Text, Image, Message: Saints in Medieval Manuscript Illustrations (Contributions to the Study of Art and Architecture)

Ross provides a broad survey of pictures and texts concerning saints, from the Early Christian through the late Gothic period. Both Western and Byzantine material is included. Beginning with the earliest pictures of and stories about saints, the book traces the evolution of hagiographic imagery primarily in manuscript contexts. Because of its cross-disciplinary nature, it will be of interest to audiences interested in Early Christian, Byzantine, and Western medieval culture: religion, society, politics, and art. No other book to date is organized similarly in providing detailed descriptions for the identification of medieval manuscripts with hagiographic texts and illustrations.

LESLIE ROSS is currently Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Art History at Dominican College of San Rafael. She is the author of the article on Saints' Lives in the forthcoming Macmillan Dictionary of Art and the chapter Reading Medieval Art in The Thread of Ariadne (1989).