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Books > Arts & Architecture > History of art / art & design styles > 500 CE to 1400
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Corpus of Medieval Misericords. Iberia (Hardcover)
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Corpus of Medieval Misericords. Iberia (Hardcover)
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The Corpus of Medieval Misericords (XIII-XXVI) consists of five
volumes; the first four focus on the misericords and related choir
stall carvings in specific regions of Europe. The fifth includes an
extensive iconographic index of themes common to various countries
as well as themes that are unique to a single country. Volume I of
this series, Medieval Misericords in France, covers approximately
300 churches that still contain gothic misericords with carved
figures and narratives inspired by oral traditions suh as proverbs
and folk tales, as well as by manuscript marginalia, romanesque
capitals, illustrated bibles, engravings, playing cards... A vast
portrayal of medieval life - rural activities, urban occupations,
conjugal relationships, monastic life -- is displayed in these
carvings under the seats of choir stalls along with costumes of the
times, town and collegiate architecture, mechanical devices. Puns
and rebuses are often intertwined with these themes to produce
comic and, to twenty-first century eyes, mysterious puzzles. The
global view of misericord carvings, generally ignored in studies of
medieval art, is here presented as a multidisciplinary basis for
further research by sociologists, historians, archeologists and
other medieval scholars. Following volumes include misericords in
Iberia, Flemish and borthen Europe, Great Britain. This volume
examines the medieval choir stalls, especially their misericords,
in the Iberian Peninsula: Portugal and Spain, most of which are
extraordinarily beautiful. Fourteen churches in Spain and two in
Portugal still have sets of Gothic choir stalls. These sixteen
cathedrals, churches and monasteries compare with over two hundred
churches with medieval choir stalls in France. The Iberian choir
stalls are mainly the original sets for that church. Those at
Belmonte, however, were moved from Cuenca but they were the
original set at Cuenca where they were replaced by Baroque stalls.
The set that was destroyed at Tomar has also not been replaced with
Gothic stalls. It should also be noted that while fewer churches
are surveyed in this second volume, the percentage of narrative
carvings is higher in Spain than in France where many of the early
carvings are foliate. 750 misericords with narrative motifs have
been identified on the Iberian stalls as compared with over one
thousand in France. Such comparisons indicate the richness of the
Iberian stalls, which have over twice as many narrative carvings
per ensemble as the French stalls. This profusion of carvings
necessitates a rather lengthy iconographic index in this volume.
Most of the motifs on stalls in north and central Europe are
repeated on the Iberian stalls. There are, however, fewer examples
of some themes and more of others. It is rare in Iberia to find a
carving of a New Testament scene. No set is concerned totally with
the Old Testament as at Amiens and the former set at St Victor of
Paris. However, Aristotle still carries Phyllis on his back, the
fox preaches to the barnyard animals, the mermaid carries her
mirror and comb and the peasant carries his sack to ease the burden
on the donkey. The proverbs in Spain and Portugal are mainly
Flemish with some additional local sayings. We see more of Hercules
in Iberia and more illness. In addition to carved misericords in
Iberia, sculptures adorn the arms, dorsal panels, canopies, and
partitions between the seats, arm-rests and other structural
components. Some of these elements, such as canopies on the base
stalls and canopy dividers (roundels or teardrop-shaped projections
at the junction of the canopy with the dorsal panel on both base
and high stalls) do not even exist on the choir stalls of other
countries. Arm-rests in Iberia are usually elaborate and complement
the motifs on the misericords. The profane carvings on these parts
of the stalls are listed briefly in this volume since they are
usually directly related to the misericord motifs. The battling
couple may be seen not only on misericords but also on arm-rests,
jouee panels, dorsal friezes and interdorsal roundels. The fable of
The Fox and the Stork is repeated no less than four times on
different parts of the Oviedo choir stalls. The men who carry the
riches from the Promised Land on a Toledo misericord, show their
fatigue by dropping their burden on a capping rail frieze. A
mermaid swims on a misericord but attacking monsters surround her
on a dorsal frieze. The repetition of profane carvings is unusual
on choir stalls in other countries. At Hoogstraten in Belgium,
however, a man gapes before the oven on a misericord and also on an
arm-rest. "Blocks Corpus ist ebenso relevant fur die
Theologiegeschichte, die Volkskunde oder die Motivforschung in der
Buchmalerei wie fur die Kunstgeschichte mittelalterlicher
Skulptur." (S. Wartena in Sehepunkte, 5 (2005), nr. 12, 15.12.2005)
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