Fresh examinations of one of the most important church furnishings of the middle ages. The churches of medieval Europe contained richly carved and painted screens, placed between the altar and the congregation; they survive in particularly high numbers in England, despite being partly dismantled during the Reformation. While these screens divided "lay" from "priestly" jurisdiction, it has also been argued that they served to unify architectural space. This volume brings together the latest scholarship on the subject , exploring in detail numerous aspects of the construction and painting of screens, it aims in particular to unite perspectives from science and art history. Examples are drawn from a wide geographical range, from Scandinavia to Italy.

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.