Early medieval art /
Lawrence Nees.
- Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.
- 272 pages : illustrations (some color), color maps, portraits ; 24 cm.
- Oxford history of art .
- Oxford history of art. .
Includes bibliographical references (pages 250-253) and index.
Ch. 1. The Roman Language of Art -- Ch. 2. Earliest Christian Art -- Ch. 3. Conversion -- Ch. 4. Art for Aristocrats -- Ch. 5. Endings and Beginnings -- Ch. 6. Craftsmanship and Artistry -- Ch. 7. Saints and Holy Places -- Ch. 8. Holy Images -- Ch. 9. Word and Image -- Ch. 10. Art at Court -- Ch. 11. Expressive and Didactic Images -- Ch. 12. Towards a New Age.
"The first millennium CE saw a rich and distinctive artistic tradition form in Europe. While books had long been central to the Christian religious tradition, education, and culture, they now became an important artistic medium, sometimes decorated with brilliant colours and precious metals. Lawrence Nees explores issues of artist patronage, craftsmanship, holy men and women, monasteries, courts, and the expressive and educational roles of artistic creation. He presents early Christian art within the late Roman tradition and the arts of the newly established kingdoms of northern Europe not as opposites, but as different aspects of a larger historical situation. This approach reveals the onset of an exciting new visual relationship between the church and the populace throughout medieval Europe, restoring a previously marginalized subject to a central place in our artistic and cultural heritage."--Back cover.