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Artists of the Middle Ages by Leslie Ross Review by: Stanley E. Weed The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Spring, 2005), pp. 232-233 Published by: The Sixteenth Century Journal Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20477301 . Accessed: 16/06/2014 07:07 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . The Sixteenth Century Journal is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Sixteenth Century Journal. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 91.229.229.44 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 07:07:11 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Artists of the Middle Agesby Leslie Ross

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Page 1: Artists of the Middle Agesby Leslie Ross

Artists of the Middle Ages by Leslie RossReview by: Stanley E. WeedThe Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Spring, 2005), pp. 232-233Published by: The Sixteenth Century JournalStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20477301 .

Accessed: 16/06/2014 07:07

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

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The Sixteenth Century Journal is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to TheSixteenth Century Journal.

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This content downloaded from 91.229.229.44 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 07:07:11 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Artists of the Middle Agesby Leslie Ross

232 Sixteenth Century journal XXXVI/1 (2005)

predorminate, but a healthy subset of the images graphically reinforces the idea that repressed

sexuality surrounded witchcraft beliefs and animated the witch hunts.

Advacingschoarshp wilcetinly render this encyclopedia obsolete within the decade. In the interim, though, its use will certainly benefit students interested in witchcraft

or the witch trials. Any comprehensive acadermic library would be well advised to possess a

copy.

Artists of the Middle Ages. Leslie Ross. Artists of an Era 1.Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2003. 182 pp. $59.95. ISBN 0-313-31903-0.

REVIEWED BY: Stanley E. Weed, University of Michigan-Dearborn

The medieval artist has always remained an elusive character because of the all-too-fre quent lack of documentation and signatures, and a culture in which most artists had not yet emerged from the generic title of craftsman. Despite these limitations, Leslie Ross has man aged to produce a highly useful and concise history of the medieval artist.

Artists of the Middle Ages is designed for students and the nonprofessional medievalist. Experts will find nothing new contained within the book's pages. Indeed, its occasional oversimplification and lack of challenging ideas, even for undergraduates, is a major draw back. In addition, the title is somewhat misleading, as much of the text actually focuses on the main types of art produced during the Middle Ages, using a key artist or two as examples, but not always focusing on the artists themselves, or many of the complex issues surrounding the culture in which they worked. However, one should not dismiss the value of the work as a useful tool for medieval art surveys.

Ross's text is divided into ten main chapters, each focusing on a specific facet of medi eval art.The chapters cover the following topics: (chapter 1) Romanesque sculpture; (2) met alwork; (3) scribes and manuscript illumination; (4) architecture and the medieval architect; (5) art manuals; (6) mural painting, mosaics, and stained glass; (7) panel painting; (8) icons; (9) women artists; and (10) court artists. Additional resources, such as a full bibliography of further sources and useful web sites, are also provided. As noted, most chapters focus on one or more artists to illustrate the entire genre. This approach works in general, as it allows the reader to learn about the most notable practitioner of the medium, but at the same time Ross does provide an overview of the larger issues to give a more complete impression. Of course, some chapters are stronger than others.

The most effective chapters are, not surprisingly, those where the most evidence sur vives, or where controversial topics are addressed. Particularly comprehensive are the chap ters on metalwork, manuscripts, and the medieval architect. In each of these Ross provides the reader with ample examples of artisans and, perhaps more important for the novice reader, she goes to great length to describe the uses of the objects that they created. For instance, the chapter on manuscripts covers the role of the scribe, the illuminator, the mate rials and construction methods, and the various types of manuscripts and their uses. Her treatment of Villard de Honnecourt and the question of the medieval architect is even more notable, as she provides the reader with the complete debate regarding just who Villard actu ally was. In more general terms, she also covers the architect, design principles, and archi tectural styles of the medieval period.

Other chapters lack depth, or simply brush over controversial ideas. For example, in her treatment of the "Romanesque Sculptor" (chapter 1), Ross discusses the elusive figure of

This content downloaded from 91.229.229.44 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 07:07:11 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 3: Artists of the Middle Agesby Leslie Ross

Book Reviews 233

Gislebertus, famous for the inscription on the tympanum of St. Lazare, Autun, which reads, "Gislebertus hoc fecit." Although Ross does a good job relating the historiography of Gis lebertus and points out the potential nationalistic tendencies among early French scholars eager to "create" a uniquely medieval French artist, she also glosses over the very important and convincing challenges by Linda Seidel to the notion that Gislebertus was not the artist, but rather the name of the patron. Likewise, other important events that shaped the course of medieval art, such as the debate over the validity of images (87) or iconoclasm (125), are only mentioned in passing.

Perhaps the most disappointing chapter is "Women Artists of the Medieval Era" (chap ter 9). The role of women artists is one of the more significant topics in recent art historical discourse and therefore is certainly worthy of inclusion in an introductory text such as this. In her defense, Ross is dealing with a very elusive topic, as the role of women in the arts during the Middle Ages is by far more obscure than the situation for men. Often, we are left with only names in documents or convent chronicles, but putting a name with a surviving work is virtually impossible, as the author clearly makes evident. Nonetheless, Ross falls into the all too often repeated trap of relying on medieval women authors, whose works were illuminated, as her main evidence. For instance, her primary examples are the works of Her rad of Hohenbourg, Hildegard of Bingen, and Christine de Pisan. The three are extremely important for the study of women's history. However, there is no real evidence that the illu

minated manuscripts that contain their texts were ever painted by them. Perhaps Ross could have benefited more from the recent approaches to medieval women artists exemplified by scholars such as Jeffrey Hamburger.

In spite of these problems, Leslie Ross's Artists of the Middle Ages succeeds at its intended goal: providing an introductory text on the nature of medieval art and the role of the medi eval artist. Used in conjunction with a more chronologically based text on the history of medieval art, Ross's book will provide an excellent resource for teachers who wish to delve into more topically based discussions.

Zu Schwer fir Apoll: Die Antike in humanistischen Druckerzeichen des 16.Jahr hunderts. Anja Wolkenhauer. Wolfenbiitteler Schriften zur Geschichte des Buchwe sens 35.Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2002.451 pp. (i99.00. ISBN 3-447-04717-8.

REVIEWED BY: Jan Harasimowicz, University ofWroclaw

This book is a doctoral dissertation in classics, but the author also refers to the methods of art history and bibliography. The subject is sixteenth-century colophons, that is, designs or symbols used on a printed book to show the names of the publisher or the printer and sometimes also to indicate the quality of the printed item. The colophon usually comprised an image and motto, and its size did not exceed 10 x 5 cm so it could appear in books of quarto and octavo formats. Of about 150 colophons used in German-speaking countries between 1500 and 1560, the author has selected those that refer to classical antiquity in the image or text; they depict mythological figures, feature deities or allegories considered clas sical in the sixteenth century, or quote classical poets. Of course, it would be impossible to separate references to classical antiquity from Christian ones (like biblical mottoes) as they were often intertwined.

The essential part of the book is a catalogue (141-422) featuring twenty-eight colo phons arranged in chronological order and preceded by three early north Italian colophons

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