Reading Romances: The Production and Reception of French Gothic Ivories in the Context of Late Medieval Literary Practices
Shoppe, Paula Mae
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/87390
Description
Title
Reading Romances: The Production and Reception of French Gothic Ivories in the Context of Late Medieval Literary Practices
Author(s)
Shoppe, Paula Mae
Issue Date
2000
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Hedeman, Anne D.
Department of Study
Art History
Discipline
Art History
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Literature, Medieval
Language
eng
Abstract
"French Gothic secular ivories from the fourteenth century have carved on their external sides scenes from medieval imaginative literature (romances of Arthur etc.), and are one of the few media displaying such pictures to survive from the period. Thus they are crucial to an understanding of medieval secular art. Research on these ivories has focused on workshop origin, artistic style, date, and iconography with little reference to cultural usage and significance. In my dissertation I demonstrate that the visual imagery of these ivories is the unique creation of its makers who through manipulation of carving technique, artistic style, narrative structure, and spatial arrangement of scenes generated a pictorial language unequaled in medieval art. Moreover, I will argue that the caskets's visual cycles, rather than being derived from manuscripts, as previous scholars have claimed, are ""texts"" in their own right with their own meanings. Narratology and semiotics with a grounding in a knowledge of workshop practices will enable me to define this language. Furthermore, I shall situate the works in their original context, and consider the caskets's social function, audience and audience's ability to generate meanings from the works."
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