Thursday 19 May 2011

ARCHAEOLOGY FACTUAL REVIEW: Medieval Church and Churchyard Monuments - Sally Badham

Release Date: 10/03/11

SYNOPSIS:

Churches contain much of the most interesting medieval sculpture in the country. Magnificent effigies, whether of cast copper-alloy or stone, never cease to provoke awe and wonder, conjuring up glamorous images of an age of chivalry. Yet in their intended setting such monuments are often little known to non-specialists. Among the joys of visiting churches is the experience of alighting upon sculptural treasures; monuments open doors to the past and introduce us to the characters from our history books that inhabited that lost world. Lavishly illustrated with high-quality colour photographs, this book uncovers monuments as a rich source of information for anyone interested not only in church history but also in costume, armour, heraldry, sculpture and genealogy.


REVIEW:

The modern world often believes that there is little to be learned from the past, as they feel that if you can’t see or touch the past it doesn’t exist. What this title does is bring prime examples of intricate carving to the reader and the makes sense of the hidden messages within each of them that allows the modern viewer to decode the message as to whom the marker is for alongside who they were in their everyday life. Beautifully presented this title has lots of examples of carving that survived the dissolution of the monasteries as well as decoding the messages within in such a delightful way that you’ll never look at another headstone the same way again. Fascinating, intriguing and above all else a wonderful link to our own past.

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