The Medieval Body

This fascinating and richly illustrated book accompanies The Medieval Body, the
third in a series of vanguard exhibitions that places medieval masterpieces within
a contemporary context.
The title of the exhibition refers to both a literal thread of figuration that runs
throughout the works in the presentation, as well as the complex and often shifting
symbolism of the human body in the medieval period. For thinkers and artists of
that time, the human body served as a rich source of religious and philosophical
significance, one that was in a constant state of flux between idealism and
disfigurement. While the early Middle Ages reserved representations of suffering
bodies to the margins of their world, the later Middle Ages displayed wounded
bodies in the most central spaces of public life. The crucified body of Christ and the
wounded bodies of saints assumed important positions as they were displayed on
altars, in processions, and on the exteriors of churches.
The Medieval Body tells a unique story about the human form as both a physical
entity and a recognizable metaphor. Presenting works spanning the course of a
thousand years, this exhibition offers insight into the body as an essential imagemaking
tool with far-reaching implications for the development of art in the
European Middle Ages.