• Maryan W. Ainsworth, Stijn Alsteens, and Nadine M. Orenstein, Man, Myth, and Sensual Pleasures: Jan Gossart’s Renaissance; the Complete Works (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, in association with Yale University Press, 2010)

• Suzanne Glover Lindsay, Daphne S. Barbour, and Shelley G. Sturman, Edgar Degas Sculpture (Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2010)

• Elizabeth Morrison and Anne D. Hedeman, Imagining the Past in France: History in Manuscript Painting, 1250–1500 (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2010)

First up: Imagining the Past in France. If you are feeling sentimental about the fate of the book, in this age of bookstore bankruptcies, digital competition, and limited attention-spans, then take heart. This catalogue will whisk you to an era when the book mattered greatly to its public and received the attentions of top artists. In her introductory essay, Morrison paints a touching portrait of those craftsmen, who struggled to adapt the religious illuminated manuscript to the secular topics increasingly prized by their customers. At first, they amusingly tried to cram complex narratives into drop-caps (“historiated initials”). This had worked with well-known Bible scenes, which can indicated synecdochally, but good luck with the War between Antiochus and Ptolemy.

Four excellent thematic essays follow Morrison’s, then a long series of detailed object entries. I most enjoyed Gabrielle M. Spiegel’s essay, which asks why the aristocratic public demanded secular histories in this moment. She identifies various ideological ends to which history was put, but also finds ways in which books slipped out from underneath and even subverted those ends:

The French aristocracy, no longer able to impose its needs and concerns in the governance of the realm, contributed to the dominant ideology itw own defeated discourse, achieving on a literary level the success that eluded it on the political … It is, perhaps, one of the finer ironies in the history of medieval historiography that the original quest involved in the French aristocracy’s romancing of the past should issue, ultimately, not in an idyll of a lost age but in a new vision of the French nation.

The catalogue is copiously illustrated in color, but the image quality being only average, its greatest strength is its prose, which breaks scholarly ground and addresses the general reader. It is particularly strong on the issue of word-image interaction, which seems increasingly relevant in our age that mixes the two so promiscuously, on- and offline.

[See also this review (pdf) by Mark Cruse, and critic Christopher Knight's review of the exhibition.]

Architecture’s status as the most inherently public of all art forms placed the patron of a private residence in a potentially precarious moral realm. [A] residence misconstrued as an overt visual manifestation of individual accomplishment provided a tangible contradiction to Venice’s ethos of mediocritas … Classical literature provided some guidance for patrons, most notably Aristotle’s views of magnificence … The philosopher deemed the expenditure of wealth on material goods, including residential architecture, as both the right and responsibility of the prince … [S]ince the architecture of magnificence benefited the entire community, its patronage was both justifiable and laudable. This concept quickly expanded beyond the princely realm to include all individuals.

Tackling an earlier chapter in Venice’s history of art- and myth-making is the recent essay collection San Marco, Byzantium, and the Myths of Venice edited by Henry Maguire and Robert S. Nelson, which focuses on the complex early history of the church of San Marco, whose elements accreted over time, experienced numerous changes in meaning, and incorporated diverse influences from all over. As essayist Fabio Barry notes, “From the moment, in 828, that Venice abducted the remains of the apostle Mark from Alexandria, the construction and adornment of San Marco became an exercise in authentication by appropriation.”

A third volume, Lost Girls: Sex and Death in Renaissance Florence, by Nicholas Terpstra, doesn’t directly concern visual art, but provides fascinating insights into daily life in the Renaissance, particularly into the fates of the impoverished girls and women who rarely make an appearance in official histories. The book revolves around a gripping mystery (still unsolved): in 1555, a shelter for orphaned and abandoned teenage girls saw over half its charges die in that one year, of unknown causes. It incorporates all manner of fascinating and horrifying period documents, including one detailing the 1584 conscription of a Florentine virgin to be deflowered by Vincenzo Gonzaga, a test intended to prove his manhood and thus his suitability as a fiancé to Eleonora Medici. The act was certified by nobleman Belisario Vinto who went so far as to “put his hand between her private parts and that of the Prince.” Sometimes, apparently, seeing isn’t believing.

For Leon Battista Alberti, a portrait served as, in effect, the starting point for the history of art; he invoked the Ovidian tale of Narcissus to locate the moment of origins of the human practice of painting … In the twentieth century, several art historians proposed that another image played a similar originating role in the history of art … Louis Gillet proclaimed that “[i]t is very noteworthy that French painting begins with a portrait [the mid-fourteenth century Jehan roy de France" ... [The work's caption at the Louvre] informs the viewer that the work constitutes “the first surviving example since Antiquity of an independent painted portrait” … [This assumes] that it is a physiognomic likeness of its subject; that physiognomic likeness is necessary for the representation of individual identity; that, as a physiognomic likeness devoid of overt religious references, the panel constitutes an example of portraiture in the modern sense; that its medium marks it as modern, rather than a medieval, work of art; and that, as a portrait, it marks a decisive break with medieval artistic traditions … But there are problems with each of these assumptions … As we will see, artists introduced physiognomic likeness … into images at the end of the fourteenth century … to endow images with what contemporary sources on gift-giving describe as “estrangeté”–striking visual qualities … At the same time, they did not eschew traditional methods of establishing resemblance between image and subject; indeed, written sources betray a fear that physiognomic likeness alone was insufficient to allow an image to represent an individual. And perhaps it is here, in these gnawing anxieties over the sufficiency of the representation of the self, that present-day readers may find the most compelling parallels to their own lived experience.

Gerry writes:

Perkinson’s argument is based on evidence drawn from such a wide array of sources, including visual arts produced in a variety of media, and literary, scientific, historical, theological, and political texts, that there is little room to wonder if any (surviving) voices have gone unheard. His examination of textual sources is strengthened by careful attention to how language is being used by the authors, and he relates shifts in the use of certain words to changes in the understanding of art and artistic practice. Perkinson’s careful and detailed analyses of works of art is to be commended, as is his thoughtful assessment of what evidence these works can and cannot provide.

In the July 2010 issue of Metascience Ellen M. Shortell writes:

Studies in medieval religion, science, literature, and art, particularly in the past two decades, have focused a great deal of attention on the role of vision in later medieval thought. It is clear that by the year 1200, Richard of St. Victor’s “simple perception of matter” was no longer simple, but was recognised by many as a means to the understanding of profound truths … Recent scholarship on Gothic art and architecture has in fact been interested in related themes—the interrelationship of architectural space, colour, light, and figural imagery; the viewer’s experience of religious buildings; the visual and material properties of medieval art and their relationship to spirituality. Where most studies that aim for an integration of media have focused on specific sites, however, Recht casts his eye more broadly on the phenomenon of Gothic … [T]he book reads more as a wide-ranging compendium of observations gleaned over the course of a distinguished career than as the sustained, in-depth thesis on visual culture that the title suggests …

Recht is convincing when he argues that architects and other artists must have been conscious of the effects of their invention. He suggests that master masons began to invent new forms to fulfill their clerical patrons’ requests, thus gaining greater respect and developing a new sense of their own powers; the Gothic cathedrals could not have come into being without a community of artists who communicated with one another and began to see themselves in a new light. These ideas are extended to sculptors and painters of the fourteenth and, especially, fifteenth centuries in the final chapters of the book.

In the preface to the French edition, the author expressed the wish that this book be seen as a contribution to the history of ideas as much as to the history of visual art, and that colleagues recognise the value of cross-disciplinary approaches. The scope of the undertaking is ambitious, and observations from the well-trained eye of a distinguished scholar are often tantalizing.

In Times Higher Education, Caroline Bruzelius writes:

This book … is an ambitious, broad-ranging study of the role and function of the image within the medieval church … [Recht] brings together two subjects that are usually studied separately, architecture and sacred images, and he proposes that the latter cannot be understood or experienced without the former, in both spatial and liturgical terms … The second part of the volume focuses on the modes of viewing religious images in relation to the “theatre” of the Mass and as active forces in lay piety. Here there are many important insights, not least of which is the enhanced sacralisation of liturgical space after the promulgation of the doctrine of transubstantiation – that is to say, the real presence of Christ at the altar during the Elevation of the Host … Recht’s analysis of sacred images as mnemonic devices that engage vision as an active force in a spiritual journey is deeply compelling, and he presents new and powerful interpretations of how sacred space conditioned and participated in a larger system of signification of the image … No one knows better than Recht that church spaces were not the open spaces we see today, but instead partitioned into distinct zones, access to which was conditioned by gender, lay or clerical status, or other systems of separation and power … Visual access to the sacred may have been as much an instrument of power and authority as a communally shared experience.

In The Medieval Review, Charlotte A. Stanford lauds “this translation of a complex study by a noted European art historian”:

[Recht] employed his keen eye and pen in mingling historiography and analysis to explore the phenomenon of Gothic throughout Europe … One of Recht’s greatest strengths as a scholar in this study is his own connoisseur’s eye, especially as he discusses the manipulation of architectural space. These sections are heavy with specialized, but necessary terminology. A case in point is his discussion of the torus moldings on the arch openings of each level of the nave of Sens cathedral, required for explaining how the rich juxtaposition of light and shadow was formed at Sens … In keeping with the title, however, the book’s main thrust is to examine the cathedral as a mingled system of seeing and belief … This system revolves, Recht argues, around an increasing desire to provide eyewitness proof of the miraculous through depictions of the lives of saints and the mystery of the Host … [Cathedrals] paved the way for the development of illusionistic space in Quattrocento painting [he argues]. This concluding claim is bold and thought provoking … Nevertheless, Recht’s book must be treated with caution: it is not a general introduction either to cathedrals or ways of seeing … [It] is ultimately, despite its weaknesses, an intriguing study of Gothic accompanied by investigation of many critical questions in the discipline, written by an observant and thoughtful scholar and now made easily accessible to the English-speaking world.

In the Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Paul Binski writes:

Recht’s study can now be seen as part of a trend towards the study of visuality which emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, and which entailed a broader enquiry into the hierarchy of the senses and epistemology. As an hypothesis about actual historical change it raises several questions … The strength of Recht’s book is its practical engagement with art and architecture especially. It has useful, if rather distended, opening sections on the history of the modern reception and interpretation of Gothic cathedrals.

• Sarah Williams Goldhagen reviews ?ur?i? and Hadjitryphonos, Architecture as Icon: Perception and Representation of Architecture in Byzantine Art in The New Republic (exhibition and catalog)
• “The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley 5,000-3,500 B.C.” at the Ashmolean Museum, reviewed by Neal Ascherson (LRB), and noted by Jonathan Jones (Guardian) and Paul Levy (WSJ); previously at NYU and reviewed by John Noble Wilford (NYT)
• Mark Brown, “National Portrait Gallery shines light on forgotten artist Thomas Lawrence,” The Guardian
• Blake Gopnik, “At National Gallery, Edvard Munch’s ‘Prints’ reveal artist’s methodical process,” Washington Post
• Jed Perl, “Individualism: Getting Matisse weirdly wrong, and getting Renoir weirdly right,” The New Republic ($)

When the morning sun reaches across the Arno and hits the varied ochre tones, the whole bridge glows as one in the hazeless Florentine light. Visually, distinct elements weave together like immutable strands— genius, commerce and tyranny, to name three big ones—of the Florentine character.

What appeals to me about this project is 1) seriality as a way of clarifying the logic of a type, and promoting comparative judgments, and 2) the dramatic flattening of the vaults into the photographic frame, in eliminating an entire dimension of information (i.e. verticality), focuses attention on just the secondary details that are unique to each building.

It would be interesting to compare these images with an aerial survey of the same structures. From the ordinary, human’s-eye view, they are quite familiar; the camera eye brings out their striking strangeness.

The journal’s inaugural issue is entitled “Triangulating Our Vision: Madeline Caviness’s Approach to Medieval Art” … Caviness is known for her meticulous, award-winning work on medieval stained glass, and also for her employment of critical theory—particularly feminist and queer theory—to medieval objects. Always erudite, always imaginative, always thought-provoking, and frequently hilarious, Caviness’s theoretical work is widely read; it has, it must be said, garnered some criticism. Her work, like that of the much missed Michael Camille, makes startling juxtapositions that knit together the past and present in unexpected ways. It is playful. It is risky. It is subversive. And it drives some people crazy …

The benefits and practical applicability of Caviness’s model are evident in all of the contributions to this intriguing collection. They engage, question, correct, and destabilize accepted notions about major monuments and concepts in medieval art history today; as such they are ideal reading for undergraduate and graduate courses as well as for discussion among specialists …

Different Visions is most welcome, as it demonstrates the expertise, vitality, and commitment of emerging and established scholars concerned with discovering how the quintessentially human activities of art making and viewing structure human subjectivity and social systems. Introductory material with a certain conversational quality prefaces strong, peer-reviewed, syllabus-worthy chapters. Each section is generously illustrated with color pictures and converts instantly into a handsomely designed PDF file. Schleif, Dressler, and the editorial board at Different Visions are to be congratulated for their innovative initiative of “triangulating” the desirable aspects of scholarly conferences, academic publishing, and electronic media in a way that is both energizing and inspiring.

MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE EXHIBITIONS IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA, SUMMER 2009

An incomplete list, compiled by Nick Herman [Ph.D. Candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University]

Belgium

Charles the Bold
Groeninge Museum, Bruges, 27 March-21 July

Canada

From Raphael to Caracci: The Art of Papal Rome
Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, 29 May-7 September, 2009

Paolo Veronese and the Petrobelli Altarpiece
Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, 29 May-7 September, 2009

England

Henry VIII: Man and Monarch
London, The British Library, London, April 23-September 6, 2009.

France

L’héritage artistique de Simone Martini / XIVe – XVe siècles
Avignon, Musée du Petit Palais, 20 June-31 October, 2009

Fabriquer la beauté: cosmétiques et soins du corps à la Renaissance
Écouen, Musée National de la Renaissance, 20 May-21 September, 2009

Filippo et Filippino Lippi: la renaissance à Prato
Paris, Musée du Luxembourg, 25 March-2 August, 2009

Les Primitifs italiens – Splendeurs du Musée d’Altenbourg
Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, 11 March-21 June, 2009

Les premiers retables (XIIe-début du XVe siècle) – Une mise en scène du sacré
Paris, Musée du Louvre, April 10-July 6, 2009

Domenico Beccafumi (1486-1551) (Dessins)
Paris, Musée du Louvre, 25 June-2 November, 2009

Mantegna, le prédelle de San Zeno de vérone 1457-1459
Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 4 April-22 June, 2009

Le beau XVIe siècle, chefs d’œuvre de la sculpture en Champagne
Troyes, Église Saint-Jean-au-marché

Les trésors des icônes bulgares
Vincennes, Château, 13 May-30 August, 2009

Germany

The Master of Flémalle and Rogier van der Weyden
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie, 20 March-21 June, 2009

Michelangelo. Zeichnungen und Zuschreibungen
Frankfurt, Städelmuseum, 6 March-7 June, 2009

Fokus auf Andrea Mantegna: Der Evangelist Markus, um 1450
Frankfurt, Städelmuseum, 9 April-6 September, 2009

Italy

Benedetto da Maiano a San Gimignano, La Riscoperta di un Crocifisso
San Gimignano, Museo del Conservatorio di Santa Chiara, to 21 June, 2009

Pietro Candido, un Pittore del Cinquecento tra Volterra e Monaco
Volterra, Palazzo dei Priori, 31 May-8 November, 2009

Giotto e il trecento
Rome, Complesso Vittoriano, 6 March-29 June, 2009

Fra Angelico
Rome, Musei Capitolini, 8 April-5 July, 2009

Raffaello e Urbino
Urbino, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, 14 April-12 July, 2009

I della Robbia: Il dialogo tra le Arti nel Rinascimento
Arezzo, Museo Statale d’Arte Medievale e Moderno, 21 February-7 June, 2009

The Netherlands

Masterly Manuscripts. The Middle Ages in gold and ink
Utrecht, Catharijneconvent,16 May-23 August 2009

Scorel’s Glory:
How a Utrecht-based painter brought the Renaissance to the North
Utrecht, Centraalmuseum, 20 March-28 June, 2009

Russia

The Blue and the Gold of Limoges. The Enamels of the XII – XIV Centuries
Saint-Petersburg, Hermitage Museum, 19 June-20 September, 2009

United States

Prayers in Code: Books of Hours and artistic patronage at the court of King Francis I (1494-1547)
Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, 25 April-19 July, 2009

Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 15 March-16 August, 2009

Art and Love in Renaissance Italy
Forth Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, 15 March-14 June, 2009

Temptation and Salvation: The Psalms of King David
Los Angeles, Getty Center, June 9–August 16, 2009

Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, June 2–August 23, 2009

Pages of Gold: Medieval Illuminations from the Morgan
New York, The Morgan Library & Museum, June 19-September 13, 2009

Heaven on Earth: Manuscript Illuminations from the National Gallery of Art
Washington, National Gallery of Art, March 1-August 2, 2009