""Animation"" implies that the image or figural object is alive, endowed with anima: a ""soul"", ""spirit"" or ""vital principle."" In the Middle Ages, holy or emphatically unholy imagery often possessed an ability to come to life, to act and do things, to move and gesticulate, to speak and exude. This ""life"" might be a result of natural or supernatural principles; it might be a work of magic, a work of mechanics or a miracle (a divine work). This book is about the different modes of animation that made medieval images perform their spectacular wonders of locomotion and physical transformation, ranging from mechanical machinery to magical conjuration and miraculous ensoulment. Talking and bleeding crucifixes are investigated alongside robot Redeemers, weeping Madonnas, automated devils and self-propelled statues ""statuas animatas"" that enacted their visible and audible animations in monasteries and churches, in historical technologies and treatises, in theurgical tales and demonologies. With its confessed reinvigoration of animism, this book will animate anyone with an interest in medieval art and art history, culture, ideas, religion, anthropology, philosophy and theology.
By:
Hans Henrik Lohfert Jørgensen, Laura Katrine Skinnebach, Henning Laugerud Imprint: Aarhus Universitetsforlag Country of Publication: Denmark Dimensions:
Height: 245mm,
Width: 170mm,
ISBN:9788772196534 ISBN 10: 877219653X Pages: 295 Publication Date:01 February 2023 Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format:Hardback Publisher's Status: Unspecified