The Nave Sculpture of Vézelay

Book excerpt: "This scholarly work fundamentally changes the way we think about the monastic church of Vezelay and its sculptures. Kirk Ambrose provides a new account of the celebrated sculptural ensemble at this important French Romanesque monastic church. Whereas scholarly attention in the past has focused almost exclusively on the Pentecostal portal, Ambrose devotes most of his analysis to the nave capitals. He considers how these works intersect with various aspects of monastic culture, from poetry to a sign language used during observed periods of silence. From this study it emerges how many of the sculptures resonated with communal practices and with interpretive modes in use at the site." "Deeming the attempt to uncover an underlying or unifying program to be an anachronistic project, Ambrose explores historically specific ways this ensemble cohered for medieval viewers. Covering a range of themes, including hagiography, ornament, and violence, he develops alternative approaches for the examination of serial imagery. As a result, this book has broad implications for the study of eleventh- and twelfth-century art in the West."--BOOK JACKET.