Treasury of Medieval Illustrations

Paul Lacroix, Carol Belanger Grafton

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9780486146874
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: History of Medieval Art

A Rich Archive of Medieval Vignettes From Authentic Pages of History
In this artful look back at the fascinating facets of medieval society, the realms and reveries of the Middle Ages unfold in more than 750 black-and-white illustrations. Crisp depictions of battling warriors, everyday business and industry, architectural motifs, religious and secular celebrations, calligraphy, beasts of myth and legend, and other elements of daily medieval life and beliefs abound. Masterfully reproduced from rare sources, these genuine images were created by artists throughout medieval Europe. Ideal for use in a broad spectrum of graphic and craft projects, this treasury of illustrations will also delight students and enthusiasts of history.

Publisher’s Note

THE ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS EXTENSIVE COMPILATION are drawn from four late-nineteenth-century works by Paul Lacroix: The Arts in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (1870); Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period (1874); Military and Religious Life in the Middle Ages and at the Period of the Renaissance (1874); and Science and Literature in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (1878). Carol Belanger Grafton has selected more than 750 images from these highly regarded sources and arranged them thematically to reflect the essential topics of medieval life, from trades, occupations, and commerce to architecture and costume. The scope of this treasury includes the lands of France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Russia, England, and Spain, as well as other evolving nations.

Medieval times in Western Europe—the period of roughly the fifth to the fifteenth centuries (some sixteenth-century images are included here as well)—continue to fascinate the modern sensibility. The dissolution of Rome in the fifth century gave way to the rise of the Christian church. This church, persecuted at its start, continued to develop until it arrived at a state of influence and wealth that made it supremely powerful among European nations. The societal organization and material progress—“civilization” in the true sense of the word—created by the Roman Empire was undermined by repeated invasions by nomadic tribes from eastern and central Asia, as well as invaders such as the Angles, Jutes, Saxons, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and Vandals. The unifying effect of the Roman administration was increasingly threatened by the tribal nature of these disruptive people, traditionally referred to as “barbarians”; it is helpful to keep in mind that “barbarian” originally was a word used by the Greeks to refer to non-Greeks—foreigners or outsiders. The network of roads built by the Romans—a symbol of their strides in unifying the European lands—fell into ruins, further damaging their empire. Nevertheless, by the seventh century, the Roman model began to reappear, and an increasingly orderly society re-formed in the wasted lands of Western Europe. The growth of cities and towns and cultivation of the land led to a new framework for stability and prosperity.

The cornerstones of the medieval world—monasticism and chivalry—are included in great detail in this book. Images of popes, clerics, and other religious figures proliferated as Christianity came to predominate over paganism in Western Europe. But at the heart of the medieval world are its people, and among the numerous depictions are those of workers such as a shoemaker [Plate 1], a carpenter’s apprentice [Plate 55], a poultry dealer [Plate 146], and a swineherd [Plate 168], as well as the upper classes: noble ladies and children [Plate 346], a knight and his lady [Plate 356]; and women of the court [Plate 371]. The gulf between the peasant and the aristocrat was wide indeed; the occupants of a Venetian gondola [Plate 5] represent a class that, although few in number, had incalculable influence over laborers such as the scantily clad baker shown in Plate 169. The medieval period was marked by the lurking presence of death, due to pestilence and unsanitary conditions. During the mid-1300s, a catastrophic plague—the Black Death—wiped out one-quarter to a third of the European population. Plates 506, 510, 511, and 515 through 518 provide striking imagery of the Grim Reaper, wa...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Publisher’s Note