This book is concerned with the pictorial language of gesture revealed in Anglo-Saxon art, and its debt to classical Rome. The late Reginald Dodwell, an eminent art historian, notes a striking similarity of both form and meaning between Anglo-Saxon gestures and those in illustrated manuscripts of the plays of Terence, which, he argues, reflect actual Roman stage conventions. The extensively illustrated volume illuminates our understanding of the vigor of late Anglo-Saxon art and its ability to absorb and transpose continental influence.

This book is concerned with the pictorial language of gesture revealed in Anglo-Saxon art, and its debt to classical Rome. The late Reginald Dodwell, an eminent art historian, notes a striking similarity of both form and meaning between Anglo-Saxon gestures and those in illustrated manuscripts of the plays of Terence, which, he argues, reflect actual Roman stage conventions. The extensively illustrated volume illuminates our understanding of the vigor of late Anglo-Saxon art and its ability to absorb and transpose continental influence.

Medieval Canterbury, the centre of the English Church, was also the centre of England's greatest and most sustained achievement in art: the illumination of MSS. between AD 1000 and 1200. Originally published in 1954, this book is one of the most authoritative works on the subject. The author has considered the reader with an unspecialised interest in art, and he fluently relates his criticisms to the illustrations. 291 photographs are included. The narrative begins with the inception of the Anglo-Saxon impressionistic style at Canterbury; it traces the gradual development of Romanesque and...