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Illuminating Sanctity: The Body, Soul and Glorification of Saint Amand in the Miniature Cycle in Valenciennes, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 500
Author(s): Maria R. Grasso (Author)
- Publisher: Brill
- Publication Date: June 20, 2019
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 190 pages
- ISBN-10: 900438197X
- ISBN-13: 9789004381971
Book Description
Maria R. Grasso’s monograph on the twelfth-century illustrated vita of Saint Amand, Valenciennes, Bibliothèque municipale MS 500, presents new information regarding its contents. The author’s discovery and analysis of a second almost complete set of preliminary drawings beneath another set of the same drawings demonstrates that important alterations were made prior to the execution of the cycle. Grasso’s discussion includes the probable reason for the change: the isolation of the terminating folio depicting the soul of Amand. This important devotional image is the focus of detailed analysis since the soul of Amand rests in the lap of a male figure she convincingly identifies as Christ, an extremely unusual placement for the soul of a saint, demonstrating the creativity of the artists.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Grasso’s careful stylistic and iconographic analyses throw new light on this important manuscript. Having previously been discussed only in occasional essays, the manuscript now has its own monograph, which enriches the study of hagiographic art in the Romanesque period.”
Rémy Cordonnier, in: The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 162, No. 1405 (April 2020), pp. 356-357.
Rémy Cordonnier, in: The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 162, No. 1405 (April 2020), pp. 356-357.
The merit of Grasso lies not only in her explanation of the relationship between the preliminary drawings and the miniatures, and her reconstruction of the original order of the miniatures, but also in her iconographic interpretation of the various representations, in particular that of the soul of Amandus in the presence of Christ.[…] Grasso’s highly documented book is enriched with many illustrations, including all the miniatures and preliminary drawings.”
P. van Dael, in
About the Author
Maria R. Grasso, Ph.D. (2014), The Courtauld Institute, is an independent scholar whose interests include the medieval depiction of the soul and the afterlife. Recent publications include essays on Abraham’s Bosom (Routledge, 2017) and the Codex Echternach (forthcoming, 2019).
