Zuzanna Sarnecka – författare

Through meticulously researched case studies, this book explores the materiality of terracotta sculpture in early modern Europe.

Chapters present a broad geographical perspective showcasing examples of modelling, firing, painting, and gilding of clay in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. The volume considers known artworks by celebrated artists, such as Luca della Robbia, Andrea del Verrocchio, Filipe Hodart, or Hans Reichle, in parallel with several lesser-studied terracotta sculptures and tin-glazed earthenware made by anonymous artisans. This book challenges arbitrary distinctions into the fine art and the applied arts, that obscured the image of artistic production in the early modern world. The centrality of clay in the creative processes of artists working with two- and three-dimensional artefacts comes to the fore. The role of terracotta figures in religious practices, as well as processes of material substitutions or mimesis, confirm the medium’s significance for European visual and material culture in general.

This book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, Renaissance studies, and material culture.

Through meticulously researched case studies, this book explores the materiality of terracotta sculpture in early modern Europe.

Chapters present a broad geographical perspective showcasing examples of modelling, firing, painting, and gilding of clay in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. The volume considers known artworks by celebrated artists, such as Luca della Robbia, Andrea del Verrocchio, Filipe Hodart, or Hans Reichle, in parallel with several lesser-studied terracotta sculptures and tin-glazed earthenware made by anonymous artisans. This book challenges arbitrary distinctions into the fine art and the applied arts, that obscured the image of artistic production in the early modern world. The centrality of clay in the creative processes of artists working with two- and three-dimensional artefacts comes to the fore. The role of terracotta figures in religious practices, as well as processes of material substitutions or mimesis, confirm the medium’s significance for European visual and material culture in general.

This book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, Renaissance studies, and material culture.

This edited volume discusses images that bleed, speak, cry, move, and behave in ways we usually attribute to living creatures.

Living images have been the object of devotion as well as targets of destruction, and they have been marginalised in both culture and cultural studies for their ambivalence as well as their transgressive nature. But what is it that makes images the loci of such powerful properties? The present volume is an attempt to recuperate the living image, draw it from the margins, and re-illuminate its importance for cultural history. The title of this book reflects the ambition of the contributions to navigate between the Middle Ages of the past and the Middle Ages of the present. Our aim is to provide new theoretical reflections and methodologies concerning the study of material agency and “living images” both historically and today. The chapters include close examination of surviving objects and archival research, as well as theoretical reflections, and span chronologically and geographically across Europe from North to South, medieval to modern.

The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, medieval studies, material culture, theatre studies, and religious history.

This edited volume discusses images that bleed, speak, cry, move, and behave in ways we usually attribute to living creatures.

Living images have been the object of devotion as well as targets of destruction, and they have been marginalised in both culture and cultural studies for their ambivalence as well as their transgressive nature. But what is it that makes images the loci of such powerful properties? The present volume is an attempt to recuperate the living image, draw it from the margins, and re-illuminate its importance for cultural history. The title of this book reflects the ambition of the contributions to navigate between the Middle Ages of the past and the Middle Ages of the present. Our aim is to provide new theoretical reflections and methodologies concerning the study of material agency and “living images” both historically and today. The chapters include close examination of surviving objects and archival research, as well as theoretical reflections, and span chronologically and geographically across Europe from North to South, medieval to modern.

The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, medieval studies, material culture, theatre studies, and religious history.