The twelfth-century manuscript of Gregory the Great's Moralia in Job , lavishly written and illuminated at the Cistercian monastery of C???teaux in 1111, contains images of seemingly gratuitous violence and daily life that are famous but have a significance that has eluded most modern viewers. These images range anywhere from monstrous beasts that devour and hack at each other with swords to monks harvesting grain and felling trees. They have been called by some scholars the products of "unbridled, often irrational fantasy ...
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The twelfth-century manuscript of Gregory the Great's Moralia in Job , lavishly written and illuminated at the Cistercian monastery of C???teaux in 1111, contains images of seemingly gratuitous violence and daily life that are famous but have a significance that has eluded most modern viewers. These images range anywhere from monstrous beasts that devour and hack at each other with swords to monks harvesting grain and felling trees. They have been called by some scholars the products of "unbridled, often irrational fantasy," entirely independent of the text and of any specific meaning. In this book, Conrad Rudolph argues that beyond the face value of these illuminations, there lies an undercurrent of thematic consistency. Like obscure events from Scripture, he maintains, the images may lead to another level of meaning yet to be discovered. Rudolph focuses on the ways spirituality and politics operate in the artistic process that produced this particular manuscript. By exploring these interactions, we can understand how the form of spirituality embodied in this manuscript legitimized a very intimate attitude on the part of the artist toward the subject. The images are in fact the product of Gregory's demand that one "become" what one reads: some reflect the ideal monk crafting a holy place out of the wilderness, others the Cistercian notion of spiritual advancement as a violent struggle. In this way, the C???teaux Moralia in Job conveys an exuberance and creativity rarely found in manuscript illumination before or since.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. Picture Shown is For Illustration Purposes Only, Please See Below For Further DetailsCONDITION-VERY GOOD-HARDBACK-light wear and scuff marks to jacket, pages in nice condition, shipped from the UK. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 196 p. Contains: Illustrations.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 0691026734. Light wear to covers, light soiling to bottom edge (not on pages), otherwise text clean and tight; 8vo 8"-9" tall; 196 pages.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine jacket. Book. 8vo-over 7¾-9¾" tall. Hardcover, in dust jacket. Clean, tight and unmarked. Very neat--a sound and handsome copy, virtually as new! . Illustrated.
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Seller's Description:
Near Fine in Near fine jacket. Inscribed by Rudolph to University of Pittsburgh professor John Williams AND has signed letter laid in! First printing, 1997, hardcover with black cloth boards in dust jacket, octavo, 145pp. + 59 plate b&w illustration index. Book near fine with hint of wear to spine ends and corners, binding tight, text clean bright and unmarked. DJ near fine with hint of rubbing, in protective mylar wrap. From the personal library of John Williams, former University of Pittsburgh professor of medieval art and architecture.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Very good in a very good DJ. Tight binding, bright crisp clean copy throughout, one owners inscription on front end page no other markings throughout. Well packaged, ships fast with tracking.
