Medieval Art Research Guide

the ""Medieval" tags on the Art Library's deli.cio.us site: del.icio.us/oberlinartlibrary

Atlases / Maps

The Periodical Historical Atlas of Europe.

designed and drawn by Christos Nüssli

Euratlas, Rue Du Milieu, N. 30, Yverdon, Switzerland, 2003

“An Atlas depicting in 21 maps the states of this continent at the end of each century from AD 1 to AD 2000.” … “Antique, medieval and early modern history of europe, in maps.” “The Periodical Historical Atlas of Europe shows the evolution of this continent through a sequence of 21 historical maps, every map depicting the political situation at the end of each century. In the high resolution pages, you will find 21 minimaps giving access to 84 quarters of maps with detailed views of the states, provinces and cities. Moreover, for each century, a direct access to the complete map of Europe is provided.” Downloading special viewer softward (called “Periodical Historical Atlas of Europe”) for magnification from 600% to 1000%, [Viewed BQP 24Sept07]

Databases & Indexes

See also Art Abstracts.

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals

Bibliography of the History of Art / Bibliographie D'Histoire de L'Art (BHA).

Santa Monica, CA: J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Art History Information Program, c1991 -.

Created by the merger of RILA and RAA in 1989.

Paper: RAA 1910 – 1973. Art Reference (shelved by Special Collections); RAA 1974 – 1989.

Web: 1973- present, updated semi-annually. Search OBIS for the title bha

An index to the literature of European art from late Antiquity (4th century A.D.) to the present and American art from the colonial period. BHA also includes art from anywhere in the world that "reflects contact with the Western tradition." Media covered include the Fine Arts (architecture, sculpture, painting, drawing and prints) as well as the decorative and applied arts (jewelry, furniture, ceramics, etc.) including popular art, folk art, and “all objects of material culture that are of interest to the art historian." Film "as a dramatic art" is not included, but photography and all contemporary new media are covered.

BHA's coverage includes books, periodical articles, conference proceedings, exhibition catalogs, dissertations, art dealers catalogs, and conference proceedings. Over 4,000 periodical titles are indexed in part or in full, representing a wide range of languages and cultures. BHA is the most current and thorough index available for the history of European and American art. [BQP 9/16/03]

Feminae: Medieval women and gender index.

[Haverford, Pa.: Magill Library, Haverford College, 1996]-

Search OBIS for the title feminae

An index to almost 500 journals (including book reviews) as well as collected essays about women, sexuality, and gender during the Middle Ages. The time period covered is AD 450 to 1500 (with Russia extending to 1613 -- the beginning of the Romanov dynasty). The geographic scope includes Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East as well as areas in which Europeans traveled. Sexuality and gender is interpreted to include articles on masculinity and male homosexuality. Publications in English, French, German, and Spanish have been indexed since the project began in 1996. Materials in Italian began to be included in the database in May 2001. Books by a single author are not indexed. NB: Only 1995 & 1996 are completely indexed. The indexing for publications currently covers 1990 - 2006. [BQP 24Sept07]

International medieval bibliography (online)

[Leeds, Eng.] : University of Leeds [etc.]

Search OBIS for the title “international medieval bibliography”

The IMB database comprises records deriving from articles published in periodicals (journals) and in miscellany volumes (conference proceedings, collected essays, Festschriften and exhibition catalogues) published world-wide. All subjects relating to the Middle Ages are included, within the date range 300-1500 AD. Geographical areas covered are Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.” [viewed bqp 24sept07]

ITER: Bibliography of Medieval and Renaissance Europe.

Toronto: ITER inc., 1997? - .

Web: Search OBIS for the title iter gateway

A bibliography which includes citations to articles drawn from over 1,000 medieval and renaissance journals as well as reviews, catalogues, discographies monographs, and collections of essays covering the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700). Iter -- meaning 'a journey' or 'a path' in Latin -- is a non-profit research project with the goal of increasing access to all published materials pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance, through the creation of online bibliographic databases.

Iter can be searched by keyword (called ‘any field), title, author and, for selected records (items dated after 1990), Library of Congress subject headings and supplemental vocabulary. There are a basic and advanced search modes; the latter allows Boolean (i.e., and, or, etc.) searching. Results may be limited by language or type of record (e.g., book, review, article) and publication year. [BQP 9/16/03]

The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies.

Deborah Everhart and Martin Irvine, Co-Directors

The Labyrinth provides free, organized access to electronic resources in medieval studies resources on the Web.. The Labyrinth's easy-to-use menus allow combinations of specific subject categories with types of digital documents. The resulting list of relevant “hits” then provide connections to databases, services, texts, and images on servers around the world. This easy to use system is a vast improvement over the “lists of lists” common on other “webliographies.” [BQP viewed 24Sept07]

NetSERF: The Internet Connection for Medieval Resources.

Beau A.C. Harbin

A database of links to thousands of web sites that can be searched (both simple and advanced) or browsed. Has a lengthy glossary (over 1,500 terms) and news of interest to medievalists. [BQP viewed 24Sept07]

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Enciclopedia dell'Arte Medievale.

Roma: Istituto Della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1991-. vol. 1-.

Art Ref. N 5965 .E5 1993

The entries provide useful overviews on a wide variety of topics and are signed. Each entry is followed by a detailed bibliography and many high-quality images (primarily in color), including plans. Prefatory material also includes an introduction and a section for abbreviations. Complemented by Kibler and Zinn's more concise

Medieval France: An Encyclopedia (Art Ref. DC 33.2 .M44 1995). [BQP 8/16/01]

Frassetto, Michael.

Encyclopedia of barbarian Europe [electronic resource]: society in transformation.

Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, c2003.

Web: Search OBIS for the title encyclopedia of barbarian

Primarily a list of people and places important for understanding the early Middle Ages.

[“bio” in medakr BQP 24Sept07]

Medieval France: An Encyclopedia.

Kibler, William W. and Grover A. Zinn (eds.).

New York: Garland, 1995.

Art Ref. DC 33.2.M44 1995

This single-volume, interdisciplinary publication, presents relatively short, yet in-depth, entries on a wide variety of topics and individuals. Particularly strong in the visual arts and architecture, the signed articles include bibliographies. The text is enhanced by maps and plates. Useful supplementary sections include abbreviations; kings, courts, dukes; popes; architectural terms; musical terms; contributors; and an index. [BQP 7/12/01]

Medieval folklore: an encyclopedia of myths, legends, tales, beliefs, and customs.

Carl Lindahl, John McNamara, John Lindow, editors

Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, c2000

Main Reference GR 35 .M43 2000 vol. 1-2.

Web: search OBIS for the title Medieval folklore an encyclopedia and select the second title listed.[BQP 24Sept07]

The ORB: On-line Reference Book for Medieval Studies.

New York, New York: College of Staten Island, City University of New York

The ORB is written and maintained by medieval scholars for the benefit of their fellow instructors and serious students. All articles have been judged by at least two peer reviewers. Authors are held to high standards of accuracy, currency, and relevance to the field of medieval studies. ORB has also identified and provided access to relevant digital sources; for instance, at the bottom of most pages is “Individual Documents on the Web: Alphabetical Index.” The primary The ORB Encyclopedia -- A chronological and geographical index of essays, bibliographies, images, documents, links, and other resources, selected by ORB section editors to illustrate their selected topics. The ORB Library – has three sections:

The ORB Text Library” lists primary sources transcribed and sometimes translated. “
“Internet Medieval Sourcebook” has readings to support classroom instruction
“Global Catholic Network Library” searches over 9,000 files related to Catholiciism

[BQP viewed 24Sept07, fr. The web site]

Overviews

Verkerk, Dr. Dorothy, Gary Geisler, and Karin Breiwitz.

Celtic Art and Cultures.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Celtic Art and Cultures Web Site -- created for use in the Art History course “Celtic Art and Cultures” at UNC in 1998 -- is a rich multimedia database of Celtic-related images, maps, timelines, interactive vocabulary aids, and animations that provides students with a large and varied database of multimedia materials -- not only the traditional static images, but also animations, reconstructions, and interactive exercises.” The syllabus for “Celtic Art and Cultures” also includes links to relevant material and web sites. [BQP 24Sept07, fr. The web site]

Primary Sources

See also Perseus Project

The ORB: On-line Reference Book for Medieval Studies.

The Golden Legend

Bernen, Satia and Robert Bernen.

Myth & religion in European painting, 1270-1700: the stories as the artists knew them.

London, Constable, 1973.

Art Ref. ND 1288.B47 1973b

This dictionary lists alphabetically the stories of 850 common subjects in European painting from mythology, ancient history, Italian poetry, saints' lives, and the Bible. Many entries quote extensively from original ancient sources, providing the reader with the texts familiar to European painters of these centuries. There are no illustrations. [BQP 8/23/01]

CELT: The Corpus of Electronic Texts. The Online Resource for Irish History, Literature and Politics.

History Department, University College Cork

CELT, the Corpus of Electronic Texts, is primarily a textual database, providing full-text digital access to Irish literary and historical culture. It has a searchable online database of contemporary and historical texts from many areas primarily history and literature. Texts are accompanied by introductions, background information, graphics, translations (where possible), and scholarly bibliographies. Images will eventually be an integral part of text presentation and texts will be accompanied, where useful and possible, by graphics, maps, line-drawings etc. As of September 24 2007 it included 935 contemporary and historical documents from many areas, including literature and the other arts. [BQP viewed 24Sept07; fr. site]

Davis-Weyer, Caecilia.

Early medieval art, 300-1150: sources and documents.

Toronto; Buffalo: Published by the University of Toronto Press in association with the Medieval Academy of America, c1986.

Art N 5975.D31986

Anthology of translated excerpts from important texts from the early medieval period. Includes critical essays, and bibliographies. [BQP 8/16/01]

Frisch, Teresa G.

Gothic art 1140-c. 1450: sources and documents.

Toronto; Buffalo: Published by University of Toronto Press in association with the Medieval Academy of America, c1987.

Art N 6310.F71987

Anthology of excerpts from important texts in the late Medieval period in translation. Includes critical essays, and bibliographies. [BQP 7/12/01]

Holt, Elizabeth Basye Gilmore.

The Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Series: Documentary history of art, v.1.

Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1957. 2nd ed.

Art 709 H 742 L.2 vol. 1

Translations of excerpts from original sources including letters, journals and essays. Each selection is preceded by a brief biography of the author. [BQP 7/26/01]

Internet Medieval Sourcebook (part of ORB)

Paul Halsall, ORB sources editor

“Last Modified: Dec. 10, 2006 (linked pages may have been updated more recently)”

The Internet Medieval Sourcebook is located at the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies.

Primarily a site for texts, the Internet Medieval Sources book also have an extensive list of historic maps. The sites is arranged as follows:

Selected Sources - an organized "index of selected and excerpted texts for teaching purposes." This is the best starting point for most students.

Full Texts - Full texts of medieval sources arranged according to type.

Saints' Lives - Devoted to Ancient, Medieval and Byzantine hagiographical sources.

Law Texts

Maps

Search – can be used to search the Inernet Medieval Sourcebook or all of ORB. [BQP 24Sept07]

Mango, Cyril A.

The art of the Byzantine Empire, 312-1453: sources and documents.

Toronto; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press in association with the Medieval Academy of America, c1986.

Art N 6250 .A721986

Anthology of excerpts from important texts in the Byzantine period in translation. Includes critical essays, and bibliographies. [BQP 7/13/01]

Medieval hagiography: an anthology.

Edited by Thomas Head

New York: Garland Pub., 2000

Main Library BR 1710 .M39 2000

Primary texts in translation, each with an introductory essay, notes, and bibliography.

[BQP 9/27/05; fr. M.C. Altenhofen’s ARLIS/NA bib. of Apr. 2004]

Sandler, Lucy Freeman.

Omne bonum: a fourteenth-century encyclopedia of universal knowledge: British Library MSS Royal 6 E VI-6 E VII.

London: H. Miller Publishers, c1996

Main Oversize AE 2 .L463 S26 1996 vol. 1 - 2

A facsimile of a mid-14th century English encyclopedia.

Vasari, Giorgio, 1511-1574.

Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori scultori e architettori : nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568.

Firenze : Sansoni, 1966-1969.

Art N 6922 .V3 1966 vol. 1 - 9

A recent, major edition of what is often considered the first history of art. The famous Milanesi edition is also available (Art N 6922 .V3 1906) as are several unabridged and abridged English language editions. One of the first art historians, Giorgio Vasari, discussed 250 artists in this publication, originally published in 1568. Covers Cimabue to Michelangelo. [BQP 8/24/01]