The Legend of Roland in the Middle Ages

Phaidon Press Limited, London, first English-language edition, 1971. 2 vols, cloth, gilt cover-device, 4to, 31 cm,. 410 pp, 63 colour plates + 396 pp, 510 black-and-white ills. From the blurb: "This scholarly work is the first detailed study to be made of the iconography of Roland, the hero of the Chanson de Roland. best known literary epic of the Middle Ages, as he is depicted in sculpture, wall painting, the minor arts and above all, manuscript illumination. It covers the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany, and reveals the evolution of Roland from a stock figure in ecclesiastical art, the conqueror of the heathen, through sainthood at Chartres, into an individualized chivalric hero, and his decline in later manuscripts and woodcuts into a 'type'. The work throws much light on changing medieval thought and taste. All the objects and miniatures discussed are illustrated. " Contents: Part I : The Romanesque Period I. Roland and the Capitals at Conques II. The Epic Hero Becomes a Person III. the Angoulême Lintel and the Chanson de Roland IV. The Murals of Santa Maria in Cosmedin V. The Miniatures of the Codex Calextinus VI. Roland and Oliver at the Door of Verona Cathedral VII. Roland and Ferragut at the Door of San Zeno at Verona VIII. a 'Pseudo-Roland' in a Mosaic at Vercelli IX. Roland at Santa Maria Della Strada at Matrice, Cluny, Notre-Dame-De-La- Règle at Limoges and Notre-Dame de Cunault X. Roland and Ferragut at Estella, Brioude, Tarragona and Salamanca XI. The Brindisi Mosaic and the Chanson de Roland XII. Roland on la Ghirlandina at Modena XIII. Roland in Portuguese Romanesque Sculpture XIV. The Drawings of the Ruolantes Liet XV. Charlemagne, Roland and Oliver on a Window at Strasbourg XVI. The Murals of Le Loroux-Bottereau, a Capital at Luna, the Liège Psalter and Roland's Incestuous Birth XVII. The Façade of the Cathedral of Borgo San Donnino and Les Enfances Roland XVIII Roland and Aude at Saint-Faron, Meaux XIX. The Chasse of Charlemagne at Aix-La-Chapelle and the Roland Legend. Part II: The Gothic Period. I. The Lesson Of Chartres: 1. The Charlemagne and Roland window at Chartres; 2. A Statue of St. Roland at the south doorway at Chartres; 3. The ‘Knight's Communion' in Rheims Cathedral; II. The Illustration Of Literary Texts : 1. The Chanson de Roland and the Chanson d'Aspremont; 2. Girart de Vienne; 3- Fierabrás; 4. Renaut de Montauban; 5. The Roman d'Arles; 6. Karl der Grosse, by Der Stricker; 7. The illustrations to the Entrée d'Espagne; 8. The Divine Comedy; III. The Illustration Of Historical Or Pseudo-Historical Compilations : 1. The Pseudo-Turpin; 2. The Grandes Chroniques de France; 3. Regional or family chronicles; 4. The tradition of the Speculum historíale of Vincent de Beauvais; 5. The Trésor of Brunetto Latini; 6. The Fleur des Histoires by Jèan Mansel; 7. The Croniques et Conquestes de Charlemaine by David Aubert; 8. Miscellaneous compilations; IV. Roland In The German Empire : 1. Charlemagne's reliquary at Aix-la-Chapelle; 2. The giant Statues of Roland; V. Roland In Mural Decoration : 1. Frescoes; 2. Tapestry; VI. The Decline Of The Roland Theme In Visual Art :1. Roland and the Nine Heroes; 2. Niello and marquetry; 3. Religious pictures; 4. Playing cards; 5. Incunables and post-incunables; VII. The Young King Francis I and the Roland Legend; Conclusions; Volume II : Black and White Illustrations; Appendixes. Near Fine in Near Fine dustwrappers. The illustrations numbered 456-459 are printed upside down.