Medieval Artistry And Exchange

Featuring eight innovative studies by prominent scholars of medieval art and architecture, this special issue of Medieval Encounters examines the specific means by which art and architectural forms, techniques, and ideas were transmitted throughout the medieval world (ca. 1000-1500). While focusing on the Mediterranean region, the collection also includes essays that expand this geographic zone into a cultural and artistic one by demonstrating contact with near and distant neighbors, thereby allowing an expanded understanding of the interconnectedness of the medieval world. The studies are united by a focus on the specific mechanisms that enabled artistic and architectural interaction, as well as the individuals who facilitated these transmissions. Authors also consider the effects and collaboration of portable and monumental arts in the creation of intercultural artistic traditions. Contributors are: Justine Andrews, Maria Georgopoulou, Ludovico Geymonat, Heather E. Grossman, Eva Hoffman, Melanie Michailidis, Renata Holod, Scott Redford and Alicia Walker.

"This volume explores one of the most creative periods in Central European history. At its core is the medieval city of Prague, which became the seat of the Luxembourg dynasty in the 14th century and was fashioned as the political and cultural capital of the Holy Roman Empire. That dramatic change in the fortunes of Prague and Bohemia - from Romanesque roots to Late Gothic heyday and the religious uncertainties of the Hussite era - is examined through fifteen essays written by scholars from Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and the USA. An important place is given to the re-evaluation of Czech medieval heritage in the 19th century, much of it shaped by Josef Mocker's tireless and often controversial campaign to restore and document Gothic monuments. The volume offers important new insights into key buildings such as Prague Cathedral and Karlstein Castle. By bringing together their expertise in architecture, archaeology, painting, stained glass, manuscript illumination, textiles, sigillography and epigraphy, the authors also present a rich and complex picture of connections and influences stretching across the region from the small town of Kosice in the east, to major centres such as Vienna, Cracow and Nuremberg, as far as the royal seats of Paris and London at the western extremities of Europe. Much of that vibrant cultural exchange took place in the climate of economic prosperity that attracted itinerant artists and supported prolific workshops, but some of the most astonishing examples of it came about amidst intense dynastic rivalry and religious strife. This collection is also a lasting record of the British Archaeological Association's conference held in Prague in 2006, the first such meeting east of the Rhine in its long and distinguished history." --Book Jacket.

Medieval Artistry and Exchange presents a fascinating and wide-ranging exploration of the economic, social, and political context of Medieval French epic, romance, and the Roman de la Rose. It examines the emergence of vernacular literature in medieval France in relationship to an unprecedented commercial revival which profoundly reshaped society. This work, which builds on literary, historical, anthropological, and linguistic studies, offers valuable insights concerning the way that literary texts and social context are both mutually informing as well as mutually reflective of the tensions inherent in the moment of ideological evolution they mark.

Demonstrating that similarities between Jewish and Christian art in the Middle Ages were more than coincidental, Cultural Exchange meticulously combines a wide range of sources to show how Jews and Christians exchanged artistic and material culture. Joseph Shatzmiller focuses on communities in northern Europe, Iberia, and other Mediterranean societies where Jews and Christians coexisted for centuries, and he synthesizes the most current research to describe the daily encounters that enabled both societies to appreciate common artistic values. Detailing the transmission of cultural sensibilities in the medieval money market and the world of Jewish money lenders, this book examines objects pawned by peasants and humble citizens, sacred relics exchanged by the clergy as security for loans, and aesthetic goods given up by the Christian well-to-do who required financial assistance. The work also explores frescoes and decorations likely painted by non-Jews in medieval and early modern Jewish homes located in Germanic lands, and the ways in which Jews hired Christian artists and craftsmen to decorate Hebrew prayer books and create liturgical objects. Conversely, Christians frequently hired Jewish craftsmen to produce liturgical objects used in Christian churches. With rich archival documentation, Cultural Exchange sheds light on the social and economic history of the creation of Jewish and Christian art, and expands the general understanding of cultural exchange in brand-new ways.

Issued in conjunction with the exhibition Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time, held January 26, 2019-July 21, 2019, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

In this visually rich volume, Mariah Proctor-Tiffany reconstructs the art collection and material culture of the fourteenth-century French queen Clémence de Hongrie, illuminating the way the royal widow gave objects as part of a deliberate strategy to create a lasting legacy for herself and her family in medieval Paris. After the sudden death of her husband, King Louis X, and the loss of her promised income, young Clémence fought for her high social status by harnessing the visual power of possessions, displaying them, and offering her luxurious objects as gifts. Clémence adeptly performed the role of queen, making a powerful argument for her place at court and her income as she adorned her body, the altars of her chapels, and her dining tables with sculptures, paintings, extravagant textiles, manuscripts, and jewelry—the exclusive accoutrements of royalty. Proctor-Tiffany analyzes the queen’s collection, maps the geographic trajectories of her gifts of art, and interprets Clémence’s generosity using anthropological theories of exchange and gift giving. Engaging with the art inventory of a medieval French woman, this lavishly illustrated microhistory sheds light on the material and social culture of the late Middle Ages. Scholars and students of medieval art, women’s studies, digital mapping, and the anthropology of ritual and gift giving especially will welcome Proctor-Tiffany’s meticulous research.

This volume explores the late medieval and early modern periods from the perspective of objects. While the agency of things has been studied in anthropology and archaeology, it is an innovative approach for art historical investigations. Each contributor takes as a point of departure active things: objects that were collected, exchanged, held in hand, carried on a body, assembled, cared for or pawned. Through a series of case studies set in various geographic locations, this volume examines a rich variety of systems throughout Europe and beyond. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315401867, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license