The Romanesque Sculpture Of Moissac

"This long-awaited volume, which includes much valuable material on Romanesque Art that has been unavailable for many years, will be of interest not only to students of the history of art or of medieval history and culture in general, but also to all readers concerned with the broadest problems of aesthetics, the history of ideas, and the sociology of art and religion. The first in a four-volume series of Meyer Schapiro's Selected Papers (future volumes will range from Modern Art to Early Christian and Byzantine art forms and will include papers on the Theory and Philosophy of Art), this publication embodies a number of Professor Schapiro's seminal studies of Romanesque sculptures, together with articles on manuscript art linked to those sculptures. Of particular relevance is the richly illustrated study of the sculptures of the cloister and portal in the French abbey of Moissac, which was one of the first approaches to those master works from an artistic point of view. This classic analysis is complemented by a consideration of Mozarabic and Romanesque styles in manuscript paintings and some sculptures from the Castilian abbey of Silos - a study of artistic innovation as an historical process in the context of changes in religious, social, and political life. Still another chapter treats the aesthetic response of individuals during the eleventh and twelfth centuries to Romanesque Art through a series of translated texts of that period which have an extraordinarily modern flavor. These papers are wide-ranging studies of many aspects of Romanesque Art: the forms, the expressive character, the content, the social roots, the historical moment and situation - all investigated in a searching but also imaginative way. Artistic structures are approached with the same objectivity as the documents and the archaeological data. With that graceful scholarship for which he is justly honored and admired, the author applies evidence from literature, religious texts, folklore, social and political history, epigraphy, and paleography in reconstructing and interpreting the contents of the works of art." --

Whilst most scholarship in the field concentrates on the very early development of the Romanesque style in Toulouse, Dr. Horste's approach brings a fresh perspective to bear on the subject through her new definitions of second and third generation Romanesque sculpture, dating to c.1120-70. Focusing on the sculpture of three decorated cloisters she discusses current arguments concerning the revival of monumental sculpture in the Romanesque period; she also explores the role of Toulouse as an artistically active medieval city, its part in the monastic reform movement, and its political ties with the French monarchy in the later twelfth century. Dr. Horste's own photographs form a major contribution to her book: she has travelled throughout south-western France photographing Romanesque sculpture in many locations. She also provides a new series of photographs of the Romanesque sculptures in the Musee des Augustins in Toulouse, taken during a major reinstallation of the collections between 1976 and 1981.

In art history, the term ‘Romanesque art’ distinguishes the period between the beginning of the 11th and the end of the 12th century. This era showed a great diversity of regional schools each with their own unique style. In architecture as well as in sculpture, Romanesque art is marked by raw forms. Through its rich iconography and captivating text, this work reclaims the importance of this art which is today often overshadowed by the later Gothic style.