Medieval Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture 4th-14th Century [Hardcover]

James Snyder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1989

Looks at the history of Christian art, discusses Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic art, and considers the historical background of the art.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a highly readable, consistently illuminating tour over the main roads and byways of medieval art, Snyder, a Bryn Mawr professor of art history, tracks the turn to spirituality from Early Christian basilicas filled with celestial symbolism through the flowering of Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic styles. Familiar signposts are highlightedSan Marco Cathedral in Venice, the Bayeux Tapestry, the Book of Kells, Chartres, Giotto's frescoesbut so are less well-known treasures including Coptic Egyptian apse paintings, cryptic murals in Roman catacombs, 11th century Anglo-Saxon churches, painted icons in a Mount Sinai monastery. An opinionated and rewarding guide, Snyder gauges the 9th century renaissance in the arts against Charlemagne's conscious revival of the ancient state, and later finds echoes of the Middle Ages in Giotto's naturalism. Seventy-three stunning color plates and 615 black-and-white illustrations make this a beautiful book.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- From the catacombs of Rome to the rise of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe, this book documents a remarkable, but often ignored, period in art history. Snyder's account is a fascinating, comprehensive text on that period. The preface explains the time frame of the book and Snyder's use of the church as ``theatre of the arts'' because it was ``the one unifying factor in European culture'' during those times. Using the church as focus, he demonstrates how changes in painting, sculpture, and ecclesiastical architecture reflect man's progress in pre-Renaissance Europe. The beauties of illuminated manuscript, Romanesque sculptural decoration, and Gothic stained glass are carefully described in context. Excellent comparative diagrams of architectural floor plans and copious photographs and maps provide good visual documentation. There is a wealth of reference material here for students of history and art history. --Jenni Elliott, Episcopal High School, Bellaire, Tex.

Copyright 1989 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 511 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 1st edition (March 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810915324
• ISBN-13: 978-0135734940
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 8.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #245,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Medieval
  • #52 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Byzantine

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Textbook, September 27, 2010

By 

Hanna Christiansen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Medieval Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture 4th-14th Century (Hardcover)

Like another reviewer I purchased this book for a college class. I found the book to be well laid out, generously illustrated and generally user friendly, especially for someone with a basic grounding in art history.
Like most textbook and art history tomes it tends to be VERY dry, but for good information, an excellent set of notes and a well stocked bibliography, it was exceptionally useful.