A01=Beth Williamson
Author_Beth Williamson
Avignon
Category=AFC
Category=AGA
Cultural history
Devotional resource
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Europe-wide implications
Iconographic meaning
Madonna of Humility
Manuscript illumination
Metz
Simone Martini
Virgin and Child
Visual arts
Product details
- ISBN 9781843834199
- Weight: 540g
- Dimensions: 172 x 244mm
- Publication Date: 19 Feb 2009
- Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Detailed analysis of an iconographic motif of huge significance in European art.
The image of the `Madonna of Humility', the Virgin and Child seated on the ground, is widespread in European art, yet it remains mysterious. This book provides a detailed and accessible investigation and explication of the theme'smultiple significances, and of other associated images (including the Virgin suckling the Child, the Woman of the Apocalypse and the Virgin Annunciate). It takes issue with the orthodox view of the origins of the image lying in the work of Simone Martini at Avignon, suggesting a longer process of development, with a key role for manuscript illumination in Metz. Subsequent chapters pursue the assimilation, appropriation, and adjustment of the image in a number of regions across Europe, challenging the simplistic idea of unequivocal iconographic meaning determined solely by the context of the image's genesis. The book argues for an essential fluidity and negotiability of meaning inthe visual arts, challenging the very idea of unitary and unequivocal iconographic readings; and its examination of the multi-layered functions of the image in different contexts and different regions provides not just an iconographical case-study, but a cultural history of a devotional resource with Europe-wide implications
Dr BETH WILLIAMSON teaches in the Department of Art History, University of Bristol.
Beth Williamson is Professor of Medieval Culture at the University of Bristol. She works on the religious culture of western Europe Christianity, with a focus on the forms and functions of religious imagery, and on religious belief and behaviour.
