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49th out of 320 books
—
87 voters
Image on the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art
What do they all mean – the lascivious ape, autophagic dragons, pot-bellied heads, harp-playing asses, arse-kissing priests and somersaulting jongleurs to be found protruding from the edges of medieval buildings and in the margins of illuminated manuscripts? Michael Camille explores that riotous realm of marginal art, so often explained away as mere decoration or zany dood...more
Paperback, Essays in Art and Culture, 176 pages
Published
August 1st 2004
by Reaktion Books
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I have read a lot of medieval history, both primary and secondary sources; dozens of articles and books about medieval European culture, religion and society; works concerning medieval cities, travel, literacy, monasticism, aristocracy, gender and art. I mention this only to provide context for my statement that Michael Camille writes perhaps the most enjoyable medieval history books I have ever read.* His books blend impeccable research with inventive prose and playful enthusiasm with sophistic...more
Gems in this book:
the etymology of baboon, from babeweyn, a deformed human in illustration
the fatrasie, a poetic form linking bits of psychic rubbish in strict versification, producing images reminiscent of Bosch
and grylli, human forms culminating in calligraphic tails.
If you want to revise your notion of the Middle Ages, this is a great place to begin!
the etymology of baboon, from babeweyn, a deformed human in illustration
the fatrasie, a poetic form linking bits of psychic rubbish in strict versification, producing images reminiscent of Bosch
and grylli, human forms culminating in calligraphic tails.
If you want to revise your notion of the Middle Ages, this is a great place to begin!
A fun and insightful monograph on marginal art and architecture from the medieval period. Camille is often brilliant, occasionally irritating, but always lucid and thought-provoking. Didn't read like an academic monograph at all.
This is an excellent book: clearly written, well researched, highly focused, and a good source for further study.
Academic title re-read
This book is good because of the subject - what do all those seemingly random doodles on the margin mean? Why is a knight fighting a snail? Why is a giant head with two legs walking around? But it suffers in my reading from vaguely rambling and disorganized writing. I don't know why one section follows another. Still, it's short, and I don't know of any other books on this neat little subject, so it's a keeper.
This one was pretty neat too. The color plates are great. Had to read this one for a class, and would have appreciated the time to read it more thoroughly, but it was good nonetheless.
An interesting look at marginal decoration, both at literal manuscript margins and decoration such as the carved decorations of misericords. Somewhat speculative.
May 22, 2013
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Sep 26, 2012 06:05pm