Experiencing Medieval Art
Across the nine thematic chapters of Experiencing Medieval Art, renowned art historian Herbert L. Kessler considers functional objects as well as paintings and sculptures; the circumstances, processes, and materials of production; the conflictual relationship between art objects and notions of an ineffable deity; the context surrounding medieval art; and questions of apprehension, aesthetics, and modern presentation. He also introduces the exciting discoveries and revelations that have revolutionized contemporary understanding of medieval art and identifies the vexing challenges that still remain. With 16 color plates and 81 images in all—including the stained glass of Chartres Cathedral, the mosaics of San Marco, and the Utrecht Psalter, as well as newly discovered works such as the frescoes in Rome’s aula gotica and a twelfth-century aquamanile in Hildesheim—Experiencing Medieval Art makes the complex history of medieval art accessible for students of art history and scholars of medieval history, theology, and literature. -- "Experiencing Medieval Art is an extensive revision and expansion of the author's Seeing Medieval Art, originally published in 2004. Renowned art historian Herbert L. Kessler considers often-strange objects and the materials of which they are made, circumstances of production, the conflictual relationship between art objects and notions of an ineffable deity, the context surrounding medieval art, the playfulness of art and the formal movements it engaged, as well as questions of apprehension, aesthetics, and modern presentation. Kessler introduces the exciting discoveries and revelations that have revolutionized the understanding of medieval art and identifies the vexing challenges that still remain. Examining such well-known monuments as the stained glass in Chartres cathedral, mosaics in San Marco Venice, and Utrecht Psalter, as well as newly discovered works--including the frescoes in Rome's "aula gotica" and a twelfth-century aquamanile in Hildesheim--Kessler makes the complex history of medieval art accessible for students of art history, teachers in the field, and scholars of medieval history, theology, and literature."--
