Medieval Death: Ritual and Representation - Softcover

Binski, Paul

 
9780714105611: Medieval Death: Ritual and Representation
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0714105619 ISBN 13: 9780714105611
Publisher: British Museum Press, 1996

Synopsis

This is a study of the social, theological and cultural issues involved in death and dying in Europe from the end of the Roman Empire to the Reformation in the early 16th century. Drawing on both archaeological and art historical sources, the book examines pagan and Christian attitudes towards the dead, the aesthetics of death and the body, burial ritual and mortuary practice. The evidence is accumulated from a wide variety of medieval thinkers and images, including the illustrations of the "Dance of Death" and other popular themes in art and literature which reflect the medieval obession with notions of humility, penitence and the dangers of bodily corruption. Also discussed is the impact of the Black Death on late medieval art and the development of the medieval tomb showing the changing attitudes to the commemoration of the dead between late antiquity and the late Middle Ages. In the final chapter the progress of the soul after death is studied through descriptions of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory in Dante and the other writers and portrayals of the Last Judgement and the Apocalypse in scripture and painting.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Synopsis

This is a study of the social, theological and cultural issues involved in death and dying in Europe from the end of the Roman Empire to the Reformation in the early 16th century. Drawing on both archaeological and art historical sources, the book examines pagan and Christian attitudes towards the dead, the aesthetics of death and the body, burial ritual and mortuary practice. The evidence is accumulated from a wide variety of medieval thinkers and images, including the illustrations of the "Dance of Death" and other popular themes in art and literature which reflect the medieval obession with notions of humility, penitence and the dangers of bodily corruption. Also discussed is the impact of the Black Death on late medieval art and the development of the medieval tomb showing the changing attitudes to the commemoration of the dead between late antiquity and the late Middle Ages. In the final chapter the progress of the soul after death is studied through descriptions of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory in Dante and the other writers and portrayals of the Last Judgement and the Apocalypse in scripture and painting.

About the Author

Paul Binski now lectures in the Department of History of Art at Cambridge University.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
British Museum Press
Publication date
1996
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0714105619
ISBN 13 
9780714105611
Binding
Paperback
Edition number
1
Number of pages
216

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780801433153: Medieval Death: Ritual and Representation

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0801433150 ISBN 13:  9780801433153
Publisher: Cornell University Press, 1996
Hardcover