Book Description
Sometimes enjoying more favor, sometimes less, iconography has been an essential element in medieval art historical studies since the beginning of the discipline. Some of the greatest art historians-including Male, Warburg, Panofsky, Morey, and Schapiro-have devoted their lives to understanding and structuring what exactly the subject matter of a work of medieval art can tell us about it. The last thirty years or so in scholarship have seen the term broadened in its meaning and methodologies. This companion provides a state-of-the-art assessment of the influence of the foremost iconographers, as well as the methodologies employed and themes that underpin the discipline. Volume 1 focuses on influential thinkers on the topic, and methodologies; volume 2 looks at individual themes. Taken together, the two volumes of the companion include approximately forty chapters, each of which deals with one topic. There is also an introduction, historiographical evaluation and bibliography. Every author is a recognized expert in the field, and each essay includes original analyses and/or case studies.