Sourcing Nature

What did it take to make a work of art in the Middle Ages, and what did the environment have to do with it? A lot, it turns out. In Sourcing Nature, Heather Alexis Smith reveals how artists and laborers who grew and gathered art-making materials embraced challenges as resources shifted and climates changed. In some cases, scarcity spurred innovation in the conservation and use of local supplies and resulted in practices that have a surprising resonance with the present. An epilogue by artist and historian Jenny Price connects these concerns to our contemporary moment.-Demonstrates that the environment actively influenced how, where, and even which types of art were made.-Offers a fresh ecocritical perspective on art history, revealing nature as a collaborator.-Uniquely organized into five chapters by ecosystem: water, forest, field, quarry and mine, and earth.-Features over 100 full-color illustrations of iconic medieval artworks, including towering Gothic cathedrals, brilliantly illuminated manuscripts, gleaming reliquaries, and lustrous cloth.Innovative and engaging, Sourcing Nature invites readers interested in art, history, and sustainability to see medieval art with fresh eyes-as a partnership and lively interchange between humans and nature.