Myth and Mystique: Cleveland’s Gothic Table Fountain (Cleveland Masterwork Series)

The Cleveland Museum of Art's medieval table fountain, c. 1320–40, is the only version of its kind to have survived in its complete form from the Middle Ages. A superb example of French Gothic goldsmithing, it is an exquisite metalwork structure and a unique example of courtly taste and princely fashion, which was designed not for any religious purpose but purely as an indulgence. Its uncertain provenance has added to its charm. This focus volume reassesses this extraordinary piece in the context of other similar luxury objects, analysing specifically the fountain's history, functionality, materials, and style.

Stephen N. Fliegel is curator of medieval art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. He received his degrees in art history from the University of Sheffield, England. He also holds an adjunct professorship in art history at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. He has published numerous scholarly articles, catalogs, and books on the subject of medieval art and has organized several international exhibitions on the subject.

Elina Gertsman is Associate Professor of Medieval Art in the Department of Art History and Art, Case Western Reserve University. Prof. Gertsman is the author of The Dance of Death in the Middle Ages: Image, Text, Performance (2010) and Worlds Within: Opening the Medieval Shrine Madonna (2015), and the editor of Visualizing Medieval Performance (2009), Crying in the Middle Ages (2011, 2013), Thresholds of Medieval Visual Culture (2012) and Animating Medieval Art (2015).