The Tree: Symbol, Allegory, and Mnemonic Device in Medieval Art and Thought

Pippa Salonius, Andrea Worm, Marie-Pierre Gelin, Marigold Anne Norbye, Annemieke R. Verboon, Susanne Wittekind, Ute Dercks, Barbara Baert, Liesbet Kusters, and Ulrike Ilg.

ISBN 10: 2503548393 / ISBN 13: 9782503548395

Published by Brepols, 2014

About this Item

2014 Brepols large format paperback edition. Light rading wear else very good condition.

Contents:

(1) Introduction by Pippa Salonius and Andrea Worm,
(2) Stirps Jesse in capite ecclesiae: Iconographic and Liturgical Readings of the Tree of Jesse in Stained-Glass Windows by Marie-Pierre Gelin,
(3) Arbor autem humanum genus significat: Trees of Genealogy and Sacred History in the Twelfth Century by Andrea Worm,
(4) Arbor genealogiae: Manifestations of the Tree in French Royal Genealogies by Marigold Anne Norbye,
(5) The Medieval Tree of Porphyry: An Organic Structure of Logic by Annemieke R. Verboon,
(6) Visualizing Salvation: The Role of Arboreal Imagery in the Speculum humanae salvationis (Kremsmunster, Library of the Convent, Cod. 243) by Susanne Wittekind,
(7) Two Trees in Paradise? A Case Study on the Iconography of the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life in Italian Romanesque Sculpture by Ute Dercks,
(8) The Tree as Narrative, Formal, and Allegorical Index in Representations of the Noli me tangere by Barbara Baert and Liesbet Kusters,
(9) Quasi lignum vitae: The Tree of Life as an Image of Mendicant Identity by Ulrike Ilg,
(10) Arbor Jesse - Lignum vitae: The Tree of Jesse, the Tree of Life, and the Mendicants in Late Medieval Orvieto by Pippa Salonius.

Seller Inventory # DC-1QDC-60WG

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Tree: Symbol, Allegory, and Mnemonic Device in Medieval Art and Thought
• Publisher: Brepols
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 2503548393
• ISBN 13: 9782503548395
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Medieval Studies

About this title

Synopsis

With its vital character - growing, flowering, extending its roots into the ground, and its branches and leaves to the sky - the tree is a polyvalent metaphor, a suggestive symbol, and an allegorical subject. During the Middle Ages, a number of iconographic schemata were based on the image and structure of the tree, including the Tree of Jesse and the Tree of Virtues and Vices. From the late eleventh century onwards such formulae were increasingly used as devices for organizing knowledge and representing theoretical concepts. Despite the abstraction inherent in these schemata, however, the semantic qualities of trees persist in their usage.

The analysis of different manifestations of trees in the Middle Ages is highly instructive for visual, intellectual, and cultural history. Essays in this volume concentrate on the formative period for arboreal imagery in the medieval West, that is, the eleventh to fifteenth centuries. Using a range of methodological strategies and examining material from different media, ranging from illuminated manuscripts to wall painting, stained glass windows, and monumental sculpture, the articles in this volume show how different arboreal structures were conceived, employed, and appropriated by their specific contexts, how they functioned in their original framework, and how they were perceived by their audience.

Review

"...an effective assessment of the state of research relating to medieval visual representations of trees. Researchers working on specific artworks or historical contexts discussed in The Tree will also want to consult the volume. More broadly, the book will interest scholars studying word/image relationships, the role of diagrams in structuring knowledge, and mnemonic practices." ----Kerry Paul Boeye, The Medieval Review