Cosmos and Community in Early Medieval Art

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00034

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18014

In the rapidly changing world of the early Middle Ages, depictions of the cosmos represented a consistent point of reference across the three dominant states—the Frankish, Byzantine, and Islamic Empires. As these empires diverged from their Greco-Roman roots between 700 and 1000 A.D. and established distinctive medieval artistic traditions, cosmic imagery created a web of visual continuity, though local meanings of these images varied greatly. Benjamin Anderson uses thrones, tables, mantles, frescoes, and manuscripts to show how cosmological motifs informed relationships between individuals, especially the ruling elite, and communities, demonstrating how domestic and global politics informed the production and reception of these depictions. The first book to consider such imagery across the dramatically diverse cultures of Western Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic Middle East, Cosmos and Community in Early Medieval Art illuminates the distinctions between the cosmological art of these three cultural spheres, and reasserts the centrality of astronomical imagery to the study of art history.

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Print publication date February 2017 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300219166

EISBN 9780300247763

Illustrations 77

Print Status in print

Publisher (in print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Jeder Mensch steht unter seiner Himmelskugel
Sagittarius, detail from the "Handy Tables" of Ptolemy
Sagittarius, detail from planispheric celestial map
Qusayr'Amra, caldarium, cupola, fresco with Sagittarius
Iwan Kisra
Umayyad Mosque, schematic ground plan
Umayyad Mosque, schematic elevation of interior south wall around central mihrab
Umayyad Mosque, south wall, exterior (eastern entry of Roman-era triple gate)
Umayyad Mosque, mosaics in west portico of courtyard
Four apostles with signs of the zodiac
Ellwangen Casket, lid, six planets and the hand of God
Ellwangen Casket, back, portrait medallions identified as Charles the Bald, Richildis, and Louis the Stammerer
Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano, view of choir with the Cathedra Petri
Cathedra Petri
Cathedra Petri, decoration of the gable
Epitaph of Pope Hadrian
Star Mantle of Henry II
Qusayr'Amra, caldarium, cupola
Roundel with Emperor John II Comnenus
Star Mantle of Henry II, detail
Mantle of Kunigunde
Map of the terrestrial globe
Map of the terrestrial globe
Diagram with the zodiac
Qusayr'Amra, exterior
Qusayr'Amra, reception hall
Qusayr'Amra, reception hall, fresco with the six kings
Qusayr'Amra, reception hall, fresco with the six kings
Qusayr'Amra, caldarium, cupola, fresco with Boötes
Qusayr'Amra, caldarium, cupola, fresco with Andromeda
Cloth of Ewaldi
Cloth of Ewaldi, detail
Cloth of Ewaldi, detail
Rotae with figures of the sun and moon
Rotae with figures of the sun and moon
Zodiac
Zodiac
Zodiac
Hercules
Initial "A" of the Revised Aratus Latinus
Rotae with figures of the sun and moon
Helix, Draco, Fenix, Hercules, and Corona vero.
Aquarius and Capricorn
Hercules and Corona
Perseus, Lyra, and Cygnus
Boötes and Virgo
Taurus and Cepheus
Planisphere celestial map
Perseus, Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquarius
Perseus, Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquarius
Zodiac
Hercules and Corona
Jupiter
Istanbul, Pantokrator Monastery (Zeyrek Camii), south church, opus sectile pavement with representation of the zodiac
Athens, Panagia Gorgoepikoos, western façade
Athens, Panagia Gorgoepikoos, western façade, detail of calendrical frieze with figures of Scorpio and Sagittarius
Solar diagram. The "Handy Tables" of Ptolemy
Constellations of the summer hemisphere
Table with figures of Aries, Taurus, and Gemini
Table with figures of Aries, Taurus, and Gemini
Epact table
Table with figures of Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces
Solar diagram. The "Handy Tables" of Ptolemy, detail
Solidus of Maurice (582–602), set in the so-called Kyrenia girdle
Medallion with triumphant emperor
Solidus of Theodosius III
Perspective view of the "Antiochene" cosmos
Plan of the "Antiochene" cosmos
Zodiac, planets, and earth
The antipodes
The four winds and the earth surrounded by the ocean
The antipodes
Earth, heavens, sun, and moon
Earth, heavens, sun, and moon
Creation of the animals
Zodiac, planets, and earth
Gemini

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Contents

Contents

Author

Preface and Acknowledgments

PublisherYale University Press

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00034.001

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18015

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Preface and Acknowledgments

Author

PublisherYale University Press

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00034.002

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18016

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Introduction: Solitude and Community

The Roman historian Cassius Dio relates an anecdote about a near contemporary, the emperor Septimius Severus (193–211)...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.1-17

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00034.003

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18017

Chapter subject tags:Solitude in artCosmologyCommunities in artRome--History--Lucius Septimius Severus, 193-211Astronomy in art

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1. Tyranny and Splendor

Thus, shortly after the year 1000, did Abu’l- Qasem Ferdowsi imagine the celestial decoration of a throne commissioned by the Sasanian shah of shahs Khosrow, second of his name (591–628). For...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.19-43

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00034.004

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18018

Chapter subject tags:Cosmology in artArchitecture, UmayyadIslamic EmpireArt, Medieval--Middle EastArt, Medieval

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2. Declaration and Transaction

Just as it is no longer meaningful in contemporary cosmology to speak about the “center of the universe,” so too has the figure of the cosmocrator...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.45-71

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00034.005

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18019

Chapter subject tags:Cosmology in artArchitecture, UmayyadCelestial sphereChristian art and symbolism--Medieval, 500-1500Islamic art

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3. Carolingian Consensus

In 1942, while German armies fought a multifront war, the keepers of the relics of Ewald the Dark and Ewald the Fair...

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PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.73-105

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00034.006

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18020

Chapter subject tags:Illumination of books and manuscripts, CarolingianCommunities in artZodiac in artConstellations in art

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4. Byzantine Dissensus

A stray parchment leaf tipped into the front of a fourteenth- century manuscript now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford preserves a rare Byzantine rendition of the zodiac...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.107-143

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00034.007

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18021

Chapter subject tags:Illumination of books and manuscripts, ByzantineCelestial reference systemsAstrographic catalog and chartZodiac in artByzantine Empire--History

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Conclusion

In later legend, Leo VI became the paradigmatic example of the Byzantine emperor who had personally mastered the knowledge necessary to administer the empire...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.145-149

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00034.008

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18022

Chapter subject tags:Astrology in artCelestial reference systemsCosmology in artAstronomy in artArt, Medieval

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