Mosaics in the Medieval World: From Late Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century
Cambridge University Press, 10/5/2017
EAN 9781107011984, ISBN10: 1107011981
Hardcover, 650 pages, 28.4 x 22.4 x 3.3 cm
Language: English
In this book, Liz James offers a comprehensive history of wall mosaics produced in the European and Islamic middle ages. Taking into account a wide range of issues, including style and iconography, technique and material, and function and patronage, she examines mosaics within their historical context. She asks why the mosaic was such a popular medium and considers how mosaics work as historical 'documents' that tell us about attitudes and beliefs in the medieval world. The book is divided into two part. Part I explores the technical aspects of mosaics, including glass production, labour and materials, and costs. In Part II, James provides a chronological history of mosaics, charting the low and high points of mosaic art up until its abrupt end in the late middle ages. Written in a clear and engaging style, her book will serve as an essential resource for scholars and students of medieval mosaics.
Part I. Making Wall Mosaics
Introduction to Part I
1. Making glass tesserae
2. Making mosaics
3. The business of mosaics
4. The value of mosaics
Part II. Mosaics by Century
Introduction to Part II
5. In the beginning
wall mosaics in the fourth century
6. Types or prototypes? Mosaics in the fifth century
7. Emperors, kings, popes and bishops
mosaics in the sixth century
8. New beginnings? Islam, Byzantium and Rome
mosaics in the seventh and eighth centuries
9. Medium and message
ninth- and tenth-century mosaics
10. A universal language? Eleventh-century mosaics
11. Incorrigibly plural
mosaics in the twelfth century
12. Men and mosaics
the thirteenth century
13. Boom and bust
mosaics in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
Conclusion
Appendix of sites
Bibliography.