Offering original analysis of the convergence between 'sacred' and 'secular' in medieval works of art and architecture, this collection explores both the usefulness and limitations of these terms for describing medieval attitudes. The modern concepts of 'sacred' and 'secular' are shown to be effective as scholarly tools, but also to risk imposing false dichotomies. The authors consider medieval material culture from a broad perspective, addressing works of art and architecture from England to Japan, and from the seventh to the fifteenth century. Although the essays take a variety of methodological approaches they are unified in their emphasis on the continuing and necessary dialectic between sacred and secular. The contributors consciously frame their interpretations in terms and perspectives derived from the Middle Ages, thereby demonstrating how the present art-historical terminology and conceptual frameworks can obscure the complexity of medieval life and material culture. The resonance among essays opens possibilities for productive cross-cultural study of an issue that is relevant to a diversity of cultures and sub-periods. Introducing an innovative approach to the literature of the field, this volume complicates and enriches our understanding of social realities across a broad spectrum of medieval worlds.
Essays in this collection analyse the convergence between "sacred" and "secular" in medieval works of art and architecture, questioning the adequacy of those categories to describe medieval attitudes. "Sacred" and "secular" are shown to reflect largely modern cultural frameworks, which can be useful as scholarly tools, but which risk imposing false dichotomies. This volume complicates and enriches our understanding of social realities across a broad spectrum of medieval worlds.
'Overall, the editors have produced a noteworthy collection both in its structure and scope, supported by a lavish and relevant iconographic corpus. I enjoyed reading all of the essays, and I appreciated the editorial description of the central issue and framing of new critical approaches. I also liked the fact that Walker and Luyster point out the "work-in-progress" quality of their anthology. Far from simply providing new terms to supplant the old dichotomous opposition between sacred and secular, their reading essentially highlights the limits of too strict a distinction while at the same time acknowledging the existence and even the relevance of the two categories (1-2). And the essays included in the collection reiterate this critical stance since they all, in very different ways, are not limited to an essential, trite dismantlement but engage in a much more difficult task: the conscious reconstruction of more fluid, morphemic terms to designate differing trends in objects which were not simply the result of the skillful handling of chisels and brushes, but derived from a multitude of social, historical, political, economic, literary, geographic and artistic trends.' The Medieval Review
