Eloquent Bodies - Movement, Expression, and the Human Figure in Gothic Sculpture

Gothic cathedrals in northern Europe dazzle visitors with arrays of sculpted saints, angels, and noble patrons adorning their portals and interiors. In this highly original and erudite volume, Jacqueline E. Jung explores how medieval sculptors used a form of bodily poetics--involving facial expression, gesture, stance, and torsion--to create meanings beyond conventional iconography and to subtly manipulate spatial dynamics, forging connections between the sculptures and beholders. Filled with more than 500 images that capture the suppleness and dynamism of cathedral sculpture, often through multiple angles, Eloquent Bodies demonstrates how viewers confronted and, in turn, were addressed by sculptures at major cathedrals in France and Germany, from Chartres and Reims to Strasbourg, Bamberg, Magdeburg, and Naumburg. Shedding new light on the charismatic and kinetic qualities of Gothic sculpture, this book also illuminates the ways artistic ingenuity and technical skill converged to enliven sacred spaces. --

About the author

Jacqueline E. Jung is associate professor in the Department of the History of Art at Yale University.

Product details

• Authors: Jacqueline E Jung, Jacqueline E. Jung, Jung Jacqueline E.
• Publisher: Yale University Press Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.05.2020
• EAN: 9780300214017
• ISBN: 978-0-300-21401-7
• No. of pages: 340
• Dimensions: 220 mm x 280 mm x 10 mm
• Subjects: Education and learning > Teaching preparation > Vocational needs; Humanities, art, music > Art > Art history; ARCHITECTURE / Buildings / Religious, History of Art, History of art: Byzantine & Medieval art c 500 CE to c 1400, Non-graphic art forms, Religious buildings, Architecture: religious buildings, Medieval style, Non-graphic and electronic art forms, ART / History / European / Medieval