Edinburgh Research Archive logo

Edinburgh Research Archive

University of Edinburgh homecrest
View Item 
  •   ERA Home
  • Edinburgh College of Art
  • Edinburgh College of Art thesis and dissertation collection
  • View Item
  •   ERA Home
  • Edinburgh College of Art
  • Edinburgh College of Art thesis and dissertation collection
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Self-representation in the three-dimensional arts: a study of Italia and Germania, CA 800 - CA 1200

View/Open
Gordusenko2020Maps.pdf (14.99Mb)
Gordusenko2020.pdf (1.823Mb)
Date
02/08/2020
Item status
Restricted Access
Embargo end date
02/08/2021
Author
Gordusenko, Mariia Ivanovna
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
This thesis is a study of self-representation in sculpture in the Middle Ages. The research offers a new interpretation of the uses of self-representation by practitioners working in various three-dimensional media active in medieval Italia and Germania before the twelfth century. An analysis of a series of case studies provides evidence for investigating issues hitherto often overlooked, including literacy, devotion, skill, craftsmanship, commemoration and identity. Emphasis is placed on visual analysis of the case studies. Sculptors’ self-representations, integrated within these religious objects produced for use in Christian practice, are identifiable either through inscriptions or documentary evidence. This thesis applies interdisciplinary methodologies to explore practical, devotional and cultural functions of the case studies. It combines iconological and iconographic approaches to indicate cultural connections and exchange between European regions, where my examples are found. The roles of artists and patrons and their mobility, and the continuity of self-representational tradition from antiquity to the Middle Ages are considered to provide necessary background context to this enquiry. The topics of sculptors’ iconography, literacy and social standing have not received systematic attention in previous scholarship. However, this analysis of sculptors’ self-representations demonstrates that certain iconographic codes existed already in the early medieval period. Iconographic analysis of one of the examples indicates affiliation of the sculptor with lay brothers. Insufficiently studied to date, this social group receives thorough attention in this thesis. In other examples, signed self-representations accurately specify sculptors’ professional titles and social positions. This thesis also demonstrates that the me fecit-signatures are indicative of sculptors’ authorship and literacy. Having established this, this enquiry challenges the misleading impression of medieval artists’ anonymity popular in early scholarship. It also proposes that sculptors’ self-representations should not be perceived in a standardised way. The case studies reflect social diversity of early medieval sculptors’ community on both sides of the Alps. They encompass individuality of their authors, ensure devotional expression and serve as a means of communication between sculptors, their contemporaries and further generations. The thesis opens new perspectives for understanding of early medieval sculptors and their work.
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1842/37294

http://dx.doi.org/10.7488/era/580
Collections
  • Edinburgh College of Art thesis and dissertation collection

Related items

Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

  • Recreating Medieval and Renaissance European combat systems: a critical review of The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest, Mastering the Art of Arms vol 1: The Medieval Dagger, and The Duellist’s Companion 

    Windsor, Guy Stanley Tresham (The University of Edinburgh, 2018-07-07)
    The three publications offered for evaluation, The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest, Mastering the Art of Arms vol 1: The Medieval Dagger, and The Duellist’s Companion, establish by example the relatively young discipline ...
  • Tricolour, shield, and Cross of Savoy: 'Sabaudian medievalism,' the Risorgimento, and neo-medieval architecture in Italy, c.1814-1864. 

    Zerbi, Tommaso (The University of Edinburgh, 2021-07-31)
    On 23 March 1848, the King of Piedmont-Sardinia released a celebrated proclamation to the people of Lombardy and Venetia, which was a manifestation of patriotic hopes that concluded by addressing the flag that Piedmontese ...
  • Navigating Northumbria: mobility, allegory, and writing travel in Early Medieval Northumbria 

    Lawson, Helen Margaret (The University of Edinburgh, 2017-11-27)
    The social fact of movement is a significant underlying feature of early medieval Northumbria, as it is for other regions and other periods. The eighth-century Anglo- Latin hagiographical tradition that centres on Bede ...

Library & University Collections HomeUniversity of Edinburgh Information Services Home
Privacy & Cookies | Takedown Policy | Accessibility | Contact
Privacy & Cookies
Takedown Policy
Accessibility
Contact
feed RSS Feeds

RSS Feed not available for this page

 

 

All of ERACommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsPublication TypeSponsorSupervisorsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsPublication TypeSponsorSupervisors
LoginRegister

Library & University Collections HomeUniversity of Edinburgh Information Services Home
Privacy & Cookies | Takedown Policy | Accessibility | Contact
Privacy & Cookies
Takedown Policy
Accessibility
Contact
feed RSS Feeds

RSS Feed not available for this page