Research Catalog

Title

Treasure, memory, nature : Church objects in the Middle Ages / Philippe Cordez.

Author

Cordez, Philippe,

Publication

• London ; Turnhout (Belgium) : Harvey Miller Publishers, an imprint of Brepols Publishers, [2020]
• ©2020

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Morgan, Chloe Siner,
• Oswald, Julia,

Description

276 pages : color illustrations; 29 cm.

Summary

"This book traces the origins, economic development, and later history of church treasures, and explores the forms and function of these objects of memory and wonder. Precious metalwork, relics, chess pieces, ostrich eggs, unicorn horns, and bones of giants were among the treasury objects accumulated in churches during the Middle Ages. The material manifestations of a Christian worldview, they would only later become naturalia and objets d'art, from the sixteenth and the nineteenth century onwards, respectively. Philippe Cordez traces the rhetorical origination, economic development, and later history of church treasures, and explores the forms and functions of the memorial objects that constituted them. Such objects were a source of wonder for their contemporaries and remain so today, albeit for quite different reasons. Indeed, our fascination relates primarily to their epistemic and aesthetic qualities. Dealing also with these paradigm shifts, this study opens up new paths toward an archeology of current scholarly and museum practices. Philippe Cordez is Deputy Director of the German Center for Art History in Paris."--Publisher's web site.

Series Statement

Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History

Uniform Title

• Studies in medieval and early Renaissance art history.
• Trésor, mémoire, merveilles. English

Alternative Title

Trésor, mémoire, merveilles.

Subject

• 500-1500
• Art objects, Medieval
• Christian art and symbolism > Medieval, 500-1500
• Christian art and symbolism > Medieval
• Devotional objects > Catholic Church
• Liturgical objects
• Relics
• Reliquaries, Medieval

Note

• "Translated from the French"--Foreword.
• "©Éditions de l'EHESS for the original French edition: Cordez, Philippe, Trésor, mémoire, merveilles. Les objets des églises au Moyen Âge...2016"--Colophon.
• "The book was first published as Schatz, Gedächtnis, Wunder. Die Objekte der Kirchen im Mittelalter (Regensburg: Schnell und Steiner, 2015). This German version has more and lengthier footnotes, with extensive quotations and additional bibliography. Readers interested in such in-depth references might consult it together with the present book. The original French text, with reduced footnoes, was published as Trésor, mémoire, merveilles. Les objets des églises au Moyen Âge (Paris: Éditions de l'EHESS, 2016). Anne Madelain, at Éditions de l'EHESS, generously initiated yet another translation of the text. This English version, Treasure, memory, nature, Church objects in the Middle Ages, mirrors the French version (with complementary references to existing English translations of original texts and scientific literature)...For her careful translation, I would like to thank Chloe Morgan ... Julia Oswald, who edited the text beautifully and with great precision."--Acknowledgements.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-264) and index.

ISBN

• 9781912554614
• 1912554615

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries