Viewing Inscriptions in the Late Antique and Medieval World

This book considers the visual qualities of inscriptions from a cross-cultural perspective focusing on the period from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages.

Antony Eastmond (Edited by)

9781107092419, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 20 April 2015

275 pages, 73 b/w illus.
26.2 x 18.6 x 2.2 cm, 0.79 kg

'This volume tidily bridges the gap between textual and visual studies, and shows the functionality of inscriptions as more than just a literary device throughout various periods of history. It is a welcome addition to the study of space, place and communication in the medieval world.' Brittany Thomas, Medieval Archaeology

Inscriptions convey meaning not just by their contents but also by other means, such as choice of script, location, scale, spatial organisation, letterform, legibility and clarity. The essays in this book consider these visual qualities of inscriptions, ranging across the Mediterranean and the Near East from Spain to Iran and beyond, including Norman Sicily, Islamic North Africa, Byzantium, medieval Italy, Georgia and Armenia. While most essays focus on Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, they also look back at Achaemenid Iran and forward to Mughal India. Topics discussed include real and pseudo-writing, multilingual inscriptions, graffiti, writing disguised as images and images disguised as words. From public texts set up on mountainsides or on church and madrasa walls to intimate craftsmen's signatures, barely visible on the undersides of precious objects, the inscriptions discussed in this volume reveal their meanings as textual and visual devices.

Introduction: viewing inscriptions Antony Eastmond
1. Text, image, memory, and performance: epigraphic practices in Persia and the ancient Iranian world Matthew P. Canepa
2. Prayers on site: the materiality of devotional graffiti and the production of early Christian sacred space Ann Marie Yasin
3. Erasure and memory: Aghlabid and Fatimid inscriptions in North Africa Jonathan Bloom
4. Textual icons: viewing inscriptions in medieval Georgia Antony Eastmond
5. Pseudo-Arabic 'inscriptions' and the pilgrim's path at Hosios Loukas Alicia Walker
6. Arabic inscriptions in the Cappella Palatina: performativity, audience, legibility, and illegibility Jeremy Johns
7. Intercession and succession, enlightenment and reflection: the inscriptional and decorative program of the Qaratay Madrasa, Konya Scott Redford
8. Remembering Fernando: multilingualism in medieval Iberia Tom Nickson
9. Displaying the word: words as visual signs in the Armenian architectural decoration of the monastery of Noravank (fourteenth century) Ioanna Rapti
10. Written in stone: civic memory and monumental writing in the Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa Stefania Gerevini
11. Place, space, and style: craftsmen's signatures in medieval Islamic art Sheila S. Blair
Afterword: re-viewing inscriptions Antony Eastmond.

Subject Areas: Typography & lettering [AKD], History of art: Byzantine & Medieval art c 500 CE to c 1400 [ACK], History of art: ancient & classical art,BCE to c 500 CE [ACG]