once encyclopaedic and interpretative, and the first comprehensive study of the subject. The author delineates their origins and development as a distinctive category of saint, showing that in its definitive form this coincides with the apogee of the Byzantine empire in the 10th-11th centuries. He establishes a repertory, particularly of their commemorations in synaxaries and their representations in art, and describes their iconographical types and the functions ascribed to them once enrolled in the celestial army: support for the terrestrial army in its offensive campaigns, and a new protective role when the Byzantine Empire passed to the defensive. The survey highlights the lack of historicity among the Byzantines in their approach to the lives of these saints and their terrestrial careers. An epilogue briefly treats the analogous traditions in the cultures of neighbouring peoples. Walter draws attention to the development of an echelon of military saints, notably in church decoration, which provides the surest basis for defining their specificity; also to the way in which they were depicted, generally young, handsome and robust, and frequently 'twinned' in pairs, so calling attention to the importance of camaraderie among soldiers. At the same time, this work opens a new perspective on the military history of the Byzantine Empire. Its ideology of war consistently followed that of the Israelites; protected and favoured by divine intervention, there was no occasion to discuss the morality of a 'just war'. Consequently, when considering Byzantine methods of warfare, due attention should be given to the important role which they attributed to celestial help in their military campaigns.

The purpose of the project is to provide the most up-to-date survey on issues dealing with practical geometry and how it might have been applied in the design of medieval architecture. Chronologically, the topics cover a wide span - from early Medieval through Late Gothic. Geographically, the monuments under discussion range from Early Medieval Florence through Carolingian Germany, Crusader Cyprus, Romanesque France and Gothic England. The applications of both geometry and metrology are considered in this volume, often with illustrations generated by computer-assisted design (CAD) software. The project therefore offers recent scholarship in the field, as well as cutting-edge technology which helps propel the pursuit of such studies. To this end, the project is the first of its kind both in terms of its focus and its comprehensiveness. Such a project is sorely needed to introduce this highly specialized discipline to other historians of art, history, and science of the Middle Ages, as well as historians in most humanistic areas.

"The Alchemy of Paint" is a critique of the modern world, which Spike Bucklow sees as the product of seventeenth-century ideas about science. In modern times, we have divorced color from its origins, using it for commercial advantage. Spike Bucklow shows us how in medieval times, color had mystical significance far beyond the enjoyment of shade and hue.

Each chapter demonstrates the mindset of medieval Europe and is devoted to just one color, acknowledging its connections with life in the pre-modern world. Colors examined and explained in detail include a midnight blue called ultramarine, an opaque red called vermilion, a multitude of colors made from metals, a transparent red called dragonsblood, and, finally, gold.

Today, "scarlet" describes a color, but it was originally a type of cloth. Henry VI's wardrobe accounts from 1438 to 1489 show that his cheapest scarlet was 14.2s.6d. and that scarlets could fetch up to twice that price. In the fifteenth century, a mid-priced scarlet cost more than two thousand kilos of cheese or one thousand liters of wine. This expense accounts for the custom of giving important visitors the "red carpet treatment."

The book looks at how color was "read" in the Middle Ages and returns to materials to look at the hidden meaning of the artists' version of the philosopher's stone. The penultimate chapter considers why everyone has always loved gold.

Spike Bucklow is a conservation scientist working with oil paintings at the Hamilton Kerr Institute in Cambridge.

This volume deals with the formative period of Islamic art (to c. 950), and the different approaches to studying it. Individual essays deal with architecture, ceramics, coins, textiles, and manuscripts, as well as with such broad questions as the supposed prohibition of images, and the relationships between sacred and secular art. An introductory essay sets each work in context; it is complemented by a bibliography for further reading.

This book explores the range of images in Byzantine art known as donor portraits. It concentrates on the distinctive, supplicatory contact shown between ordinary, mortal figures and their holy, supernatural interlocutors. The topic is approached from a range of perspectives, including art history, theology, structuralist and post-structuralist anthropological theory, and contemporary symbol and metaphor theory. Rico Franses argues that the term 'donor portraits' is inappropriate for the category of images to which it conventionally refers and proposes an alternative title for the category, contact portraits. He contends that the most important feature of the scenes consists in the active role that they play within the belief systems of the supplicants. They are best conceived of not simply as passive expressions of stable, pre-existing ideas and concepts, but as dynamic proponents in a fraught, constantly shifting landscape. The book is important for all scholars and students of Byzantine art and religion.

Survey of the growth and development of the magnificent shrines which reached their apogee during the middle ages. The cult of saints is one of the most fascinating manifestations of medieval piety. It was intensely physical; saints were believed to be present in the bodily remains that they had left on earth. Medieval shrines were created inorder to protect these relics and yet to show off their spiritual worth, at the same time allowing pilgrims limited access to them. English Medieval Shrines traces the development of such structures, from the earliestcult activities at saintly tombs in the late Roman empire, through Merovingian Gaul and the Carolingian Empire, via Anglo-Saxon England, to the great shrines of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The greater part of the bookis a definitive exploration, on a basis that is at once thematic and chronological, of the major saints cults of medieval England, from the Norman Conquest to the Reformation. These include the famous cults of St Cuthbert, St Swithun, and St Thomas Becket - and lesser known figures such as St Eanswyth of Folkestone or St Ecgwine of Evesham. John Crook, an independent architectural historian, archaeological consultant, and photographer, is the foremost authority on English shrines. He has published numerous books and papers on the cult of saints.

This is a collection of eighteen papers presented at a conference that was held at the Hatfield Campus of the University of Hertfordshire with 122 members and guests from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Germany and Norway were present. The papers are on the research on various aspects of the art and architecture of the abbey, at St Albans and provides an ideal forum for bringing together many aspects of the abbey's history.

Very few poets except the authors of the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament have tried to write in any extended way about God. Even Dante confines his vision of Christ and the Trinity to a few passages at the end of Paradiso and most religious lyric poets concentrate more on their own attitudes and reactions to God, their prayer, longing, repentance, suffering or joy, than on the nature of God. Among English poems, three narratives, Piers Plowman, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained are exceptional in their extensive, explicit poetry about god and their direct concern with the mysteries of Biblical faith. This work looks at Piers Plowman, confronting not only the alterity of culture resulting from a lapse of almost 700 years, but also the more profound alterity of the subject matter.

First modern study devoted to one of the twelfth-century's most enigmatic, influential and fascinating figures. Henry of Blois (d. 1171) was a towering figure in twelfth-century England. Grandson of William the Conqueror and brother to King Stephen, he played a central role in shaping the course of the civil war that characterized his brother's reign. Bishop of Winchester and abbot of Glastonbury for more than four decades, Henry was one of the richest men in the kingdom, and effectively governed the English Church for a time as Papal Legate. Raised and tonsured at Cluny, he was an intimate friend of Peter the Venerable and later saved the great abbey from financial ruin. Towards the end of his life he presided, albeit reluctantly, over the trial of Thomas Becket. Henry was a remarkable man: an administrator of exceptional talent, a formidable ecclesiastical statesman, a bold and eloquent diplomat, and twelfth-century England's most prolific patron of the arts. In the first major book-length study of Henry to be published since 1932, nine scholars explore new perspectives on the most crucial aspects of his life and legacy. By bringing ecclesiastical and documentary historians together with archaeologists and historians of art, architecture, literature and ideas, this interdisciplinary collection will serve as a catalyst for renewed study of this fascinating man and the world in which he operated.

A collection of papers presented to the 1992 international British Archaeological Association conference in Chester. Presented in chronological order, the fourteen essays comprise Martin Henig's analysis of carved stonework from Roman Deva; Alan Thacker's study of the formation of the town and its parishes during the early medieval period; Simon Ward, Virginia Jansen, John Maddison and Christa Grossinger examine the architecture, fittings and restoration of the Cathedral and churches; Elizabeth Danbury, J Patrick Greene and Nigel Ramsay assess the life and dissolution of religious foundations; Roland B Harris looks at the origins of the famous Chester Rows and Sharon Cather, David Park and Robyn Pender discuss the recently rediscovered Henry III wall paintings at Chester Castle. A broad and illustrated guide to many aspects of Chester's long history.

This volume covers two closely related themes. Essays in the first section deal with the varieties of clerics and their hierarchical arrangements in the churches of western Europe in the early Middle Ages, the formative period in which the ordering of clerics in the Western Church evolved. The number and numbering of clerics was debated and then established, as was their status as minor and sacred orders. In one of several hitherto unpublished pieces in this collection the significance of the elevation of the subdeacon to a sacred order in the later 11th century is examined, together with its effect on the status of the highest grades of priest and bishop, often seen to be one in order but distinct in office. In the second section, visual depictions of clerics in early medieval manuscripts are shown to have reflected their hierarchical ordering, especially in their ordinations, in the vestments and symbols assigned them, and in their functioning at conciliar gatherings.

The abbey of Bury St. Edmund's was one of the richest and most powerful of the monasteries of medieval England. The Libert of the Eight and a Half Hundreds, over which the abbot exercised the authority of Sherriff, covered all west Suffolk and survived as a separate administrative district until the country reorganisation of 1974. As its centre was an even more privileged area, the town and suburbs of Bury St. Edmunds, which grew up to service the abbey's worldly needs and remained under the abbot's absolute control; today it survives as the prosperous borough of Bury St. Edmunds. The abbey church itself was larger than Durham cathedral and housed the shrine of St. Edmund, king and martyr, who had been killed by the Danes in 870 when they invaded East Anglia, and whose cult was the abbey's raison d'etre . In April 1994 the British Archaeological Association held a four day conference at Culford School, near Bury St. Edmunds, which was devoted to the study of the abbey and town. Most of the conference papers are printed in the preent Transactions, with the addition of three specially commissioned papers. They cover a wide range of subjects and break much new ground. There are papers on the abbey's architecture and on the layout of the medieval town, studies on St. Edmund's shrine, relics and cult, and on the abbey's administration and economic history, including papers on the mint, which the abbot administered, on the abbey's woodlands, and on its salterns in Lincolnshire. An especial feature of the volume are the papers on the abbey's manuscripts, comprising studies on their art, palaeography, and bindings, and on the monastic library. The volume ends with the catalogue prepared for the exhibitions held in Cambridge for delegates to the conference, of Bury manuscripts owned by a number of Cambridge colleges and by Cambridge University Library. In all, these transactions make an important contribution to the study of medieval Bury St. Edmunds and will no doubt stimulate further research.

The abbey of Bury St. Edmund's was one of the richest and most powerful of the monasteries of medieval England. The Libert of the Eight and a Half Hundreds, over which the abbot exercised the authority of Sherriff, covered all west Suffolk and survived as a separate administrative district until the country reorganisation of 1974. As its centre was an even more privileged area, the town and suburbs of Bury St. Edmunds, which grew up to service the abbey's worldly needs and remained under the abbot's absolute control; today it survives as the prosperous borough of Bury St. Edmunds. The abbey church itself was larger than Durham cathedral and housed the shrine of St. Edmund, king and martyr, who had been killed by the Danes in 870 when they invaded East Anglia, and whose cult was the abbey's raison d'etre . In April 1994 the British Archaeological Association held a four day conference at Culford School, near Bury St. Edmunds, which was devoted to the study of the abbey and town. Most of the conference papers are printed in the preent Transactions, with the addition of three specially commissioned papers. They cover a wide range of subjects and break much new ground. There are papers on the abbey's architecture and on the layout of the medieval town, studies on St. Edmund's shrine, relics and cult, and on the abbey's administration and economic history, including papers on the mint, which the abbot administered, on the abbey's woodlands, and on its salterns in Lincolnshire. An especial feature of the volume are the papers on the abbey's manuscripts, comprising studies on their art, palaeography, and bindings, and on the monastic library. The volume ends with the catalogue prepared for the exhibitions held in Cambridge for delegates to the conference, of Bury manuscripts owned by a number of Cambridge colleges and by Cambridge University Library. In all, these transactions make an important contribution to the study of medieval Bury St. Edmunds and will no doubt stimulate further research.

Perhaps because of the fact that modern Greece is, through the Orthodox Church, inextricably linked with the Byzantine heritage, the precise meaning of this heritage, in its various aspects, has hitherto been surprisingly little discussed by scholars. This collection of specially commissioned essays aims to present an overview of some of the different, and often conflicting, tendencies manifested by modern Greek attitudes to Byzantium since the late eighteenth-century Enlightenment. The aim is to show just how formative views of Byzantium have been for modern Greek life and letters: for historiography and imaginative literature, on the one hand, and on the other, for language, law, and the definition of a culture. All Greek has been translated, and the volume is aimed at Byzantinists and Neohellenists alike.

'Arnold Hausers Social History of Art - a very important and under-appreciated text.' - Whitney Davis, John Evans Professor of Art History, Northwestern University

'It is no exaggeration to say that more than any other work Hauser's four volumes inspired my interest in art history.' - Alan Wallach, Ralph H Wark Professor of Art History, College of William and Mary

'This work has great value in a contemporary context. I look forward to seeing what Jonathan has done with the introduction, but I cannot think of anyone better suited to the task.' - Johanna Drucker, Professor of Art History, Yale University

Hausers extraordinary energy and subtlety wave a brilliant synthesis of the interaction between the aesthetic and societal, giving us at one and the same time a wealth of artistic detail and a consistent and fully elaborated exposition of the social process. - Albert Boime, UCLA, author of The Social History of Modern Art, 1750-1989

The Book of Kells, dating from about 800, is a brilliantly decorated manuscript of the four Gospels. This new official guide, by the former Keeper of Manuscripts at Trinity College Library, Dublin, provides fascinating insights into the Book of Kells, revealing the astounding detail and richness of one of the greatest works of medieval art. The illustrations in the guide include reproductions of complete pages, and details that allow one to marvel at the intricacy of the decoration. The Book of Kells is explored through its historical background; its structure; its decorative elements, including the richness of its symbols and themes; the scribes and artists who worked on the manuscript; and the tools and pigments used in its creation.

Twenty papers, eleven of which were delivered at a British Archaeological Association congress in July 1995. Topics studied specific to Southwell Minster include the Romanesque East End; the Romanesque crossing capitals, the choir, and the chapter house. Additional papers examine features of other churches and abbeys of Nottinghamshire. Contributors include J McNeill, L Hoey, U Engel, M Thurlby, G Zarnecki and S Harrison.

Originally published between 1920-70, the aim of the general editor, C.K. Ogden, was to summarize the most up-to-date findings and theories of historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and sociologists. This reprinted material is available as a set or in the following groupings: "Prehistory and Historical Ethnography" set of 12: 0-415-15611-4 (u800); "Greek Civilization" set of 7: 0-415-15612-2 (u450); "Roman Civilization" set of 6: 0-415-15613-0 (u400); "Eastern Civilizations" set of 10: 0-415-15614-9 (u650); "Judaeo-Christian Civilization" set of 4: 0-415-15615-7: (u250); "European Civilization" set of 11: 0-415-15616-5 (u700).

Joanna Cannon's scholarship and teaching have helped shape the historical study of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Italian art; this essay collection by her former students is a tribute to her work. The essays collected here form a tribute to Joanna Cannon, whose scholarship and teaching have done so much to shape the historical study of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Italian art. Her teaching lies at the heart of this book, as its chapters are all written by those who gained their doctorates under her supervision. The reach of her interests and expertise is also reflected in its range of subjects. The book is unified by its concentration on Italian art, history, and material culture, spanning the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries; but within that scope the individual essays focus on an impressive variety of subjects, across many media, including panel painting, wall painting, architecture, sculpture, metalwork, manuscripts, and gilded glass. Ranging across Italy, from Bologna, to Siena, to Assisi, to Florence, they address key themes in the field, such as artistic patronage, sainthood and sanctity, the visual culture of the mendicant orders, devotional practice, and civic religion. Some essays bring fresh approaches to familiar material (Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Saint Nicholas panels, the frescoes in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico, Simone Martini's Holy Family), while others illuminate objects and images that are less well known (the central panel of the Santa Chiara triptych in Trieste, and the statue of Saint Francis in San Francesco in Siena). As a collection they combine to make an important contribution to the study of Early Italian art, seeking thereby to echo the extraordinary contribution of Joanna Cannon's own work to that field.

An examination of women as mothers in medieval French sculpture. What can medieval sculptural representations of women tell us about medieval women's experiences of motherhood? Presumably the work of male sculptors, working for clerical patrons, these sculptures are unlikely to have been shaped by women's maternal experiences during their production. Once produced, however, their beholders would have included women who were mothers and potential mothers, thus opening a space between the sculptures' intended meanings and other meanings liable to be produced by these women as they brought their own interests and concerns to these works of art. Building on theories of reception and response, this book focuses on interactions between women asbeholders and a range of sculptures made in France in the twelfth through sixteenth centuries, aiming to provide insight into women's experiences of motherhood; particular sculptures considered include the Annunciation and Visitation from Reims cathedral, the femme-aux-serpents from Moissac, the transi of Jeanne de Bourbon-Vendome, the Eve from Autun, and a number of French Gothic Virgin and Child sculptures. Marian Bleeke is Associate Professor of Art History and Chair of the Department of Art and Design at Cleveland State University.

This book traces the historic evolution of urban form, principles, and design; it serves as a compendium, or reference, of city design; and is a polemic about the necessity for the recovery of the city and a contemporary urban architecture. It begins with the planned cities of Greece and the Roman Empire from about 500 BC, through the late-medieval Bastides, the Ideal Renaissance cities, and Baroque new towns, to the urban planning strategies of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It covers anti-urban modernist architecture and the resulting disintegration of the city. It concludes with late-twentieth-century efforts to recover the city, a contemporary urban architecture, and urbanism's potential contribution to the contemporary ecological crisis. The book is project oriented and extensively illustrated. It may be read graphically, textually, or both. As such, it falls into the long tradition of illustrated treatises in which theory is embedded in the projects, with only occasional assistance or clarification from the text. Architecture and urban design are physical arts, not verbal arts, and they are best understood from graphic representations.