Reading Medieval Images : The Art Historian and the Object (ART HISTORY, ART THEORY, ART ANALYSIS). Questo articolo non è disponibile.Reading Medieval Images : The Art Historian and the Object (ART HISTORY, ART THEORY, ART ANALYSIS)

It is propitious to find art historians who are happy to define and defend their work, but this collection of eighteen essays does just that. With each contributor selecting a particular object or image, they elaborate on how art historians approach works of art, and discuss the methodology of visual analysis and informed interpretation. Jargon-free and approachable, the contributors select and describe a variety of subjects including a mosaic, Crucifixion image, a textile, portraits, an architectural drawing, choir reliefs, a sarcophagus, architectural and free-standing sculpture, both from the West, the Byzantine East and the Islamic world.

This unusual anthology focuses attention on art-historical practice. Each of the eighteen distinguished contributors--medievalists specializing in western European, Byzantine, and Islamic art--offers an interpretation of a single object, and in the process demonstrates how art historians go about describing, analyzing, and contextualizing works of art. The essays treat a broad range of artifacts in many media and together present a conspectus of current approaches to visual analysis, speaking to such crucial topics as medieval sign theory, visual rhetoric, replication, mimesis, and cultural interconnections within the medieval world. The volume will serve a wide audience, from specialists in the field to scholars in cognate disciplines to students interested in the craft of art history. Elizabeth L. Sears is Associate Professor of the History of Art, University of Michigan. Thelma K. Thomas is Associate Professor of the History of Art and Associate Curator of the Kelsey Museum, University of Michigan.