Synopses & Reviews
Perhaps at no other time in Western history have animals played such a dominant role in the visual and literary arts as they did during the Middle Ages. Animals were prevalent and essential in all aspects of medieval life, and as a result, they were employed by artists for a variety of purposes: to illustrate saintandrsquo;s lives, populate farm scenes, act as characters in fables, and even crawl among the very letters forming the text. And while artists used a host of animals, both real and fantastic, for these purposes, one of the most popular animals was manandrsquo;s best friend.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Dogs were as important to humans during the Middle Ages as they are today, and this new book celebrates that association through their appearance in medieval manuscripts. A follow-up book to Kathleen Walker-Meikleandrsquo;s Medieval Cats, published by the British Library in 2011, Medieval Dogs presents a wealth of dog imagery from a variety of medieval sources and is peppered with fascinating facts about the medieval view of dogs and many stories of people and their pets in the Middle Ages.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Among the themes explored in the accompanying text are the roles of the medieval dog, dog breeds, dogs and saints, the names of dogs, canine faithfulness, veterinary care of dogs, dog feeding, the mourning of dogs and burial practices, and medieval poetry about dogs, with translations of some short poems included here. Medieval Dogs is sure to charm dog lovers and medievalists alike.
Synopsis
This beautiful book, available for the first time in an unabridged compact edition, features works from all over the world, ranging from the earliest African rock paintings to the groundbreaking work of contemporary artists. It explores the various roles the dog has played in both art and society, including its depiction as a symbol of fidelity and romantic love; as a prized possession,
Synopsis
For more than 5000 years, artists have created an extraordinary array of captivating images of the dog the animal that has enjoyed the closest and most intriguing relationship with man. This beautiful book, available for the first time in an unabridged compact edition, features works from all over the world, ranging from the earliest African rock paintings to the groundbreaking work of contemporary artists. It explores the various roles the dog has played in both art and society, including its depiction as a symbol of fidelity and romantic love; as a prized possession, vaunting its owners power and wealth; as a loyal pet; as a mythological being, travelling between the lands of the living and the dead; as a religious image of purity, or dissolution; and as an indispensable working and hunting companion. A vividly written text is accompanied by glorious images that capture the soulful, beguiling and dynamic character of mans best friend in its diverse incarnations, from protector to predator, dark force to deity.
About the Author
Tamsin Pickeral is an author and art historian specializing in books on art, horsemanship, animal husbandry and travel. Her books for Merrell include The Horse: 30,000 Years of the Horse in Art (hardback 2006; new paperback compact edition 2009) and The Dog: 5000 Years of the Dog in Art (hardback 2008; new paperback compact edition 2010), included in The Financial Times Top Fifty Art Books of the Year, and The Sunday Times Art Books of the Year.
Table of Contents
Dogs of all kinds abound in medieval sources
John Caiusand#8217;s On English Dogges (1570)
The twelfth-century abbess Hildegard of Bingen
A popular story in bestiaries
The tradition that dogs stay with their masterand#8217;s corpse
The early seventh-century scholar St Isidore of Seville
The loyal dog is a popular heraldic beast
Using the image of a dog
Dogs in the Bible
Dog names in the Middle Ages
There were many legends about cynocephali
St Roch, the patron-saint of plague
The thirteenth-century preacher Stephen of Bourbon
A thirteenth-century exemplary tale
The twelfth-century writer Walter Map
The late fourteenth-century author of the Goodman of Paris
Fifteenth-century books of courtesy
The fourteenth-century poet and scholar Francesco Petrarch (1304and#8211;1374)
The fourteenth-century Dominican preacher John Bromyard
Geoffroy de la Tour-Landry
The thirteenth-century scholar Albertus Magnus
Common diseases of dogs listed by Albertus Magnus
The Master of Game
If a dog could not keep down any food
RabiesApparition of mysterious black dogs
Ghostly dogs
Dog collars
Dogs could sleep in kennels or baskets
Monasteries and nunneries
It was not always nuns
Ordinances made at Eltham in 1526Astronomical manuscripts
Guillaume Machautand#8217;s fourteenth-century The Judgement of the King of Behaigne
Chaucerand#8217;s The Book of the Duchess
In the ninth century, St Edmund, King of East Anglia
The popular herbal of Pseudo-Apuleius
In Sextus Placitusand#8217;s late antique book
Beloved dog of Thierry, Abbot of St Thrond
Hunting dogs
The fifteenth-century Boke of St Albans
Pseudo-Albertus Magnusand#8217;s Book of Virtues of Herbs, Stones and Animals
A treatise of medical and magical preparations from animals
Further Reading
Credits