The Art of Medieval Spain, A.D. 500–1200

Spanish art of the Middle Ages, a period that has been relatively unexplored in the English-speaking world, is examined here in detail. This publication accompanies a major exhibition for which more than 150 sculptures, architectural elements, paintings, textiles, and objects for everyday and ceremonial use have been gathered from museums and private collections in Spain, the United States, and Europe and Africa. Each work is illustrated (most in full color) and is discussed in texts that will be of interest to both the general reader and the scholar.
The volume opens with three essays by leading scholars that traverse the eventful world of medieval Spain, presenting themes that will prove important throughout the centuries from 500 to 1200. The immense influence of topography on Iberian history is limned, and the ongoing impact of Christianity and Islam on the peninsula is discussed in vivid terms. Of great interest is the survey of Spains cultural ties to Europe and to the Middle East. This wide-ranging introduction is followed by four sections: Visigothic Spain, Islamic Spain, the Kingdom of Asturias and Mozarabic Spain, and Romanesque Spain. Each opens with one or more distinguished essays, richly illustrated with photographs of architecture and works of art.