As far as is known, Theophilus's was the only treatise on almost all the major arts that was produced during the thousand years of the Middle Ages. In his preface he presents the philosophical attitudes to the visual arts of a thinking man of the time. In his main text, which he divides into three Books, he explains the contemporary techniques of making wall-paintings, manuscripts paintings, stained glass windows, ivory carvings, and various kinds of metalwork. The first references to oil painting and paper occur in the treatise, which also gives the earliest known instructions for making an organ. Theophilus's treatise has been of interest to scholars for some centuries. It was referred to by Cornelius Agrippa in the sixteenth century, and was the basis of an article by Lessing in the eighteenth. The original autograph manuscript has not survived, but the reconstruction of it by Professor Dodwell is now considered to provide its only definitive text: this comprehensive edition includes an English translation on facing pages and full introductory and textual commentary.

This book is concerned with the pictorial language of gesture revealed in Anglo-Saxon art, and its debt to classical Rome. The late Reginald Dodwell, an eminent art historian, notes a striking similarity of both form and meaning between Anglo-Saxon gestures and those in illustrated manuscripts of the plays of Terence, which, he argues, reflect actual Roman stage conventions. The extensively illustrated volume illuminates our understanding of the vigor of late Anglo-Saxon art and its ability to absorb and transpose continental influence.

This 1999 book is concerned with the pictorial language of gesture revealed in Anglo-Saxon art, and its debt to classical Rome. Reginald Dodwell was an eminent art historian and former Director of the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester. In this, his last book, he notes a striking similarity of both form and meaning between Anglo-Saxon gestures and those in illustrated manuscripts of the plays of Terence. He presents evidence for dating the archetype of the Terence manuscripts to the mid-third century, and argues persuasively that their gestures reflect actual stage conventions. He identifies a repertory of eighteen Terentian gestures whose meaning can be ascertained from the dramatic contexts in which they occur, and conducts a detailed examination of the use of the gestures in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. The book, which is extensively illustrated, illuminates our understanding of the vigour of late Anglo-Saxon art and its ability to absorb and transpose continental influence.

Medieval Canterbury, the centre of the English Church, was also the centre of England's greatest and most sustained achievement in art: the illumination of MSS. between AD 1000 and 1200. Originally published in 1954, this book is one of the most authoritative works on the subject. The author has considered the reader with an unspecialised interest in art, and he fluently relates his criticisms to the illustrations. 291 photographs are included. The narrative begins with the inception of the Anglo-Saxon impressionistic style at Canterbury; it traces the gradual development of Romanesque and Gothic and show the important effects of Norman, French and Byzantine influence. The author analyses the character and origin of Norman illumination, the problems of iconography and survivals of classical art. One of the bases of the study is a thorough knowledge of Canterbury scripts, which is most necessary for dating illuminations.