Volume I of this series, Medieval Misericords in France, covers approximately 300 churches that still contain gothic misericords with carved figures and narratives inspired by oral traditions suh as proverbs and folk tales, as well as by manuscript marginalia, romanesque capitals, illustrated bibles, engravings, playing cards... A vast portrayal of medieval life - rural activities, urban occupations, conjugal relationships, monastic life -- is displayed in these carvings under the seats of choir stalls along with costumes of the times, town and collegiate architecture, mechanical devices. Puns and rebuses are often intertwined with these themes to produce comic and, to twenty-first century eyes, mysterious puzzles. The global view of misericord carvings, generally ignored in studies of medieval art, is here presented as a multidisciplinary basis for further research by sociologists, historians, archeologists and other medieval scholars.
This large corpus of material is the result of thirty years research on the choir stall carvings of medieval France. It includes a catalogue of 3,287 examples from 217 churches and 3 museums, arranged alphabetically by region. These 'mercy seats' were generally free from the restraints of other church carving because they were relatively hidden and therefore allowed some measure of freedom of artistic expression and subject matter. In the catalogue Elaine Block presents all available information on date, the carver and patron if known, the form of ledge and location of carving, measurements, provenance, iconography, restoration, history and description, and more besides. LA SERIE: The Corpus of Medieval Misericords (XIII-XXVI) consists of five volumes; the first four focus on the misericords and related choir stall carvings in specific regions of Europe. The fifth includes an extensive iconographic index of themes common to various countries as well as themes that are unique to a single country. LA SERIE: INCLUYE OTROS VOLÚMENES EN IBERIA, FLANDES NORTE DE EUROPA Y GRAN BRETÑA, DE PRÓXIMA PUBLICACIÓN
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