The "Things of Greater Importance" : Bernard of Clairvaux's "Apologia" and the Medieval Attitude Toward Art / Conrad Rudolph.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rudolph, Conrad, Author.

Series:

Anniversary Collection

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bernard, of Clairvaux, Saint, 1090 or 1091-1153. Apologia ad Guillelmum Abbatem.

Bernard.

Christian art and symbolism--Medieval, 500-1500.

Christian art and symbolism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (404 p.) : 36 illus.

Edition:

Reprint 2016

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2016]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

The "Things of Greater Importance" provides a close look into the social and cultural context of medieval art, primarily as expressed in Bernard of Clairvaux's Apologia, the central document in the greatest artistic controversy to occur in the West prior to the Reformation and the most important source we have for understanding medieval attitudes toward art. Bernard wrote the Apologia during the medieval efflorescence of monumental sculpture and stained glass, of advanced architecture, of pilgrimage art, of high Romanesque, and of the origins of Gothic art. Rudolph places the Apologia, traditionally seen as a condemnation either of all religious art or of all monastic art, in a broader context, using it to explore the role of art in medieval society. He shows that Bernard was interested in the impact of art on contemporary monasticism in a more complex way than previously believed. The book offers the most thorough study available of the theoretical basis of medieval art as it functioned in society; and its implications for the art of both the Romanesque and Gothic periods, which were spanned by Bernard's life, are significant.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

1. Introduction

2. The "Things of Greater Importance"

3. The Apologia and the Art of the Orders of Cluny and Citeaux

4. To Whom the Apologia Was Addressed

5. Conclusion

Appendix 1. The Origin of the Apologia

Appendix 2. The Text and Translation of the Apologia With Art Historical Commentary

Bibliography

Illustrations

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jul 2020)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Contains:

Bernard, of Clairvaux, Saint, 1090 or 1091-1153. Apologia ad Guillemum Abbatem. English. 1990.

Bernard, of Clairvaux, Saint, 1090 or 1091-1153. Apologia ad Guillemum Abbatem. Latin. 1990.

ISBN:

9781512806410

1512806412

OCLC:

979729492