Description: New interpretations of an art form ubiquitious in the Middle Ages.
English alabasters played a seminal role in the artistic development of late medieval and early modern Europe. Carvings made of this lustrous white stone were sold throughout England and abroad, and as a result many survived the iconoclasm that destroyed so much else from this period. They are a unique and valuable witness to the material culture of the Middle Ages.This volume incorporates a variety of new approaches to these artefacts, employing methodologies drawn from a number of different disciplines. Its chapters explore a range of key points connected to alabasters: their origins, their general history and their social, cultural, intellectual and devotional contexts. ZULEIKA MURAT is a Research Fellow and Lecturer in the History of Medieval Art at the University of Padua. Contributors: Jennifer Alexander, Jon Bayliss, Claire Blakey, Stephanie De Roemer, Rachel King, AndrewKirkman, Aleksandra Lipinska, Zuleika Murat, Luca Palozzi, Sophie Phillips, Nigel Ramsay, Christina Welch, Philip Weller, Kim Woods, Michaela Zöschg
Review Quotes: All of the chapters make valuable contributions to our understanding of this significant artistic industry in later medieval England, whether it is recognizing the foundational figures and parameters that still shape the field today, the meanings accruing to the material itself, little-studied patronage groups, important collectors' motivations in acquiring works, or more in-depth examinations of individual works and their devotional functions, to name a few of the areas covered.-- "PEREGRINATIONS"