Art and Eloquence in Byzantium

Henry Maguire

Published by Princeton University Press 1982

Art and Eloquence in Byzantium

Henry Maguire

Volume 5253 in the series Princeton Legacy Library

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691194448

Overview
Contents

About this book

In this interdisciplinary study, Henry Maguire examines the influence of several literary genres and rhetorical techniques on the art of narration in Byzantium. He reveals the important and wide-reaching influence of literature on the visual arts. In particular, he shows that the literary embellishments of the sermons and hymns of the church nourished the imaginations of artists, and fundamentally affected the iconography, style, and arrangement of their work. Using provocative material previously unfamiliar to art historians, he concentrates on religious art from A.D. 843 to 1453.
Professor Maguire first considers the Byzantine view of the link between oratory and painting, and then the nature of rhetoric and its relationship to Christian literature. He demonstrates how four rhetorical genres and devices—description, antithesis, hyperbole, and lament—had a special affinity with the visual arts and influenced several scenes in the Byzantine art, including the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Massacre of the Innocents, the Presentation, Christ's Passion, and the Dormition of the Virgin.
Through the literature of the church, Professor Maguire concludes, the methods of rhetoric indirectly helped Byzantine artists add vividness to their narratives, structure their compositions, and enrich their work with languages. Once translated into visual language, the artifices of rhetoric could be appreciated by many.
Henry Maguire is Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Originally published in 1982.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
List of Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xxi
List of Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xxiii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
Figures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149