Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Madonna of Humility: Development, Dissemination and Reception, C.1340-1400

The Madonna of Humility: Development, Dissemination and Reception, C.1340-1400

Williamson, Beth

Hardcover

Series: Bristol Studies in Medieval Cultures, Book 1

Art HistoryGeneral ArchitectureGeneral Christianity

ISBN10: 1843834197
ISBN13: 9781843834199
Publisher: Boydell Press
Published: Feb 19 2009
Pages: 212
Weight: 1.50
Height: 0.80 Width: 6.80 Depth: 9.70
Language: English
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.

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