Age of Chivalry : Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400

Royal Academy of Arts, London, first edition, 1987. Cloth, 4to, 30 cm,. 575 pp, 120 colour plates, 6 colour maps, 740 black-and-white ills. 748 entries. From the blurb: " The period from 1200 to 1400, spanning the reigns of the five Plantagenet kings from Henyy III to Richard II, is one of the most varied and creative in the history of English art. Despite many interconnections with the Continent, English art forged its own particular characteristics and unrivalled works were produced in, for example, stained glass, illuminated manuscripts and embroidery, the latter becoming justly celebrated and exported throughout Europe. Other English specialities were monumental brass effigies, misericords with their humorous and satirical scenes and carved alabaster panels from Nottingham. This era saw the growth of the Gothic style which developed first in architecture and gradually spread to the other arts. Royal patronage enabled it to flourish and was instrumental in the creation of such seminal buildings as Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster. This book, which accompanies the most ambitious exhibition yet mounted at the Royal Academy of Arts, describes over 700 of the finest works of art of the period gathered from Britain and abroad. They range from the Black Prince's armour and the spectacular gold and jewelled crown of Blanche, daughter of Henry IV, to brilliant stained-glass windows from Canterbury Cathedral and York Minster, and exquisite wooden sculpture from Norway. Authoritative essays by scholars of international repute cover the many different media and also discuss the historical context, the architecture of the period, artistic patronage, the role of artists, and contemporary and later aesthetic responses. All the objects in the exhibition are fully catalogued and illustrated. This book is a lasting tribute to a major exhibition and, with its extensive bibliography and comprehensive index, an important source of reference to the art of Plantagenet England. Near Fine in Near Fine dustwrapper.